Close to exchange but still haven't received report or mortgage deed from solicitor

[zuza96]

Hi everyone- we are in the process of selling our flat and buying a new build home. At the moment I believe we are close to exchange- we've answered all enquiries to our buyer's solicitor and are just awaiting 2 replies to enquiries on our purchase. However we still haven't received the report or mortgage deed (which we were told would be sent with the report) as of yet. Is our solicitor waiting to receive replies to the outstanding enquiries before reporting to us? Our solicitor is quite rude and seems annoyed even when we politely ask him for an update

In the nicest possible way, none of us strangers on the internet can tell you what your solicitor is doing. Ignore the rudeness, he works for you.

When I was buying this place, I had the most success communicating with the solicitor by email. He tended to respond late in the day, but usually the same day.

Some solicitors send the mortgage deed earlier in the process than others. For example I know our buyers had received theirs way before we were sent ours for our purchase. I agree with PP I used to email solicitor for updates and they were pretty good at keeping us up to date. You won’t be able to exchange until all the enquiries are answered so don’t worry too much.

hope things move forwards for you soon

Is our solicitor waiting to receive replies to the outstanding enquiries before reporting to us?

Yes. The report on title is the final summary of all the searches and enquiries the solicitor has carried out on the property you are purchasing. The report will not be complete until all of the enquiries have been answered.

There is a staggering amount of paperwork for your solicitor to get through if you're buying a new build. You'll see this when you come to sign the contract it will be pages and pages long (normal contracts are a couple of sheets of paper) and your solicitor will have had to have trawled through all of it with a fine tooth comb to make sure that they can give you an accurate Report on Title. Understandably he will be waiting until he has all the information to hand before he reports to you, so that you have all the information you need to make the final decision to go ahead. He can't exchange without you and the Developer signing the contract, and you're not going to do that before you've received the Report. Also bear in mind that Developer's are notoriously pushy and awkward, and will want to complete at a time that is convenient for them, not you.