Any conveyancers out there? Advice needed please

[bananatrifle]

We put an offer in on a house mid August which was accepted. We currently rent privately and the vendors are happy to move out mid October. We have given our month's notice to our letting agent, thinking that we would be moving this month (fair enough? - two months after the offer was accepted?)

However, due to personal circumstances on the vendor's part, they only sent their paperwork back to their solicitor last Friday and the contract package has now been sent off to our solicitor.

I've now been told by our solicitor that it will take 6 weeks for completion from receipt of these papers.

Please tell me, that can't be right, can it?

All other stuff has been done (don't know about the searches though) - mortgage offer from the lender been received, valuation done, our ID checks done, our purchase of property questionnaire - what else is there to do? Does it really take 6 weeks for the contract to be sorted out?

I was feeling quite calm about the move, but have shot up into feeling very stressed mode. For lots of reasons we need to move out of here this month.

Help.

It is not the exchange to completion though that is the issue in this case. It is getting to the exchange in the first place.

The solicitor will not normally apply for searches until they have received the contract from the sellers. These can take a couple of weeks to get everything, plus they will need to check everything out and go back with any questions to the sellers solicitors.

They have to receive the mortgage offer from the mortgage company, check that any extensions, double glazing etc have all the right paperwork.

That is why she is saying allow 6 weeks to completion, that will include the exchange which is when you can fix your completion date. That can be the same day if necessary or a few weeks later depending on what you all agree on.

Good luck.

Thanks Sushi - that does make sense. Just been really disappointed but am learning to have to not be able to make things happen just because I wanted or thought it would happen.

They have received mortgage offer, so hopefully that's one more thing to cross off the list.

bananatrifle normally the lender will put a condition on such as that they need a copy of the building insurance. There are others but if you don't know about any then I doubt they will want anything other than a copy of your home insurance certificate.

and on the note of notmostpeople I have exchanged and completed same day before on a couple of my purchase's and when working for other people.

Oh and on the note of the 13th - It has always been a lucky number for me. So sending you lucky vibes!

Yes it was too quick, I had to book removals etc before even exchanging so it all very very precarious. On a previous occasion we had two weeks between exchange and completion, the solicitor would have done it quicker, but that was the time the mortgage company wanted.

Good luck.

It is possible to exchange & complete on the same day. I did it when bought this place. It was a NIGHTMARE!! And im still almost 3k down 3 years to the day from completion. (But that's a whole other story) I much prefer 4 weeks between to give everyone a chance to get sorted.

Today we received the Searches form from our solicitor, which we've completed and sent back and they say they've raised a few questions with the vendor's solicitors.

Turns out the vendor (really really nice lady) and her solicitor have still been working on moving in about a week's time, which is the original date we'd suggested and can see no reason why it can't happen.

I'm really confused. However, I've explained our end of things and they're ok about it now being early November. Even if our solicitor does pull the rabbit out of the hat, we've told our letting agents we want to stay into November.

Who'd have thought it'd be this complicated????

Should change my nickname to Miss Niaive.

This is turning into my therapeutic blog .....

Paperwork slowly trickling through. In an interesting position with potential tenants to take over from when we leave here booked to view this house by the dozen!! Boxes slowly stacking up in each room, half packed, half not.

With any luck we'll exchange next week, unless anyone decides otherwise, and then hopefully then complete by early November. Just worried about moving in the dark and cold, but it should all be worth it. I'm sure......

Banana, it is soul destroying isn't it? It takes the happiness out of finally getting into the new house as you are just usually feeling so relieved it happened.

We actually cried when we exchanged. We had neighbour from hell, my Mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer whilst we were selling. She died just before we exchanged and I would have given my right hand to get out of that house.

The week of our move went like this,
Tuesday was my Mum's funeral.

Wednesday at 4.45pm we finally exchanged (buyer's solicitor was appalling, Fridayschild my solicitor was amazing) Had 5 minutes to spare before calling removal people to cancel van.

Thursday 8am the removal men showed up to collect as much as our stuff as possible. Oh, and we exchanged on the house we now live in.

Friday, we completed, and moved into a hotel as the vendor's had requested time to find a property to rent.

How I didn't have some kind of breakdown I don't know, but 2010 is a bit of a blur [hsad]

Good God, Fizzy. That does sound like a really stressful time. I hope this year has been much kinder to you and you're happy in your house. Things do all seem to happen either not at all or all at once, don't they?

This coming week it's my DSD's birthday, my DP's long awaited op and our letting agents who we rent this house from have virtually booked back to back appointments for new potential tenants to view the house we're in now, while I'm still trying to work out what to pack and what not to pack. Still no moving date yet. Or exchange of contracts. Gulp.

Just now received the mortgage offer from the lender. We applied for it in August and all indications and paperwork til now, were that it was all go. I'm amazed that up til now it still wasn't a done deal. Can't begin to imagine the mess we'd be in if the letter had said that our mortgage application had been refused. What was all that paperwork we had in September all about????

Don't think we'll be doing this again in a hurry. And it was supposed to have been fairly straightforward for us - first time buyers (kind of), no chain.....

Hmmm. Amazing anyone goes through this at all really.

Lol...sadly I love it!

My house goes up for sale in Feb, so we will be searching when we get back to UK. It will be our last house though, looking for the "forever home" next.

How come you move so much Gonzo?

What makes the "forever home"? How do you know til you're living in it? I'm kind of thinking we'll be in this one (if we ever get there) for a while, but (maybe because I'll be a bit sad to leave this area) I'm thinking we'll come back here one day. It'll just depend on how we feel in it, I guess.

Good luck with your move.

So.......if the contract that your solicitor said would be with you by the weekend (just gone) and today they admit they've only just posted it today (if they are to be believed) am I within my rights to jump up and down and scream at the top of my voice?

GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This must surely be the longest (non-chain) house purchase in history.

AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are moving!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exchanged yesterday, complete on Friday. Bit longer than I wanted but it is happening. At long bloody last.

Good lord. Don't know how anyone does this more than once.