contract delay due to solicitor

[niallkelly14]

hi all

we went sale agreed and paid booking deposit on house 3 weeks ago. Vendor last week changed solictor from his current one to the one that he used when he originally purchased the house. EA has told us that reason was he felt that the solicitor was too slow - it all seems a bit bizarre to me!! Basically back where we started 3 weeks ago

is there anything we can do to get this moving, other a strong call to EA which i had this morn saying if this doesnt move very quickly from now on we will think about looking elsewhere

does anyone have any advice how we can push this fwd as we are keen to close out on it asap

thanks

 

[mf1]

No- in short.

On average it will take a few weeks for the contracts to issue anyway. Then it takes a few weeks for the purchaser to organise their loan. So it can easily take 8-12 weeks to complete a transaction.

You've already told the EA you would like to close quickly. He/she has told you some story about the Vendor changing solicitor - which may or may not be true. Perhaps the vendor is completely mad?

Anyway, you can if you wish pull out of the deal at any time. You can make it clear to the EA that unless serious efforts are made within X days to get contracts out with a firm closing date that you will walk away. You can ask your own solicitor to contact the EA/new Solicitor to get a view on when this is likely to happen.

Other than that, there is not a lot you can do. You would think in a slowing market that vendors would be mad keen to get contracts out but perhaps there is something bizarre/sinister going on in the background.

mf

 

[niallkelly14]

thanks mf

i am a bit wary about what could be going on here. when we were haggling re prices originally the vendor always had to consult with his partner yet there is only one name listed as vendor on the letter circulated by EA

i think the best route is to give them a deadline and then move on if it is not closed out or if sufficient progress is not being made

 

[conor_mc]

Is it a relatively new house?

If so, the vendors original solicitor may be having problem getting an undertaking from the solicitor he used when he bought the house. As far as I understand it, an undertaking is necessary when a house is in the process of being registered with the land registry which can take a few years.

So for a vendor, the easy solution is to change solicitor and use the same one as when you originally bought the house, thus negating the need for an undertaking.