When can we expect to move in?

[Christmascookiesmmmm]

Mortgage offer received, survey done and follow up fine, local searches back, draft contract from seller’s solicitors back, mortgage deed signed and sent back, I think now we’re just waiting on enquiries.. ? In our survey it said gas, electric and lots of building regulation certificates were needed so I suppose that could take a while?

There’s no chain either side as we’re ftb and vendors are moving into rented.

I’ve been trying to ring solictors to ask for an estimated completion date but I never manage to get hold of them.

Any guesses as to whether we’ll be in before 1st December?

Thanks

Hard to say without knowing what the enquiries are exactly.

Enquiries are things like does the removal of the load bearing wall in kitchen have building regs, does loft have building regs, is there a gas safety certificate etc. Are the other enquiries all determined by us? I’m not sure what else we need to ask!

Sorry I’m aware this is a stupid question but are these all standard things the solictors are going to ask anyway- like do we not have to make sure they will ask these things? We really haven’t had a lot of contact with our solicitors- they seem efficient but busy!

If the necessary certificates exist they will be referred to in the search results, so hopefully it should just be a case of the vendor providing relevant documentation, which could be quick.

If no certificates exist then it may be a lengthy process to get matters resolved.

Probably too early to begin completion date discussions.

Try emailing your solicitors with a specific date you would like to be in.

Thanks for your replies!! Good idea about emailing- I’ll try that on Monday, although they’ve never emailed back before!

I email mine all the time in a bid to speed them up...and will continue to do so until we have exchanged..

crazycadetmum - it might remind them about your case, but very doubtful it will speed them up, more likely it will slow them down due to the time they spend having to read your emails and hundreds of other client emails, all sent "to speed things up"

Its possible. Depends on how quickly the enquiries come through. Also, one thing you may not have considered.. Do you know if your sellers already have a rental lined up or if they need to find? We are going into rented & are stipulating we need 4 weeks between exchange & complete in order to find somewhere. We can't afford to pay for rent & mortgage for a long period of time, so until we have exchanged we can't seriously start the process!

@Spickle
Exactly! For some curious reason a great many people seem to believe that the solicitor they employ only deals with their particular file and has no other caseload. It is not unusual for a conveyancing solicitor to have somewhere between 100 - 150 transactions on the go at any one time, and emails all the time from each client to "speed things up" are not helpful.

Typically the process is a slow one, and 12 weeks from beginning to end is pretty typical, longer if the property is leasehold.

Sorry, by "email them" I meant find another way to get an answer out of them rather than asking people who can't possibly know all the details of your case.

3-4 weeks with lots of enquiries? Then exchange and completion? Sorry, I’d say definitely dont set your heart on it. Do your vendors have a moving out date?

As a PP has already highlighted, most sellers aren't going to begin a serious search for a rental until such time as exchange takes place.

Nobody wants to be left in a situation where they have to pay to run two properties.

Therefore the sellers are probably going to want a minimum of 2 -3 weeks between exchanging and completion to make sure they have time to sort a rental out.