Current process; how long to exchange?

[MeMeMeow85]

We instructed our solicitor last Wednesday. The firm came recommended and she seemed bright and engaged when I first spoke to her.

Still waiting for the buyers’ pack to arrive in the post (mainly so I can pay for searches to start!!).

Our mortgage offer was approved yesterday, so I called her to say we would like to exchange in 4 weeks (no chain either side). She kind of laughed it off and said that wouldn’t happen...

How long is your purchase/sale taking from instructing your solicitor to exchange?

I’m wondering if I’ve made a mistake with choosing this particular solicitor. Was hoping that she’d be keen to get it done and dusted quickly.

Any thoughts please?

I'm probably not the best person to ask, as this has been irritating me for weeks now.

Our offer was accepted at th beginning of April & we've still not exchanged! There's only 3 people in the chain. Our buyers have been brilliant and got their stuff done really quick. Our sellers are being sooooo slow. It takes them like a week to answer every enquiry. I don't understand why. I keep asking 'what is the actual problem & what can we do to fix it?' We can't get an answer to this, so I think they're just slow. No idea if it's the people, or their solicitors. Arrrrggghhh

We're in a very short chain, including 2 pregnant couples desperate to move asap, there's been no problems or hold ups and we're still waiting for a date 10 weeks after our offer was accepted. I think 3 months is good/average.

3 months and still no date for us.....

I think 4 weeks is on the optimistic side, but you never know!

We accepted an offer beg December , we offered in Feb, they offered on their place shortly after.

We complete tomorrow.

From offer accepted to completion (last year) it took us 12 weeks.

how long do your council take for searches?

your solicitor should explain , thats what you pay for.

Not what you want to hear, but 4 weeks is incredibly optimistic, even when there is no chain. We were involved in a no chain sale last year which still took 10 weeks. A short chain this year (3 people) took 15 weeks and a longer chain (6 in total) took around 14 weeks. The oft quoted "average" is 12 weeks.

If you want to get it done and dusted then what you really want is an "attended exchange" but both parties and their solicitors need to agree to this, and it still takes time because you need to arrange for everyone to sit down together, which can be challenging!

No chain and due to exchange this week and complete soon after, it's looking like 12 weeks from offer to completion at the moment.

The bits that have taken longer with mine have been waiting for the sellers solicitors

Leasehold or freehold (your sale or purchase)?

On your purchase, your solicitor cannot give a timeline - she hasn't received the draft contract pack yet. In other words, she won't start any work until pack arrives. This is when potential problems might be revealed but at the moment no-one knows if there will be any issues which could delay the transaction.

Not sure how you can justify thinking that you made a mistake in instructing her last Wednesday?? That's only 4 working days ago.

On your sale, have you sent back the Fixtures/Fittings form and Property Info Form as well as any other forms requested yet? Your solicitor won't issue draft contracts to your buyer's solicitor until you have sent these forms back and put them in funds to start work on your sale.

Agree with the other posters who say that 4 weeks to exchange is very optimistic.

FTB- I offered in April, I’ve had all my fixture fittings list back and conveyancing but now waiting for my solicitor to say what happens next. I haven’t signed he mortgage deeds paperwork not sure if this makes any difference they have kinda fobbed me off once I got the mortgage 🤷‍♀️
I’m clueless to the whole process tbh

10 weeks to exchange, 11 weeks to complete. Us in middle, buyers coming out of rental, seller's going into rental. No mortgage or survey issues. Nobody being an idiot or playing games. Just seems to take that long.

4 weeks might be optimistic.

No chain. Took exactly three months.

If you've got no chain & pro active solicitors, your solicitor should not be laughing at your suggestion. Mine was actually too quick! FTB, no chain. Offer accepted end of March, had the keys beginning of May!
Because it was so quick, I haven't been able to move in yet!

3 months to exchange/complete shortly after is quite usual, though so much will depend on whether your solicitor is the type who needs a stick of dynamite up their arse to get anything done - speaking from infuriated experience here.

A dd's first house was all wrapped up from offer accepted to getting the keys in 6 weeks - to me that was astonishing. But she'd used both the EA's recommended sol and their mortgage advisor - neither of which I'd have thought at all advisable before, so was forced to revise my opinion. She didn't pay any more than average fees, either.

I'm not surprised she laughed it off!!

Your solicitor hasn't received any paperwork yet, so is not in a position to assess how long the process might take.

Each situation will be slightly different, but typically it takes 10 1 12 weeks from offer acceptance to exchange.

You can’t really push her to exchange before she has seen the legal work.... she’s had nothing yet so a bit unfair.

Short chain here offered in March still waiting !!! I think 3 months is fast.

We are at 3 months.... hoping to move next week

My solicitor said 4 to 8 weeks but we are just purchasing not selling and seller has already moved out. We made offer end May and solicitor only started last week - took a while to get information approved to start, the showing of passport and sources of funds/money laundering, PEP forms etc. I've told ours I want to complete by school term end and she said she's putting it through as an emergency. Mortgage approved, survey fine.

In the past taken 2 months both times but I never go in chains.

To speed things up get your passports and proof of funds together and history of how savings have grown if using savings. You may well need to go in with your passport.

Slight confusion on my behalf, conveyancing and solicitors are they the same? Do you need both or will the conveyancing person deal with the paperwork side also?

JamJam Here's a guide:

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/find-the-right-solicitor-or-conveyancer

I've always used a solicitor but think they should do the same.