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Original poster

OMG! Why did we ever decide to move?

60 replies

OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 12:49

We have already exchanged contracts with our buyers because they were threatening to pull out. And we were hoping that we'd be able to persuade vendors to move on the same day. Problems with outstanding mortgages on the property. Problems with valuable goldfish in their pond. But we had resolved those we thought. But vendor rang me this morning in a bit of a state. Apparently they fucking useless sol has yet to return a single document about the property they are buying! They had heard nothing since their offer was accepted Confused

So..... even though the land registry entry was proved to be a clerical error, even though we have agreed not to poison/cook/sell her precious fish before they can get them professionally moved, and even though they know our position.... they aren't going to move out on the 23rd.

I felt sorry for her. She was in a bit of a state and her mum is ill (she's 70 herself so god knows how old her mum is). I didn't make any promises but made sympathetic noises. She thought they might be able to do it on 27th.... maybe.

So we will have to move stuff in to storage and stay with my parents. Not end of the world stuff but honestly, AIBU to think their sol is crap and that most of these issues should/could have been sorted weeks ago?

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IHeartKingThistle · 09/08/2010 13:31

Sending sympathy, our move has just been delayed too which is going to leave me with a 40 minute commute each way with DCs Sad

It will be fine, it will be fine, it will be fine...

Surely there's got to be a better system than this?!

LIZS · 09/08/2010 13:33

but why on earth have they left it so long to chase it Hmm Surely they still could move on 23rd if it is all in hand ?

stillbobbysgirl · 09/08/2010 13:37

Agree with LIZS - if all the solicitors got their fingers out and actually talked to one another, this could be done in 2 weeks and move on the 23rd. These bloody solicitors behave like its bloody rocket science - its just forms!

annh · 09/08/2010 13:41

Can you get your solicitor to speak to theirs to find out what the exact situation is? You shouldn't be having to deal with this and tbh, there is very little you personally can do although I know that it sometimes seems easier for vendors to speak direct to each other.

Original poster
OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 13:46

Fuck know lizs. Our sol says it's impossible to get hold of their sol and he is very very slow when he does do anything. I just don't know why our vendors didn't chase up their own solicitor ....I'd have been on the phone every hour of every day if I were them.

I know ann. But I think she just got to the end of her rope with EA nagging at her and her sol not doing anything. At least I know where we stand - it's looking like they might be moving out on 27th which is a pita but less of a pita than 3rd Sept when they wanted to. I will ask our sol to push for that date.

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Katisha · 09/08/2010 13:49

I don't know why solicitors seem incapabable of using email and have to do everything with quill pens on parchment, sent by carriage.

I would be putting in a complaint about that solicitor after your move. How can he possibly be uncontactable in this day and age?

Original poster
OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 13:53

Can I complain about someone else's solicitor then? I must admit I am tempted as all our hassles seem to have been caused by him. Ours uses email for most of it;s contact and has a really good website - including a page that allows you to track where the case has got to. Sadly that only goes so far when trying to deal with an old chap who still travels by horse and carriage and only trusts Her Majesty's Royal Mail.

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ReshapeWhileDamp · 09/08/2010 13:53

Sad Sorry to hear all of that. HOnestly, this system is crap. It's said to work more in favour of sellers than buyers, but I don't think it even does that! And I do NOT understand why it takes solicitors months to shift some paperwork around.

Our house purchase has just fallen through entirely, due, I think, to the unethical meddling of an estate agent, so I will join you in throwing up my hands and having a moan! Smile

(Actually, it's more like throwing plates at the wall here. I'm sure you're being more balanced and sane than that.)

Original poster
OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 13:55

Oh reshape Sad So sorry to hear that.

The system is crap. I don't know why we all put up with it......well of course I do.. we have no choice Hmm But it needs attention but there are so many people who have vested interests in keeping it the same.

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hippipotamiHasLost92lbs · 09/08/2010 13:57

Sad Crap for you. We discovered our cosy little straight forward chain of 4 was in fact a longwinded, complicated chain of 6 with lots of issues. One dodgy crafty estate agent thought it best to lie and proceed with chain pretending it was 4. How was that ever going to work Angry Sad Hmm
Should have moved last week. Still have not exchanged. Post for our buyers arrived this morning. On my doormat. Sob.

Original poster
OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 13:59

Oh noooo.....

Shit for you too hippo Sad

But this is the house for us so we are prepared to put up with a lot of inconvenience to get it. And it will be our last move I think,

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Katisha · 09/08/2010 13:59

Had a quick google - looks like you can only complain about someone else's solictor to the Legal Complaints Service if they are actually guilty of misconduct.
So in your case, it may be more a case of writing to the practice and complaining - you may not get any compensation but it might be worth doing if he is this slow with all his cases.

1st para

Original poster
OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 14:01

Thanks katisha. It might not do any good mind. It appears he is coasting towards retirement so not going to care much Hmm

I might go and write rude words on his front door though Wink

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hippipotamiHasLost92lbs · 09/08/2010 14:15

That is sort of how we feel Orm, this is the house we want. Heaven only knows why though - it is ugly and needs completely redecorating. Previous owner has lived there for 39 years. We are only the 3rd owners and the house was built in 1950.

TennisFan · 09/08/2010 15:15

We were meant to move last Friday - agree the system is rubbish and must only be in place to make people seem important or to make them some money.

The solicitors are in the dark ages and never seem to speak to each other - and just put the blame onto each other.

We agreed to sell to our buyers at the start of June, they are not selling anything and we are moving to rented. Should have been very straightforward.

It very stressful and difficult to make plans for our new rentedd which we have had to pay deposit on; and to try to book a removals company.

xboxwife · 09/08/2010 16:07

Much sympathy. We accepted an offer on our house in April. It is now August and we are no closer to exchanging contracts. There is NO chain. Bloody ridiculous.

I too do not understand why the legal profession cannot join the electronic age. Would be so much quicker to do everything via email rather than use snail post with bits of paper going back and forth. Now that there are secure electronic filing systems (we use them at work for very sensitive material) which can store billions of documents electronically there is no excuse for all this bloody paperwork! {and breathes}

unavailable · 09/08/2010 17:53

I empathise too. On friday we were told that we had eventually satified the buyers solicitors, who everyone agreed were slow and being overly officious -the contacts were ready to exchange.

Today, we are going backwards.Buyers sols say there are still some queries that need to be answered. These are the same issues we replied to two weeks ago. To top it all off nicely, both our solicitor and the buyers solicitor are now both away on holiday for 2 weeks and new people are dealing with the files.

I have never felt so stressed.

Original poster
OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 18:06

Well our vendor has rung today and said that after a day of hard work Hmm they have managed to sort everything and booked their removal van for the bank holiday Tuesday. Which is one day before DH goes back to school. Not leaving us much time to get settled in when we will have had 6 weeks of DH being on holiday. And I will have to renegotiate all my leave. So frustrating but no point in arguing the toss now. GARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!

That's assuming her sol get's his octogenarain finger out of course Hmm

And breeeeeaaaaathe......

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unavailable · 09/08/2010 18:20

Congratulations Orm- that sounds like positive news.

I am tempted to call the buyers solicitors myself tomorrow, but it probably wouldnt be wise. I dont trust myself not to turn into a shrieking banshee.

herethereandeverywhere · 09/08/2010 18:30

Keep chasing your solicitor to chase their solicitor. Ask for a list of what is outstanding and ask for progress reports every other day. I'm not sure if estate agents are involved but the ones we dealt with when buying were excellent at pushing the process along and chasing all parties (and they know the process quite well so know what should be happening when). If you haven't already you need to exchange contracts asap as you're still exposed to them walking away.

High street conveyancing lawyers give solicitors a bad name (I am one but NOT a conveyancer!). I've worked on transactions where we've sold companies worth hundreds of millions (which will include countless properties and God knows what else) in a fortnight. There is NO reason why buying and selling houses should take this long. I communicate exclusively by email in my job and when there's a problem I telephone the other side before confirming in writing - much more difficult for them to avoid awkward questions! I cannot believe what some practitioners get away with!

Make sure the newly agreed date is in writing too!

Fizzylemonade · 09/08/2010 18:40

I feel for you I really do - I'm the mad person that lived in a hotel room - a normal sized room where the two 3ft single beds guest beds were either side of the 6ft bed in the middle and me, dh, ds1 aged 7 and ds2 aged 4 lived for 3 weeks. It was so we didn't lose our cash buyer who had a deadline to be in our old house, and our vendors needed to find a rental property so needed 4 weeks from exchange.

Like you we exchanged on our old house before we exchanged on the one we were buying.

I thought I would crack from the stress and we buried my Mum the same week we moved out so I grieved in a hotel, must have looked an absolute state in the morning for breakfast Grin

Hang in there, it is worth it in the end. I found chocolate helped, lots of chocolate and wine Grin

elvislives · 09/08/2010 18:46

We have had similar problems. Accepted an offer in April and finally exchanged last week, after we'd threatened to put the house back on the market.

No chain- just the buyers currently in rented and we are buying a house from a deceased estate, yet it's taken twice as long as when we were in a long chain.

I have been moaning about the email/ snail mail situation. The solicitor gets a letter from the other one and sends it to us- that takes a week. Then we have to post a reply, and so on. Why can't they use email? In the end we told her to phone us and stop keep writing.

Isn't it time we had a much more streamlined system? Why is it so difficult?

Mooos · 09/08/2010 18:51

The English system is sooo archaic. Wish we hd the Scottish system so much more refined.

Original poster
OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 19:03

But what infuriates me is that is that it benefits no-one apart from the professionals involved in the process. It must be one of the few activities where throwing money at the problem doesn't help Sad We are spending the best part of 8k to move - incl an extra t600 now for additional removals and cat boarding for 8 days - and it's been a PITA from start to finish. But the customers *isn't king - at the best he's an abject supplicant. All 3 of the people in our chain have been inconvenienced and frustrated (and made much poorer) by this process. Daft!

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Original poster
OrmRenewed · 09/08/2010 19:04

added to which my consumption of nicely chilled white wine has gone up Hmm

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