Please calm my nerves and explain the process to me

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Hi all, FTB here and going at it alone. I will admit that I'm absolutely clueless when it comes to the whole house buying process, although I have tried to read up about it online and from the papers that I've been given by the solicitor etc. I offered on a flat on the 23rd of July which was accepted the same day. I instructed the solicitor on the 26th of July and have kept in touch every week (phoned every Friday for an update) however I didn't ring last week as I was unwell. The last time I phoned was on the 13th and I was told that they were still waiting on the searches to come back but it shouldn't be too long now, all good. In the meantime I've had my mortgage offer through which has also been sent to the solicitor to look at and fill out.

Since I didn't speak to them last week I phoned this morning and was told that they were still waiting on the vendors solicitors to respond (with a contract I think?) or some sort of paperwork - I'm not too sure. She said that they are going to spend today chasing everything up but I don't know what she means by that, the searches or the vendors solicitor or is it all the same? I have no idea and it's making me quite anxious not knowing what's going on properly. I did ask her a couple of times if the searches had come back yet but she didn't give me a yes or no answer, just kept on saying that they were waiting on the vendors solicitor to respond but that they would chase it up. I'm not very confident in talking over people and didn't want to say "please can you just answer my question in regards to the searches". She's lovely but I can't get a word in edgewise when we speak. She said that it's normally the mortgage offer that holds everything up so it's good that we have it in place already and once the vendors solicitor responds we can get going.

It sounds as though we are ready on our end and it's just down to the other solicitor to get their arse in gear now. I have phoned the EA to ask if they could contact the vendor for an update (and maybe give them a bit of a push) and he was very helpful and said he would get back to me as soon as possible. Does it sound to you as though the searches have come and we're all good on my end? Would they normally ask for a contract if the searches hadn't come back yet? I just feel like a bag of nerves at the moment tbh. The solicitor said it would roughly be between 6-8 weeks from offer to completion (no chain and the property is vacant - I was hoping to be in there by mid September at the latest) but I guess it all depends on how quick the vendors solicitor is.

Any advice or experiences welcome

Drop your solicitor an explain

Explain that as a FTB the process is new to you, and you would benefit from her responding via email with a full status update re where we are in terms of getting the searches back and precisely what we are waiting for from the vendors solicitors

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I meant to write

Since you are a first time buyer, it is a good idea to ask the estate agent to value your property. Hang in there. There is nothing you can do now except wait and pray they finish soon.

Thank you both for your messages. The biggest worry is that I currently rent so need to know when to give notice. The solicitor knows this. To avoid having to pay twice in one month in October which I can't really afford to, I will need to give notice by the 30th and it's just making me nervous that we're getting closer and closer and I still don't know what's going on or when we might be completing.

Does anyone know how the insurance side of things work to? Sorry, I know I should be asking the solicitor/broker about this but I feel more comfortable asking on here. I have to insure the property from exchange of contracts. I'm assuming I can't do that until I have an exchange date, is that right? Once I know the exchange date how long does it take to set up the insurance?

Is it just building insurance or do I need to be specific? It saids that there is a possible flood risk (even though I'm miles away from the beach). How do I know if I've sorted the right insurance out? I have contents insurance currently as I rent but that was super easy to sort out and I just did it over the Internet. I feel so lost with it all and I don't really have anyone to guide me with this.

Buildings insurance can be set up instantly IIRC.
The flood risk thing may not just be because of the sea.
We live in an area with lots of places at risk of flooding because it’s pretty much all reclaimed land.
The estate agents should be able to advise you about that.
Enjoy your new place

Yes you need to insurance from the exchange date however you can set it up once you know the exchange date and the policy will start on that date. You need building and contents insurance and as you're in a possible floor risk area you should specifically insure for this. A quick google of 'flood risk property insurance' brings up lots of options but a familiar one might make you feel more comfortable.
You'll can do an online quote, just pop in an estimated date.
When you have a date you can go back and take out the policy.
www.confused.com/campaign/home-insurance/flood-insurance?&mediacode=&mckv=sBnhk7gtw_dc|pcrid|428799568266|pkw|flood%20risk%20insurance|pmt|e|slid||pgrid|99717920797|ptaid|kwd-4439207627&mkwid=Bnhk7gtw&pdv=c&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Home+-+Product+-+Flood+-+EX&utm_content=428799568266|Flood+-+Insurance+-+Risk+-+EX&utm_term=flood%20risk%20insurance&utm_marin=sBnhk7gtw_dc|slid||ptaid|kwd-4439207627|&intent=ho-ins-si&pgrid=99717920797&ptaid=kwd-4439207627&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjo2JBhCRARIsAFG667VFogssAadODnI1oyMyvOY-o11JdbD1ACIwzGRQezaHSo3lhdo0xNQaAku8EALw_wcB

Oh, and your contents insurance will need to be changed from your current address to your new address. They will likely make a charge for this so you need to contact them to find out the cost of moving it. You don't have to move it, if you've paid the year up front, depending on when it ends it might be easier just to get a quote for B&C then you have the same renewal dates and the same provider. Just make sure you don't have automatic renewal in place.

Thank you @Mantlemoose that's really really helpful plus the link, great I will take a look! The mortgage offer just saids "you need insurance" and that's it, not very helpful especially for someone who's never done this before..

Insurance is easy to set up, with my last 2 purchases I stuck with the vendors insurers as it was easier as last house had subsidence history and current house is classed as flood risk (it isn't, but neighbouring houses are and we share a postcode).

With reducing the overlap, you can ask for a long gap between exchange and completion to reduce your need to pay rent and mortgage at the same time. I would not give notice to current landlord until you have exchanged.

Do not give notice until you have exchanged. Up until that point everything can still fall apart and you risk finding yourself with nowhere to live. You may end up with a mortgage/rent overlap, but better safe than sorry!!

Have you had the property information and fixtures and fittings forms through from the sellers yet? That could be the pack the are referring to.

They may well have questions to ask about searches before they share the results with you. For example our solicitors instructed an additional flood report before sending everything through.

You'll find there will be flurries of activity followed by periods of not much seeming to happen, then all of a sudden people will be talking completion dates.