Pulling out of a house sale

[missalarmclockhater]

Hi

I sold my house in June and put in an offer on another the same week and instructed solicitors to act on my behalf. I was moving due to having changed jobs and the commute was lengthy and extremely expensive (3 hours round trip!)

Unfortunately the solicitors I have employed don't seem to have been very pro-active. This is my first time buying & selling and I feel completely in the dark, I decided to go with them because they assured me they could act quickly but they seem to lose things I send to them a lot, I get emails with about 10 attachments and since I don't have a printer at home I need to go to the local library to print out these forms and then I get an email a week later to say they need something else and I'm convinced sometimes they've lost them - there's one document that I've definitely sent twice.

The moving date was meant to be a week tomorrow but can't see that happening.

Apparently the person I am buying the house from is going away soon and won't be back till late october.

I am contemplating pulling out of the house sale and just renting for a bit, as I can't do the commute for another 2 months, it's nearly killing me.

Or do I have any other options? I really don't know what to do.

Thanks.

I wouldn't pull out of a house purchase if you really want it just because the solicitors are a bit rubbish.

If you don't think they are doing a proper job speak to the senior partner and complain, no need to put up with bad service.

I don't know who the senior partner is - it's an online company and half the time they don't pick the phone up or reply to emails

The problem is, if it doesn't go through in time, it's going to cost me nearly a thousand pounds in commuting fees; I appreciate it isn't the woman's fault who is selling the house but then I did make it clear I was looking for a quick sale and I am a cash buyer. It is a nice house but it's nothing special in all honesty in other words there are hundreds of others more or less the same!

Depending on when in June your offer was accepted, the timescale so far has not been massively long, allowing for surveys etc. It's really not their fault that you don't have a printer, if you can't print things out easily your only option is to ask them to send everything by post. How convinced are you that they lose things? Do you keep copies of everything you send back to them? If they are genuinely wasting time and losing documents, then call the senior partner and complain with dates and times of things that have gone missing.

Have you actually exchanged on the house yet?

why don't you talk to the solicitors and explain this?

tell them you're concerned (i think that's normal with any house sale!) and that you can't print things off easily so could they please post them

Are they solicitors? if so, when you instructed them, they will have sent you somethign called a client care letter which you will have signed and sent back to them - they can't have done any further work for you without it because of money laundering regulations. that will have details on it of the person that you should speak to in the event of a complaint. Get on the phone and refuse to hang up until you speak to that person. Make it crystal clear that your file is not being properly handled and that you require it is dealt with by another fee earner who is able to meet the deadlines which you have imposed.

if they're registered conveyancers not solicitors, am sure the rules are very similar but i don't knwo

so many of these threads lately from people using these online conveyancing services; clearly it's very much a "get what you pay for" service

Have you checked out the Legal Ombudsman website? They might be able to give you some advice:

www.legalombudsman.org.uk/

Can you get your estate agents involved - they might be able to kick them up the bum so to speak? I am sure they are desperately to make sure the sale goes smoothly so they can get their hands on their commission!

I have just gone through a house buying/selling nightmare - it sucks, it is stressful - especially when you know YOU have done everything right and other people keep messing up.

I hope it works out well for you!

yes it seems so! (regarding 'get what you pay for.') I agree it hasn't been long in relative terms but the point is that both myself and the lady I am buying the house from wanted the sale to be speedy and the original date was august 10th.

No it isn't their fault I don't have a printer but the point is that when I send something and then need to send it again because it has been lost I can't just click and whiz it out - I need to traipse into town, print, and send, and it all lengthens the process.

In all honesty I'm sick of it and I just want to tell them to forget it but I'm not sure I can do that.

I've spoken to them a lot and have said I am concerned and do not know in all honesty what is going on, where we're up to, but I just get told everything is ok then a week later an email arrives and they need something else, that I've usually sent.

they don't reply to emails and often aren't in when I phone

Your engagement letter should set out the complaints procedure. I'd look that up and take the first step if I were you. If it doesn't set out the procedure and they are actually solicitors that is a breach of the Code of Conduct and good practice.

Tell them not to email you documents but to send them by post instead.

If you want to drop out, drop out. But based on my own experience, if this process only started in June, it isn't taking all that long.

if you havent exchanged you can back out easily anytime

you will be expected to pay solicitors for any works done / searches / maybe an admin fee for a mortgage

once you have exchanged you can still pull out, but there is just a hefty fine for doing so
(I learnt this last month when we sold 2 houses and bought 1, and despite exchanging the previouse week, the day before we were due to complete my buyers nearly pulled out.... and yes they could)

Would you be prepared to name and shame, I'm sure some of us could search their details and find someone to complain to for you.

It isn't good enough that they keep asking you to resend the same stuff. Maybe when you are using the library printer you could make a photocopy of the documents at the same time to make it quicker if they do los them.

I would contact them and tell them you are thinking of renting and then you will see them move as they will want their commission and you don't have to pay anything if you don't complete! They should be able to pull this together in the time it would take to find a rental and be credit checked by letting agency etc. Unless you are looking for a way out of the purchase in which case act sooner rather than later for the sake of the seller

Buy a printer for a start, you can get one for under £20.

I don't want to pull out but I just want to move in time and to be honest I'll lose so much money if it ends up being end of October to render it useless in a sense. I've printed out more stuff and don't understand it. I don't think they care, I cried down the phone at them last week!

Did the firm of Estate Agents recommend the solicitors and their name starts with 'C'. A friends son was recommended them by the Estate Agent he was attempting to buy a house through they were an absolute nightmare always losing documents and never answering phones etc. After 18 months (it was a probate sale) he pulled out of the purchase lost money but found another property instructed a local firm of solicitors and pruchase went through in 8 weeks. He is now in the process of suing the first firm for various reasons and he has found out that they are not really solicitors only conveyancers.

Why not just say pull your finger out and get it done or I am withdrawing my offer and we just forget the whole thing.

Would that not light a fire under them? Or would they not lose money if you did that?