The buying / selling process

[Kikitwinkletoes]

Just after some advice really on the process ?!

So we’ve found a buyer for our house and seller of the house we want has accepted our offer. We’ve arranged the mortgage and they are valuing in the next few weeks, have instructed a surveyor and a solicitor to get things moving. Just need to know what happens next if anyone could clue me in please?

Been a bit stressful so far but I feel we’ve got a long way to go before exchange / completion!

I'm at the exact same stage and have done all the above
Now we wait for further instruction

Is the chain complete yet? You sound very proactive, but the other people in your chain might not be prepared to spend money on legal costs (e.g. their own solicitors replying to your solicitors) until it is...

For your sale, your solicitor will provide you with some forms to complete about your house. You'll also need to provide evidence of things like boiler servicing, electrical certificates if you've had work done, etc - so start gathering that kind of stuff together now.

On your purchase, your solicitor will be waiting for the above from your vendors' solicitor and will then start raising enquiries based on it. They might instruct searches in the mean time, but I think it's fairly common for them to wait until they've received the draft contract pack.

Thank you :-) that’s really helpful. Just hope it runs smoothly especially in his current climate!

Good luck! Try to maintain good contact with your solicitor and estate agent to stay on top of progress - it can be surprising how much you need to prod people along. Found that out the hard way when we lost 3 weeks of progress... our solicitor had sent responses to enquiries, buyers solicitor (apparently) never received them - but never bothered chasing in all that time either. Only came to light when I asked both sides what was happening and each said they were waiting on the other one...!

Thank you, I’ve heard that sometimes solicitors can be slow and blame each other - I’ll try and stay on top of that.

I was in your position in September and we still haven't exchanged. My best advice is be prepared for a rough ride. I buy and sell property in my day job and it rarely goes smoothly.