House sale - am i getting too impatient?

[Sousuke]

Hello, for all those who have been through this process are my expectations at this point wrong?

We are selling our property and our solicitor is excellent. The buyer's not so much.

Offer was accepted in early October and our solicitor sent all the forms over by late October. Buyer had their mortgage offer by start of December. Searches were sent off for at that point and returned by 20th of December. Here is where things went sideways. Solicitor claimed they sent enquires after the new year but no one received them. All parties chased over the entire month of January and we didn't get them until the 26th of January. They have accepted the contract and had about 10 questions on the forms (most of which were given to them already but so be it). I've heard that the contract was sent to the buyer to sign last Friday and we signed ours on Monday. Our solicitor was great and responded in 24 hrs to their enquires.

Their solicitor never responds to any questions by our solicitor or agent who chase weekly so I'm not sure where we stand time-wise. I feel like a week to review his answers plus the fact that contracts are on their way back to both sets of solicitors means we should get some sort of response any time now right? The buyer's solicitor is so bad at communicating I feel like its going to take ages still to agree a date and exchange (unless they aren't satisfied with one of the answers sent last week on the enquires).

I think that lost month of missing enquiries are messing with me. I'm trying to get my agent and solicitor to start pushing for a completion date as well (end of month) but again the buyer's solicitor isn't responding at the moment. The only good news is that the buyer does respond to the agent so we have a good communication link there.

You have my sympathy. It's a incredibly stressful time.

My daughter is in the process of buying her first flat. She made the offer in early September and had her mortgage offer and search done much earlier than your buyer.

The whole legal process has been a nightmare and I think her solicitor was mainly to blame. There have been a number of oversights, failure to pursue particular issues, and a seeming inability to deal with more than one issue at a time.

The contract was sent to her about 3 weeks ago (along with 18 other documents to check)! 2 weeks ago she signed everything and paid her deposit. They didn't manage to exchange until yesterday.

I know the vendors were very frustrated and so was my daughter. It should have been relatively straightforward because there was no chain (my daughter is a first time buyer living at home and the vendors are buy to let landlords).

It will happen. Just hang on in there.

Thats positive. Given we had our contract a week ago, hopefully we exchange in the next two weeks.

Push as much as you can. Things are quiet at the moment (I’m a conveyancing solicitor), there’s no excuse for being slow.

That's interesting. My daughter has been seriously thinking about making a formal complaint, though I suspect now she has exchanged she won't, especially as completion is next week and the whole ghastly experience will be over!

Thanks will continue to push agent and solicitor to stay on them.

I've actually emailed them as well being a bit cheeky and politely asking if they are still having server issues with their emails as my solicitor isn't getting any communication. Asking if they can resend whatever emails they have sent in the last week (which are clearly none) and get in touch with our solicitor.

I know i'm not really supposed to make contact, but at this point you never know what might work.

We nearly had our chain collapse due to our horrific conveyancers. All the things mentioned, which in these days of electronic communication is untenable. I am happy to share who they are in pm, so people know to avoid them. Do complain, I had actually initiated proceedings with the Ombudsman - the firm ended up slashing their fees by 50%. They’re on Trustpilot, still operating, despite being investigated for failing to provide tax returns…

There’s a market out there for a really clear step by step guide to doing it yourself, and the whole system needs an overhaul.

Don't email. Ring every couple of days, and speak to both your solicitors and your estate agent to chase their solicitor. When it looks like it's getting really close, ring every day at least.

I've bought several houses and it's the only way anything gets done. Be the squeaky wheel!

I know it's frustrating but are you in a chain? Is there any reason you need to exchange soon?

@Perennis I am in a chain. We have an international move so no onward chain for us. Our buyers have a buyer that is apparently ready to go with contracts signed. The buyer is using the same office for both deals. For us its just monthly hit of costs because of my job change. (Every month is probably costing us 1300-1400). I'm trying to stay proactive entering month 5.

@SaltnPeppaPig They do ring. In fact my agent was able to pull in their head of conveyance and also get the buyer to threaten to pull the file and go with someone else.

@Bunnyfuller Yes they are on of those two star review places. I've done some research and lots of ignoring clients for a week etc. left. I've looked at them on glassdoor as well and junior staff complain they take all of the abuse because supervisors ignore their clients. People crying in their offices etc. So trouble all around.

Found out this week the other end of the chain is requesting money off their offer. Very cheeky timing given they were sent contracts to sign.

Sounds like the two parties are negotiating.