Q:Hi, we are in the process of moving house, have had to chase and hurry the solicitor a lot, she has known for a while that all of us in the (short) chain want to complete the first week of July, ideally the 2nd. Last week I chased her again and asked when we would receive documents like the fixtures and fittings form, and she said that she sent it all out on the 10th (last Tuesday). Every day we have expected it to arrive. She also said that if we don't receive it by today (Monday) to ring her. So, I ring her today and her voicemail says… she has gone on holiday, to return July 1st, the day before we have said for ages we want to complete! I am doubting whether she really sent the documents at all last week and knew I would ring her today and just get her voicemail, but maybe I shouldn't be so cynical. So, at this stage, do we have any hope of exchanging and completing in 2 weeks, given that our allocated colicitor isn't back until the day before?! Has anyone been in this situation and everything worked out ok? People always said moving house was stressful but I didn't realise just how much…Thanks, Sarah
A:We are waiting for the 'draft contract pack' that I am told contains the searches, draft contract etc.
If OP's solicitor has had the draft contract pack and has been through it and raised any further questions etc then there is some hope of completing when OP wants.
On the other hand, if the solicitor has not even received it from the seller's solcitor then it starts to get a lot less likely.
A:If the survey's OK and the mortgage is in place and everybody's happy, then 2 weeks is easily achievable.
It's down to you/your solicitor raising any issues.
A:Sorry, I didn't make that very clear. We are buying a house from people who are buying from a couple who are splitting up and going into rented accomodation. We will be letting out our house. We have firm mortgage offers so have had the surveys done. We are waiting for the 'draft contract pack' that I am told contains the searches, draft contract etc. The EA we are buying from has been very good, I spoke to her after posting this and she chased the solicitors as well and made them promise to re-send the docs by special delivery today.
A:It is possible – we did it on our house (offer accepted 1 Feb, exchanged by 14 Feb). However you need REALLY good solicitors and a good mortgage broker, or already funds in place and ready to pull down asap.
Its pretty hard work though!
A:I don't want to dampen what should be an exciting (although stressful) time for you but our experience of
solicitor's wasn't good when we were trying to exchange and complete on the sale of our house a few days later.
Our buyer's
solicitor was being chased for 10 days prior to the intended exchange date and we were informed that she was on maternity leave and didn't have the file with her & wasn't due back into the office until 4 days prior to our intended date. She didn't return on the the day we were informed she would be due to and she informed our
solicitor that she had sent the file recorded delivery to another
solicitor in the office to deal with. (This was after she stated that she didn't have the file with her!!).
We were then given the run around all week until our side was informed that the file had been passed back to the original
solicitor, who had by this time returned the office and only looked at the file at 3.00p.m. on the day (Friday) we should have exchanged and decided that our buyer (her client) wasn't ready to exchange and would need a further 10 days for this to progress to exchange. This was after our buyer asking us to move out and rent and it turns out that they were the only link in the chain that weren't ready.
All along, our
solicitor informed the buyer's
solicitor that if the exchange didn't occur on the intended date, it would then be delayed till the beginning of July due to our vendors being away on honeymoon until this time – the inevitable happened and our buyer pulled out a week later, collapsing the whole chain.
I'm still not sure what to think of
solicitor's due to our experience but I'm pretty sure they can procrastinate when they want to, when they are instructed to or even lie when required.
We are now back at square one and trying to sell our property in a declining market but it'll happen when it happens – things like this are beyond our control. I do hope your experience is a much better one.
Have you tried to obtain a copy of the F&F form from your EA?
Best of luck to you!
A:You haven't said if you have the searches back & the mortgage offer out, which will have more of a bearing on exchange & completion.
As PN says, your solicitor may well have handed the case over to to some one else to deal with in their absence. It would have been nice if they could have taken the time to explain this to you & give you a contact name.
Contact the solicitors and find out what is going on.
A:As you've not received the F&F sheet yet, and she's off on her holidays, it seems unlikely. Your posting gave an overall feeling of slackness on her behalf.
Within the timescales it IS possible to complete, the question is the probability.
There are other factors though, e.g. have all the surveyors in the chain been/gone?
If not, I'd say it probably won't be happening on your preferred date.
The F&F form (the one you are filling in I presume) will raise its own questions from the buyer's solicitor possibly – and/or the lender.
You can't pick/choose a date to move. It can only happen when all the money is guaranteed/in place and all questions/queries from lenders/solicitors have been answered satisfactorily. But, so far, you have already got already of nearly a week just over one form.
Is the chain just you and your buyer?
Are you buying too? Where's that at?
Your solicitor will (I assume) be getting somebody to cover their work while on holiday. How big is the firm? Maybe that person is OK and will keep on top of things, or they may be snowed under.
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