Solicitor advice - house sale

[andrewcregan]

The Mrs is selling a property in England, that is dragging on for ever.
There is no chain, the first time buyer has had their mortgage offer for ages (so long it may expire!) yet this has taken over 4 months, and still obstacles previously sorted are constantly brought up.
There is every chance that this very simple sale may fall through, purely down to the solicitors.
I suggested complaining to The Law Society.
Should she, or is there anything else to do to prevent the imminent collapse of this drawn out sale?

Any help much appreciated.

[kungfugerbil]

No advice, but I am in exactly the same scenario. I just can't see how someone can be so bad at the job they do exclusively. Absolutely no sense of urgency, poor response to letters/emails/calls, having to revise previously issued and signed paperwork... I even looked around for recommendations beforehand, I guess not only do you need to get positive recommendations on the firm but also the person who will have your file to look after.

We will be gutted if the buyers walk away at this stage (4 months in).

[andrewcregan]

Wow, sounds almost identical.
There was me thinking that this was a one off.

The Estate Agent who has been superb, has had houses sell weeks after this sale was agreed, and in a chain, complete weeks ago???!

[burnsey66]

Andrew,

The selling lawyer does very little. The buying lawyer is the busier of the two, for sure.

I'd take advice from the agent, as you've already mentioned they've been good, as they will know if there is any reason for the ongoing delay.

[guinea]

There's three things you have to do with every lawyer on every house sale.

1. Chase them daily.
2. Chase them daily.
3. Chase them daily.

Lazy, useless clowns. If I did my job as bad as they do theirs, I'd be jobless.

[Bernard]

There's three things you have to do with every lawyer on every house sale.

1. Chase them daily.
2. Chase them daily.
3. Chase them daily.

Lazy, useless clowns. If I did my job as bad as they do theirs, I'd be jobless.

Please, I'm a barrister myself. Most of us work our butts off and deliver on time!
There only has to be one such incompetent idiot to spoil it for the hard working guys...

:-(

[markc]

There's three things you have to do with every lawyer on every house sale.

1. Chase them daily.
2. Chase them daily.
3. Chase them daily.

Lazy, useless clowns. If I did my job as bad as they do theirs, I'd be jobless.

I'll disagree - have only bought two houses but each time the solicitor has been very good.

First one (in England) was handled by my best mate's sister (at the family firm) - it probably helped that I'd known them all for 20+ years - sorted out no end of problems caused by the vendor.

Second one (in Scotland) was sorted by a firm recommended to us by a colleague - they were excellent, again helped out with all sorts of vendor related issues.

I can provide contact details if required.

Not sold one though (my ex-wife sorted out the divorce sale).

Cheers,

[TikTokTrev]

I feel your I pain!
I've just had a similar scenario selling one of my buy to lets, where the buyers solicitor was painfully slow.
All you can really do is chase, and never forget that you are the paying client.
The trick is to get your file to the front of the queue, and sadly it seems to me there is no substitute for making a bit of a pain of yourself!

[andrewcregan]

Through direct contact with the buyer, we know he is very keen to complete. He may pull out due to the delay!
The Estate Agent suggests both solicitors are as bad as each other! [shocked!]

[guinea]

Please, I'm a barrister myself. Most of us work our butts off and deliver on time!
There only has to be one such incompetent idiot to spoil it for the hard working guys...

:-(

My wife's a lawyer.

If she worked as poorly as every single conveyancing solicitor we've every dealt with, she'd also be fired.

A quick internet search will show that I'm not alone.

[ach5]

I once sold a house to a guy who was buying it with an "Islamic Mortgage" - now that was a pain for my solicitor!

[andrewcregan]

Now got hold of the Directors details of the solicitors, and informed The Law Society.

Are all solicitors equally qualified?

[Bernard]

Now got hold of the Directors details of the solicitors, and informed The Law Society.

Are all solicitors equally qualified?

In the Netherlands, when it comes to education they should be, but every one has his or her special expertise.
So it comes to finding the right one for the job.

[KNog]

1. Chase them daily.
2. Chase them daily.
3. Chase them daily.

I've found that with my solicitors, consistently poor service and missed deadlines. I have an alarm set on my phone now to ring every day otherwise they take a week to do the simplest of tasks. I'll certainly never use them again.

[Fords]

My son had this problem in the end he told them to Do One!, they said he was in breach of contract, until we pointed out that he was not buying my house that was where he lived, they wasted 6 weeks, Estate agents are all Numb Nuts.

[andrewcregan]

We are now about 2 months beyond the original completion date.
Really feel like we are constantly doing jobs that the solicitors are being paid to do.
The amount of stuff they have misplaced is unforgivable.

[andrewcregan]

Estate agents are all Numb Nuts.

To be fair, our estate agents have been superb. Proactive, helpful, and constantly keeping us up to date - basically the opposite of the solicitors!

[burnsey66]

Estate agents are all Numb Nuts.

Do you not need to keep an eye on your Volvo, no doubt parked in a disabled bay, outside some French charity shop, trying to buy a 3, 6, 9 dial for ten euro ?

[AlphaCat]

This happened to me. They accepted our offer in beginning of February and didn't complete until June. I took to calling our solicitor almost daily. He would say they were waiting on searches that took 3-5 days. After a week with them still waiting for these searches I asked where they were waiting from, called those places and asked for their lead times and if they were experiencing any delays currently, called my solicitor back and asked him to chase it as they were obviously overdue and boom, had them done 3 days later. I had to do that for pretty much every step, it was horrible. I feel your pain. Keep in touch with the buyers and have them hound their solicitor and hound yours if you feel like they are not doing their job. In my case I feel like the problem was all my solicitor and not the sellers so I cannot imagine the pain of two baddies! Best of luck!

[Bernard]

I've found that with my solicitors, consistently poor service and missed deadlines. I have an alarm set on my phone now to ring every day otherwise they take a week to do the simplest of tasks. I'll certainly never use them again.

If a Dutch lawyer/barrister/solicitor misses a deadline he would be liable for the damages incurred.
Of course we have insurance - I have a regular one up to 1.25 mln Euro and special increases for cases with bigger financial consequences - but on top of that, if you passed the bar, you can be held accountable for the "Raad van Discipline", the disciplinary committee, who can hand out several sanctions. They can even remove you from the bar for life...

Isn't there something similar in the UK?

[westy]

My employer is purchasing around 40 plots (or part plots) of land for the highway scheme I'm currently involved in and we have employed a (very experienced) locum conveyancer to assist.
He's constantly told us that once the deal is agreed and heads of terms (or whatever) are signed off, it can all done in two to three weeks maximum.
However, when the lawyers start sharpening their pencils and smelling fees to be earned, things go very differently...

This doesn't help you I'm afraid, but best of luck anyway.

[genesos]

How about online conveyancing ? Instant status checks and updates when we sold a property recently using an online conveyance service

[Wolfie]

No advice, but I am in exactly the same scenario. I just can't see how someone can be so bad at the job they do exclusively. Absolutely no sense of urgency, poor response to letters/emails/calls, having to revise previously issued and signed paperwork... I even looked around for recommendations beforehand, I guess not only do you need to get positive recommendations on the firm but also the person who will have your file to look after.

We will be gutted if the buyers walk away at this stage (4 months in).

Exactly the same position but in reverse... I have the money in place it's only me and the vendor, but, what should have taken 4 - 6 weeks has taken over 4 months and is still ongoing... They've made excuses, lied and generally done nothing constructive...

I had a full on row with my solicitor last week... I explained that nothing had progressed until I started calling every day... His response "well, mr Wolf, if you weren't phoning us all the time, we might be able to get on with our jobs"

I've never hit anyone in my life, but, I promise if he were in front of me at that moment I would have lamped him

Hopefully we'll get it wrapped up in the next fortnight, but, they've been truly awful... It's cost me time, money and my sanity...

[andrewcregan]

what should have taken 4 - 6 weeks has taken over 4 months and is still ongoing... They've made excuses, lied and generally done nothing constructive...

I had a full on row with my solicitor last week... I explained that nothing had progressed until I started calling every day... His response "well, mr Wolf, if you weren't phoning us all the time, we might be able to get on with our jobs"

I've never hit anyone in my life, but, I promise if he were in front of me at that moment I would have lamped him

Hopefully we'll get it wrapped up in the next fortnight, but, they've been truly awful... It's cost me time, money and my sanity...

All, sadly, sounds very familiar We have suffered the blatant lying too - from solicitors!

[stuie-t]

I think part of the problem is there is so little money to be made in conveyancing. The average cost is about £500? I work for a big accounting firm and that equates to about 30 mins of partner time, and I expect the law firms have similar charging scales. That means that 99% of the work has to be done by the interns and new graduates.

[TheFlyingBanana]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

Shoosmiths.

The best conveyancing firm in the country. I've used them three times and they are staggeringly good. If the sale falls through for any reason you pay nothing. Brilliant continual communication, and very very fast. Google them for customer reviews.

[skipppy]

I am buying a new house and selling our existing one. The solicitor we have has been ace. The estate agents on the other hand............ well, there should be more regulation around these guys, they are an effing nightmare.

[walkerwek1958]

In my limited experience of house selling/buying, I`ve found it useful to know who's holding things up at any stage. Good communication is the key, keep pestering and keep abreast of the process. Don't accept bullshit from solicitors, and don`t be afraid to remind them who's paying the bills.

There are good and bad solicitors out there; last experience I had (when selling my late father's property) was very good, the conveyancy was handling very quickly and very efficiently. Wish I could say the same for the Estate Agents, they were less than honest a few times.

Paul

[JasonM]

How about online conveyancing ? Instant status checks and updates when we sold a property recently using an online conveyance service

The Solicitors I used a few years ago had this, it was brilliant, you could see at a glance where you were in the process.....

[burnsey66]

Wish I could say the same for the Estate Agents, they were less than honest a few times.

Paul

It's often the case, they compliment a property when seeking an instruction to sell, when really, they want to tell you your house smells of stale urine.

Honesty often hurts...

[Richard.]

Recently I agreed, on a Friday, to buy three properties with a stipulation from the vendor that completion be no later than the following Monday. I think we were done by lunchtime.

[andrewcregan]

Recently I agreed, on a Friday, to buy three properties with a stipulation from the vendor that completion be no later than the following Monday. I think we were done by lunchtime.

This seems to demonstrate yet further, how incompetent some solicitors are.