Looking for some advice if anyone has any experience with buying a house from a bank.
Ex (still living with my hence my interest) had an offer accepted on a house on the 7th of November and paid the deposit that day.
He had his banks surveyor out the following week and all was fine, bank released letter to his solicitor that mortgage was ready to be drawn down.
Ex showed he has the down payment ready to go.
There has been no movement on it since, I know the Christmas break would delay things anyway but his solicitor have only had one letter from the banks solicitor to say they haven't received the files from the bank, that was approx 3 weeks ago, Ex called the banks solicitor this morning (should his own solicitor not be doing this?) and asked for an update, they said they do not have the file from the bank yet, they requested it weeks ago but haven't had it yet, he asked when he can expect a closing date and they said they cannot advise that until they have the file from the bank.
Is this normal? Does it drag on this long? At the start he was told it would take 4-6 weeks because bank sales are always quicker which I was hesitant to believe anyway but allowed him to stay living in my house so he could save money on renting. But now it is really dragging on and it doesn't seem like it's any closer to closing. My mam said this morning that it could still take 6 weeks when they do get the files as his solicitor has to do her own searches etc.
Does anyone have any knowledge on this? I bought my house from my sister and it was very straight forward so I've no experience myself.