About to exchange contracts - advice from property owners please!

[whatever7991]

I have only bought a property once before, 15 years ago and I don't recall this happening so would appreciate advice...

DP and I currently buying a property. We are about to exchange contracts and our solicitors have just sent us the final documentation to check through before paying our deposit. They have couriered to us a HUGE (and I mean huge) pile of documents about 30cms deep, containing all the local authority checks, letters and every single piece of paper concerned with all their previous checks and correspondence with the vendor's solicitors etc.

Their letter makes clear that it is our responsibility to check everything as we are accountable if anything is amiss before we sign the contract. It is going to take me and DP the whole of the bank holiday weekend to sift through it all. I was surprised as I don't recall being asked to look through absolutely everything last time I bought a property and I sort of assumed that this was what we are paying our conveyancer for?? I expected the property title document but not all the rest.

Am I being naive and is this normal?? I would be grateful to hear other people's experiences!

Thank you

Hmm certainly didn't happen with either of the properties we have bought in the last 5 years. We've just recently exchanged on a property and we did get quite a bit of paperwork (nowhere near as much as you describe though) but the solicitor had gone through it all and certain parts of it had been highlighted to draw our attention to potential problems. Surely they are the qualified people and that is what we pay them for?

Caveat emptor. The onus is on you to read through and be sure everything is as you expect it to be. If you don't and there is a problem down the line you've no comeback against your solicitor/conveyancer. They are your adviser, you still need to read the documents before you exchange.

Nothing like that here, also about to exchange. Solicitor has let us know when any queries have been resolved to her satisfaction and all we’ve seen with regards to pap artwork is our contract.

SP and I just bought a house a few months ago - definitely didn't have any of that. Solicitor highlighted important bits to us and bits we would need to understand should there be any problems but we weren't expected to sift through any large amounts of paperwork... pretty sure that's why we paid the solicitor in the first place!

My solicitor went through all the important paperwork with me and checked it was as I expected but there was nowhere near the amount you're talking about.

We had this - a raft of papers about everything since they kept records. But we had an accompanying letter saying that they had reviewed the paperwork and that they could find nothing concerning so was for our info only.

Was very interesting to read the exchange of letters when a neighbour blocked off their incoming field drain thereby flooding fields further upstream. Was in the 50s and very angry but typical English polite.

didn't they keep you posted as you were going along?

anyway, it's only a few hundred grand so I reckon it is worth the effort. BTW have you got insurance ready to go?

My solicitor forwarded me all this info via email as it came through and I got the huge envelope of paper but there was also a summary at the top.

We got this but didn't get very long to go through it all. I would check that the plan matches the position on the ground. We didn't notice that the bottom of the garden wasn't included in the plan. Years later the developer got in touch saying we had annexed some ground. We hadn't but some previous owners had. We ended up buying it from the developer. It hadn't been annexed long enough to claim adverse possession.

Not the solicitor's fault as they hadn't seen the property. I really didn't notice at all.
I was having a very bad time personally and really shouldn't have been buying a property but I am still pretty sure I would have realised, even had things been normal. Even the developer acknowledged it would have been hard. The housing estate was about 25 years old at the time and the fencing was falling down so it wasn't on my radar as an issue.

My solicitor sent stuff through as and when it came to her and usually advised me what to check. Then there was a summary at the end for me to sign. I didn't receive hard copies of all the paperwork until after completion and then it was just for my records.

Definitely check the plan carefully and the boundaries. Remember that solicitor hasn't seen property so they won't know what is supposed to be included.

specialsubject I assume you mean buildings insurance? If so, it is organised by the leaseholder and we will pay as part of an annual service charge (as it’s a flat).

Thanks all. Sounds like this is just the way our solicitors do things. They have sent us bits throughout so some of it it stuff we’ve already seen. Was just worried by the sheer amount in case there was a nasty surprise lurking that our untrained eyes might miss.

I think it is ought of order when resi solicitors do this. I’m a commercial property solicitor and it’s my job to review the documents and flag risks. Yes I tell my client to review them too, but I like to think I will have picked out any problems. Otherwise wants the point in people even using solicitors any more. I think it’s cowardly!
I would focus on: environmental search, seller’s replies to enquiries, the registered title. And then read anything else you can manage as well.

yes, did mean buildings as once you exchange you buy even if it burns down. so that sounds ok.

It's normal to send everything for the vendor to check before exchange ime. Worth going through to make sure everything is as you expect it to be. Your solicitor sounds thorough.