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Original poster

Draft contracts - ETA for exchange??

22 replies

newnest · 13/12/2021 12:23

Hello, we offered on a house in October. There is a chain of 4 people and we are second to top of the chain (our seller is not buying anywhere) we have just had an email now saying that the draft contracts have been received by the sellers solicitors and now we need to transfer £350 for the property searches.

From experience, how long has this process took until you have exchanged? The people at the bottom of the chain are first time buyers and have said they want to be in their house before Christmas which I think is unrealistic now but they are adamant!

Happy to provide more detail if needed

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mindutopia · 13/12/2021 13:05

This isn't quite the order we did things in. We had offer accepted first week of October. Our solicitor received the contract pack the following week (I assume this is what you mean by draft contracts). We paid for the searches the next day. We have only just exchanged last week (2 months later) and will complete in the New Year. They will definitely not be in by Christmas if searches haven't even been ordered yet. That was the first thing our solicitor did.

MrsBobDylan · 13/12/2021 13:13

We are in a chain of three (first time buyers, us and probate sale) and had our searches done a couple of weeks ago.

Our solicitors say we will move end of Jan/beg of Feb.

Orangecrisp · 13/12/2021 13:23

How long is a piece of string! October to December is a long time to receive draft contracts, they usually arrive in a week or so. Are you sure your seller isn’t buying anywhere?

Original poster

newnest · 13/12/2021 13:23

@mindutopia wow, we had our offer accepted October too but have only just got the draft contracts now so that's a massive hold up! Baby due end of January and think we will be loving out of boxes the first few months of her life

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Original poster

newnest · 13/12/2021 13:24

@Orangecrisp

How long is a piece of string! October to December is a long time to receive draft contracts, they usually arrive in a week or so. Are you sure your seller isn’t buying anywhere?

Our seller has just split with his wife and is going in to rented, I can't help but thinking maybe someone from his party doesn't want to sell the house so that's why it's taking so long!

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Original poster

newnest · 13/12/2021 13:25

@MrsBobDylan

We are in a chain of three (first time buyers, us and probate sale) and had our searches done a couple of weeks ago.

Our solicitors say we will move end of Jan/beg of Feb.

Best of luck, by the way our sale is going we will probably be in my next December!!

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Orangecrisp · 13/12/2021 13:29

@newnest when we moved we learnt very quickly that people say they will rent then discover and cost and hassle and decide to buy. Your seller may have only just found somewhere hence why you just received the contract. Either way there’s no chance the FTBs will be in by Christmas! I would do some digging to find out where the chain ends.

Original poster

newnest · 13/12/2021 13:33

[quote Orangecrisp]@newnest when we moved we learnt very quickly that people say they will rent then discover and cost and hassle and decide to buy. Your seller may have only just found somewhere hence why you just received the contract. Either way there’s no chance the FTBs will be in by Christmas! I would do some digging to find out where the chain ends.[/quote]
Hello, thank you for this. Do I ask the solicitor this question or the estate agent? I'm gonna get on the phone to them!

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Orangecrisp · 13/12/2021 13:35

We asked the agent, and in the end to get the truth we directly asked the seller! Not sure if that’s an option for you though.

witsendeverytime · 13/12/2021 13:36

The draft contracts are usually out quickly and I'd have already commissioned the searches by then unless there was a reason not too - some are taking a long time. But mine (London) were only £210, so surprised yours are more unless you are getting something more (is there more)?
Anyway no way are you going to get this done by Xmas! I bought with cash no chain in five weeks but my solicitor was really on the ball and sellers solicitor too and they had already moved out, but one search took over four weeks to come back and that was expedited.

Original poster

newnest · 13/12/2021 13:37

@Orangecrisp

We asked the agent, and in the end to get the truth we directly asked the seller! Not sure if that’s an option for you though.

Thank you, I'm going to ask. We don't have any contact with the seller I wish we did!! Getting very fed up and considering starting to look for houses again!

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Original poster

newnest · 13/12/2021 13:39

@witsendeverytime

The draft contracts are usually out quickly and I'd have already commissioned the searches by then unless there was a reason not too - some are taking a long time. But mine (London) were only £210, so surprised yours are more unless you are getting something more (is there more)? Anyway no way are you going to get this done by Xmas! I bought with cash no chain in five weeks but my solicitor was really on the ball and sellers solicitor too and they had already moved out, but one search took over four weeks to come back and that was expedited.

Ah I'm hearing alarm bells! We're only having searches and we are buying in the midlands so that's worrying me! Our solicitors keep ignoring our emails too

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Orangecrisp · 13/12/2021 13:39

@newnest hopefully that isn’t the reason. We lost four houses and it took us over a year to move last year/this year all due to chain problems. What people say and what they do turned out to be very different!

Wombat69 · 13/12/2021 13:43

Searches needed to be ordered ages ago, there's definitely been an issue somewhere in the chain or something gone on.

Original poster

newnest · 13/12/2021 13:59

[quote Orangecrisp]@newnest hopefully that isn’t the reason. We lost four houses and it took us over a year to move last year/this year all due to chain problems. What people say and what they do turned out to be very different![/quote]
Opening the Rightmove app right now lol, we were so picky choosing this house I'm dreading if we have to properly look again 😭

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Mildura · 13/12/2021 15:37

It is fairly common for solicitors not apply for searches until they have received the draft contracts.

'draft contracts' is usually shorthand for 'draft contracts along with supporting documentation'

In this package will usually be a copy of the Land Registry title plan which most search providers require in order to apply for the relevant searches.

Original poster

newnest · 13/12/2021 16:22

Update:

We've just had this from the estate agent "The delay was simply due to the seller not returning their paperwork to the solicitor, despite us asking them on multiple occasions. Upon the solicitor's receipt of said paperwork, the ID wasn't provided, which then caused a second delay as they were unable to provide the Draft Contract until they had carried out their AML checks.

There is no change in the onward chain, and it therefore remains chain-free."

Would this be a concern for you?? Or is this pretty normal?? It's been 8 weeks since offer was accepted...

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Bobbingtons · 13/12/2021 16:39

I feel your pain. Offer accepted mid October. Draft contracts only sent last week after pestering estate agents for ages. Fortunately my solicitor put the searches in early age I'm hoping that nothing untoward appears in the contracts that needs clarifying as I really want to exchange before Christmas and move in January. Mine is chain free and I'm a FTB but it's a probate sale (granted before offer accepted) and I'm not sure the vendors solicitor cares about timescales.

Mildura · 13/12/2021 16:53

Would this be a concern for you?? Or is this pretty normal?? It's been 8 weeks since offer was accepted

It's definitely slow, very slow in fact. But some sales just go like that.

Now this part of the process is dealt with hopefully things will progress much faster, but given experiences up to this point you need to keep on top of everybody.

GutsInMay · 14/12/2021 09:53

Searches can take ages! We commissioned searches and survey as soon as the offer was accepted.

MrsBobDylan · 14/12/2021 23:47

I would call your solicitors and ask them for an estimate of when you might exchange.

Good luck with the new baby - I would try and focus on that and let the house move dawdle along. Much better to bring baby back to your home, rather than having a move hanging over your heads making everything more stressful.

Am so jealous - I love babies

redandwhite1 · 15/12/2021 05:33

We are moving into rented when we sell ours, I think we accepted the offer in October too and they are FTB so same chain

The searches had delays but that's all sorted now

Nothing on the market for us to rent currently but we should be completing end of January so long we find something asap

Time line is very similar to ours and we've not dragged our feet at all (and don't believe the buyers have either)

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