[OT] Conveyancing - comments/advice please

[yello]

We're in the process of selling the house. Offer was made 2 months ago and we're finally on the verge of exchange of contracts. There's no chain.

The buyer's solicitor - well, actually she is a conveyancing agent rather than a fully fledged solicitor - has been unbelievably pedantic, much to the annoyance of our own solicitor and to our frustration.

Now, she is just ignoring our solicitor's request for exchange! We have no idea why, she just seems like she wants to work to her own agenda (even her client, our buyer, is frustrated!).

Is there anything we can do (aside pulling the plug on the whole deal!) to push her along?

 

[ChrisKH]

Well I'm at month 7 of selling my (empty) mother's house. Haven't exchanged yet.

 

[Arch]

I expect Patrick will have some advice...

But if her client is frustrated, perhaps they should just give her a ring and lay down the law? I mean they are the client. Could they threaten to withhold fees, or report to the relevant body or something?

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

We're in the process of selling the house. Offer was made 2 months ago and we're finally on the verge of exchange of contracts. There's no chain.

The buyer's solicitor - well, actually she is a conveyancing agent rather than a fully fledged solicitor - has been unbelievably pedantic, much to the annoyance of our own solicitor and to our frustration.

Now, she is just ignoring our solicitor's request for exchange! We have no idea why, she just seems like she wants to work to her own agenda (even her client, our buyer, is frustrated!).

Is there anything we can do (aside pulling the plug on the whole deal!) to push her along?

She'll probably be Tracey aged 19 in Team Blue of Department 8 of Acme Conveyancers Limited working of a procedure sheet in a warehouse in Darlington and she won't give a damn about anything. I'm a conveyancing solicitor and I have to deal with these muppets every day. The best thing you can do is to tell your agents that it's likely to fall through if you don't exchange and leave them to do the bullying.

 

[yello]

Cheers Patrick. I think our 'Tracey' is a one (wo)man band. She has actually told our solicitor that she doesn't take client instruction (!!) and works to her own time scales. She was apparently "too busy" to deal with the exchange yesterday - and went home at 4pm.

She advised our buyer to offer less than the asking price, weeks after the buyer had made a formal offer. I think that's outside of her role and was firmly put into touch by the estate agent. She's entitled to an opinion of course but what the buyer offers is the buyer's concern.

I'm just worried that she's now deliberately delaying to pressure us and will then advise gazundering. The women's a law unto herself!

 

[spen666]

...

Is there anything we can do (aside pulling the plug on the whole deal!) to push her along?

Its difficult as she is acting for your buyer. He/she/they are the people who can/should get her to get a move on. As you have no relationship with her, you can't do anything directly, other than threaten to withdraw or try to get buyer to hurry her up.


It is of course possible that she is delaying on buyer's instructions eg if he is having problems re mortgage etc. He may well lie to you about his position to cover up the fact he has asked her to delay things

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

...

It is of course possible that she is delaying on buyer's instructions eg if he is having problems re mortgage etc. He may well lie to you about his position to cover up the fact he has asked her to delay things

Spen is quite right over this. It happens frequently.

 

[spen666]

...

It is of course possible that she is delaying on buyer's instructions eg if he is having problems re mortgage etc. He may well lie to you about his position to cover up the fact he has asked her to delay things

Spen is quite right over this. It happens frequently.

It happens very very frequently that I am right

 

[fuzzy29]

When I worked as an estate agent many years ago, I sold an empty flat to a cash buyer and it took 53 weeks to go through!

 

[Baggy]

I'm a conveyancing solicitor and I have to deal with these muppets every day.

<creep> We used a conveyancing solicitor, and she was very good </creep> We completed this morning and am now wetting self in case we hate the place (Chuffy has gone to collect the keys....)

I would be tempted to try the "if we haven't exchanged by X date, the house goes back on the market" ploy, via your Estate Agent.

 

[mosschops2]

I had an exchange that was dragging some time ago (5 yrs??) when the market was much more bouyant than it is today.

I called my solicitor to complain that it was going so slowly, so he said, "tell you what; I'll tell them if we haven't exchanged by Friday, it's off".

Which worked well (it was tuesday at the time!)

These days you'd struggle to be so pushy I think. If you can face it, I'd consider putting the house back on the market though.... Or at least threaten to....

My dad always recommends speaking to the vendors / purchasers directly - cut out the middlemen. Even if you can't do that, a stern word with the estate agents should get things moving.

Although he also was of the opinion that estate agents range from being incompetant to crooked. The problem is... which are you better off with??!!

 

[mosschops2]

Or maybe, say to your current estate agent that they are clearly not getting anywhere, you're thinking of putting the house back on the market, and while you're at it, you're so irritated by their complete lack of ability to act as agents for the sale, that you're going to use a different company.....

The thing is, at some point, you'll have nothing to loose.....

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

I'm a conveyancing solicitor and I have to deal with these muppets every day.

<creep> We used a conveyancing solicitor, and she was very good </creep> We completed this morning and am now wetting self in case we hate the place (Chuffy has gone to collect the keys....)

I would be tempted to try the "if we haven't exchanged by X date, the house goes back on the market" ploy, via your Estate Agent.[/quote]

The Estate Agent, unrestrained by any scruple, will phone up the woman (they target them first) and say, "You're going to lose your dream home because your conveyancer is slowing it down to charge you more money and we've just had a higher cash offer."

 

[yello]

Everyone's having stern words already (apparantly). She just isn't listening. We're all expected to wait until she's got time! Earlier today it was "I've got 2 completions to do, I'll look at when I've done those". Then she started quibbling over the fact that service charges are paid in advance on estimate, actuals are not calculated until year end. What is she proposing? That we wait until year end? And why does she raise this now? It's ever been the case. She's always got 'reasons' and all are getting a bit tired of it.

She should be representing her client (our buyer) but the buyer is just as frustrated as we are!

I would threaten to go back on the market but you have to be prepared to follow through on the threat. I'm sure she knows that it'd be a bluff. I guess we just have to dance to her tune. Bugger all else we can do

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Then she started quibbling over the fact that service charges are paid in advance on estimate, actuals are not calculated until year end. :?:

This has always been the case in the 25 years that I've been in practice for the simple reason that there's no other way of doing it. Has she only just found this out?