Closing dates tend to be aspirational only. There should be a nominated closing date in the contract but that often passes. Bit of a bugger I know but in practice tends to be the way.
As a rule I try to get a clear commitment/understanding from both vendor and purchaser at an early stage to a fixed date because of course both sides need to know when the deal will close, the vendor moving out and the purchaser moving in. However, because ( until recently when everything started to stall) purchasers would lie about their readiness to complete and vendors would go with them on that basis, and then of course the purchasers could not complete, we then have to do a full appraisal of when and if we can realistically complete the deal .
"My solicitor doesn't seem to be applying much force on my behalf so I was thinking of ringing the seller's solicitor myself - What do you think? "
They won't take your call - you have legal representation. Talk to your own solicitor about trying to fix a realistic date with the vendors that will be adhered to.
"I believe that they should have checked with us if it was possible to change the closing date stated in the contract rather than just informing us that they were going to change it???"
It would at the very least be good manners but they are seldom seen anymore.
mf
I believe that they should have checked with us if it was possible to change the closing date stated in the contract rather than just informing us that they were going to change it???