AIBU to feel like an idiot? Buying a house

[SillyNameChanger]

FTB here. Name-changed because I feel so embarrassed, but long-time lurker. I am an intelligent woman usually but this house-buying process is breaking me. I keep crying from frustration.

I can never get my solicitor on the phone. Emails get answered, but not adequately. If I don't understand something and ask for clarification, I get a reply days later. I am frustrated and have never in my life felt so stupid. They are online, there's a portal to log in to and it's all very slick. They were recommended by the estate agent and I've regretted listening to them every since.

So far I think I have completed and sent back everything that they need to exchange, but apparently a couple of docs that I sent last week have gone missing in the post.

On the portal I have 2 outstanding actions:
Please return your signed mortgage
Please return your signed contract

However, I have an email from the solicitor confirming receipt of the mortgage deed, which I posted a month ago. It was the contract and a questionnaire that has gone missing. I don't understand what the signed mortgage is, if not the mortgage deed?

I have combed through my emails and the mortgage deed was the only thing that they sent through for me to sign.

They are not taking my calls and not answering my emails and I am constantly on the verge of tears. I feel so stupid. I kept calling yesterday but it was just going straight to voicemail.

Can anyone who has been through this throw some light on what the hell they want from me and also maybe why they are behaving like this? Is this normal??

Hi SNC

I take it all back - £4,000 is astronomical for conveyancing. At that price the senior partner should be delivering your letters by hand, written on parchment!

You should be getting a very much better service than you're describing.

According to this you're paying four times the average cost:
www.comparemymove.com/conveyancing/average-conveyancing-costs

Yes but I very much doubt your fees are £4k. That will probably include the stamp duty and the search costs and other disbursements. What fee are you actually paying the solicitor.

Also new build properties on big developments at each dually the worst in term sod work involved.

As a commercial solicitor with commercial client we charge circa £4k in fees then disbursements on too for such a transaction due to the work involved.

If you pay peanuts you get monkeys......

Blankscreen

No, stamp duty is separate - £5,500

I just checked the bill and the total is £3,712.60 - it does include searches though. It's a VERY long list, no idea is that's normal.

I used to be a mortgage broker, and would agree you need to make a complaint. It’s likely they have got the documents, they’ve either misplaced them or just not updated the system. It’s definitely a good idea to send freshly signed copies though. Ask for a direct phone number to ring when you make the complaint.
Please don’t feel stupid, it’s nothing to do with you not understanding things, and everything to do with them providing appalling service. When I worked for an estate agent doing mortgages I refused to refer clients to the online solicitor the group owned, even though I’d get commission for it, because they were rubbish! So it meant the clients got frustrated and I spent hours chasing them.
Good luck!

I used the online solicitors my estate agents recommended, I forget the name but they were based in Leeds, and they were terrible. As you say, I could never get through on the phone, emails went unanswered, and the exchange date got put back and back, despite there being no major problems.

I'd never use an EA recommended one again.

That seems really high for just buying. I’m in Scotland, so it might be cheaper here, but when I bought as a ftb last year my total solicitor bill was approx £1500. That included all the searches etc and was with a local firm.

I work for the sort of firm you're describing OP (though none of those mentioned). The typical set up is case managers who normally have a degree doing the leg work supervised by an experienced team leader who is there for the complicated stuff and signs the file off for exchange.
It's a model which requires high volumes of work to make a profit but most conveyancing is like that now as fees are so low.
Complain. They should listen.
Conveyancing can be slow as so many people in the chain need to do their bit. They shouldn't be losing things.

I'd be phoning every day ,twice a day until I had my answer if need be.

And losing things -really unprofessional.

Is that for buying only? That’s absolutely fucking astronomical. Last time I bought I used a conveyancer in one of the top 10 most expensive place in the country (to live - I’m in the SE just outside London) and IIRC it was closer to £2k. And I didn’t even shop around.

Do the EAs know their preferred conveyancers are holding this up? I would kick up a stink with the EAs.

By the way, never go with EAs recommendations. I used to work in one and they got (illegal, i believe) backhanders for those types of referrals.

This time I’ve gone with a cheap as chips online conveyancer for buy and sell and have had no complaints. Service has been brill.

MinnieMountain

I don't suppose the logo is a type of bird?

That sounds about right - I have dealt with 5 different people so far, which is also maddening, as I imagine it's impossible for them to fully communicate with each other about every single case. The times that I HAVE spoken to them on the phone has been really rushed, and they clearly can't wait to hang up.

We are both chain-free and were assured that this would be a straightforward transaction.

They haven't said that they've lost anything, just that "documents" have not arrived even though I posted them Friday before last.

I've just come back from the library having printed every little thing off. Such a waste of time and money! But DP & I have signed everything so I'll be able to post first thing tomorrow for next day delivery.

VincentVanGoughandhisear

They don't answer the bloody phone! So I send a follow-up email and that takes a day or 2 to answer. Once they took almost a week to reply to me pointing out that they sent the wrong search reports through to me. I called 3 times on Friday, no one picked up. I work full time myself so not really in a position to keep up that kind of campaign. My line manager is sympathetic to a degree, but there is work to be done.

PooWillyBumBum

Yes, buying only. I do feel very ripped off. The situation was complicated slightly because it had to be a solicitor on our bank's mortgage panel. A couple of the cheaper ones we looked at were not on it and this one was - between the sales pitch and housing fatigue we decided to listen to the recommendation.

That's not us OP (I'm very curious now).

PooWillyBumBum referral fees were made legal under the Legal Services Act 2007. I'm a solicitor and I remember the concern when it came in.

Solicitors can be so hit and miss. This time we are using one who is shit hot and so far I really like her. She can be a little blunt and moody on the phone but she’s easy to get hold of and helpful. Last time we had a complete nightmare - we were selling DH flat and buying our house. The solicitor he used previously had the deed so we were kind of locked into using them, but his solicitor had retired. The new solicitor was so awful! When we remortgaged the bank chose an online solicitor and they were atrocious. Bungled the whole thing at the last minute so we ended up overpaying on the SVR on the mortgage because they missed the completion date. I think we got compensation from them for that!

I don’t think this is limited to conveyancing btw - I’ve been an executor twice. One firm were amazing and the other were truly dreadful!

Hang in there, it will happen. As a side note - have you got buildings insurance sorted for your purchase? You usually can’t exchange without that.:.

Signed mortgage declaration? You won’t have the certificate of title, the solicitor will obtain that on your behalf.

I chase these things daily (broker) so most likely speak to a different team within.

We fell for this too. I cancelled their instruction in the end at the risk of losing our dream house. In 6 weeks theyd done absolutely nothing! We got a full refund from them as all they'd done was send us standard instruction forms and then logged them when they came back in. The hadnt even tracked down who the other solicitors dealing with the purchase were or tried to chase this up with the estate agents! Honestly I'd read up on exactly what they've done and cancel instruction if plausible. Our local solicitor was incredible. Our purchase ended up being complicated due to deceased parties and I'm certain it would have all fallen through if we hadnt switched.

Myshoesarenew

See I really wouldn't mind blunt as long as I was getting the information that I needed! Even this morning I am nervous about whether I am sending everything that they need. If it turns out after this that something is still missing lord help us all.

And yes, building insurance is with the bank so it'll start as soon as the mortgage begins

Singlebutmarried

I don't have any documents like that. The mortgage offer is just a letter setting out terms. The offer they sent to solicitors had the mortgage deed, nothing else that needed signing.

BeenHereForAges

That's awful! At least mine have got us 90% there - maybe I shouldn't complain so much. I don't think I can change now, I don't want to drag this out any longer especially as we missed the target exchange date.

Is it fosters? They were rubbish!!

Oh yes, I don’t mind blunt at all! She’s absolutely fantastic - asked all the questions I wanted to and more! It’s taking a little longer because of this though.

House buying is a really frustrating and stressful process though. I was so upset last time, and some of it might have been my expectations too - I really didn’t know what was happening and the lack of communication with the solicitor was a nightmare. In my experience exchange is the most stressful part. Hope it all works out for you!!

Fun update!

One of the solicitors emailed to say that she hasn't received my letter sent 2 weeks ago.

5 minutes later she follows up to say that it's been found on file after all!

I wonder what what will turn up now that I've paid £8 for next day signed for delivery for every document under the sun?

I've also been having a mild anxiety attack all morning. I can't catch my breath and am having trouble focussing on work. Got a hard stare from my manager so I typed out my to-do list 5 times to look busy

Have you complained?
Is the bird a thing which can also be a toy?

This is exactly what happened to me! Took a week to word out the difference between 3 documents that I thought were just one...

Comb your way back through the portal and print everything off, then sign and send (tracked/recorded delivery) everything that even looks slightly unfamiliar. That's what we did and exchanged the day after they delivered.

Best of luck! Nearly there!

mammabella1

How long did it take you to figure that out? I'm still not sure I know what's going on haha

I did print everything off and send it through recorded next day delivery goodbye £8 and they seem to have everything, although I am still not clear on precisely WHAT was missing.

I got a phone call saying that we were good to go, then an email 30 minutes later saying that actually our insurance was missing so DP is sorting that out today and we are aiming for an exchange and completion on Friday, for which they are charging an additional £150.