Selling procedure help please

[Travelcrazy]

We accepted an offer from a first time buyer yesterday and the EA recommended a solicitor who has emailed me a quote. He said if we are happy with it accept it and they will get the ball rolling. We have not found a property yet so we are concerned in case we don’t find anything and the buyer pulls out. Surely then we will still be liable for the bill? I thought we would proceed when we have found a house.
Thank you for any advice.

They won’t make the case live till chain is complete. We are in the same position currently (waiting for chain to complete) but have instucted solicitors. Initial paperwork is the money laundering and ID checks. Then once our onward purchase have had their offer accepted it’s all systems go.

Don’t accept the first quote for a solicitor especially from the EA. Get a couple from independent solicitors.

Exactly this

Thanks for your help thats great

@Vickim03 so are you now liable for charges without it completing?

I’m in a similar position. We’ve accepted an offer on our house from a first time buyer. We’ve had our offer accepted but our vendors haven’t found anywhere. Their estate agent told us not to instruct solicitors yet as we would have to pay for any work done, and the buyer and vendor could change their minds. What we have done is photocopy documents for identity checks and started to look at bank statements etc. So once everyone is ready we can hit the ground running!

Thank you thats great advise and exactly what I was thinking!

You are most welcome!

We instructed a solicitor to keep them happy but told her not to do anything more until we had progressed. I would definitely look around for a good local solicitor, I found the one the EA recommended was expensive and I wonder if they get commission for just saying that one is good.

Thank you @OtiMama I will definitely do that!