Any tips to make the moving process faster?

[Spicylolly]

Just that really...we are in touch with our buyers as they sent us a lovely letter with their contact details and so we have been texting as the estate agents are a bit useless. We're hoping between us we can keep on top of any solicitor problems etc but does anyone have any other helpful advice to keep everything moving along smoothly?
Theres only 4 in the chain...ftb, our buyers, us and our chain free property.

I always prefer to keep the interaction very business-like, so wouldnt be in touch by text. You never know what a search or survey might show up and a difficult conversation about prices ensue. I think the key is the solicitors/conveyancers. Let them know you want to proceed quickly and respond as soon as they ask you anything. My conveyancer does as much as possible by phone and email, she is fab. Estate agents just complicate things once the process becomes legal I've always found.

I totally agree with the Saidthesharktotheflyingfish

I made the same mistake of becoming pally with my lovely vendor, but as soon as things got tricky (she wanted to leave me behind all of her old furniture as a 'favour to me' ) but I didn't want it) it all got awkward very quickly and she was calling me all of the time.

My estate agent who was lovely to begin with then just cranking up the pressure for me to exchange very quickly, and kept saying the chain is about to collapse (it wasn't) - I think because it is so out of the control once the solicitors get involved, that they have to be seen to be doing something so they just keep pushing for a quick sell.

My solicitors made the process very easy and stress-free as they have been great - very efficient and very communicative throughout. I think this is really the key as they are so, so important in the buying process.

I might go against the grain here but from offer being accepted to completion it’s been 10/11 weeks.
We achieved this through text contact with our buyer and staying polite. Financial negotiations after survey were then put back via estate agent but then we picked up text conversation afterwards.
I honestly don’t think we could have maintained the chain and achieved the dates if myself and buyer hadn’t communicated a lot and pushed things forward.

Our conveyancer is aiming for 6 weeks from offer to completion, so it can be done very quickly with the right people. If everyone is very reasonable, communicating directly might be OK, but that isn't a given unfortunately.

Like namechanger we once got into a very difficult situation with a vendor after we withdrew our offer and she started to call us constantly. Once bitten and all that.

Agreed on not becoming pally with buyers. We did that for the buyers of our parents' house and tried to be flexible. They took it as an invitation to take the piss on so many levels - culminating in them sending a solicitor's letter regarding furniture still being in the house, a two weeks before we completed. They only knew because we said they could visit to measure for their furniture etc. Oh and us saying they could let a builder in to plan work 3 days before we completed. My sister showed up to clear the aforementioned furniture and THEY HAD RIPPED OUT A BATHROOM!

I would say the key is the relationship with your solicitor. Don't go for the cheapest option, keep track of all issues and pieces of paperwork and check in regularly on their status. Don't be afraid to pester and if you feel they are dragging their feet, mention it to the estate agent. Amazing how things move when that happens.

Agree with the advice of NOT becoming friendly with the other side. We’ve just made that mistake to our detriment!

We accepted their offer of meeting for coffee, exchanged numbers etc. They know how much we like the house. Vendor then decided to change completion date by 3 weeks...and gave us less than 24 hours notice before the planned exchange. In our case, they played the “We’re going into rental” lie card when we viewed...which 2 months down the line at the point of exchange became “we just put in our mortgage application”.

Choose a good solicitor and stay in (very) regular contact with them. Know who and what's on the critical path, make sure it's not you as much as possible, and feel free to ask your solicitor to nudge theirs frequently if need be. It's all too easy to lose a week or two here or there because someone's solicitor is sitting on something you need while they attend to squeakier wheels. You don't need to be arsey or demanding, or throw your weight around. Polite, respectful but persistent seems to work.

You are using EA for a good reason, and that is for them to do exactly this kind of leg work. They are in touch with the other EA and solicitors/conveyancers up and down the chain so I'd leave it to them.

See, I've always found that things progress more easily without too much (?any) intervention from EAs. The people who can really influence how rapidly things progress are the solicitors, and I find that by keeping in touch regularly and directly with them, that will keep things on track. With the last sale I completed, the EA wasnt party to the conversations I was having with the solicitor so tended to muddle things rather than speed them up. Things definitely worked more smoothly without their input.