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[Sir Tigger KC]

Bloody estate agent in Brackley keeps on about completion dates......Christ sake, I haven't signed anything yet. My solicitor can't get in contact with my buyers solicitor.

I bet he hasn't phoned or emailed the buyers solicitor and is writing letters and sending them 2nd class! 

When ever I've had to use a solicitor, I've found them to be so freaking dickensian it's untrue! 

[Gaffers]

No, but given that estate agents are universally shite (in my experience, anyway); how much worse could they possibly be?

Some years ago (North London) we were in a position to move significantly upmarket. We knew the area we wanted to move to. Walked into Estate Agent right in that area. Told him what we wanted, and what we would be selling. He deterred me from absolutely every house I enquired about and didn't even want my contact details. He prejudged. We bought a house that was on his books but via a different agent. Years later we sold up to move to Wales. The same agent was still in business, but no way were we going to use him.

There are some good ones that are proactive and actually try to sell houses, but I agree most are a waste of space.

I had the same experience in the 1980's, going from living at home to buying a big detached house. The only two agents of seven that sent through details, one of them sold me my house at the full realistic asking price. Non-estate position down a small private road in the middle of Sandhurst at the same price as the equivalent open plan estate market grot, that I drove past and rejected. I've never had any regrets as it is a great place to live.

Maybe so but as a former student of the academy South Camberley is as close as I want to get

[aaronjb]

Bloody estate agent in Brackley keeps on about completion dates......Christ sake, I haven't signed anything yet. My solicitor can't get in contact with my buyers solicitor.

I bet he hasn't phoned or emailed the buyers solicitor and is writing letters and sending them 2nd class! 

When ever I've had to use a solicitor, I've found them to be so freaking dickensian it's untrue! 

That's what really grinds my gears - you end up doing all the leg work for the solicitors and the estate agents. Half the time they refuse to talk to each other or "Can't get hold of them" - yet when you call you can get hold of them just fine.. money for old rope.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Bloody estate agent in Brackley keeps on about completion dates......Christ sake, I haven't signed anything yet. My solicitor can't get in contact with my buyers solicitor.

I bet he hasn't phoned or emailed the buyers solicitor and is writing letters and sending them 2nd class! 

When ever I've had to use a solicitor, I've found them to be so freaking dickensian it's untrue! 

That's what really grinds my gears - you end up doing all the leg work for the solicitors and the estate agents. Half the time they refuse to talk to each other or "Can't get hold of them" - yet when you call you can get hold of them just fine.. money for old rope.

Yes. The lazy little shits are reactive rather than proactive. They will wait endlessly for another estate agent/solicitor to contact them. When I suggest "how about you give them a call to find out why things are taking so long" they look shocked.

As Aaron rightly says, the customer/client ends  up doing their job for them just to keep things moving.

[Terbs]

We are on week 12 now....and there are only three in the chain (not counting our purchase which is no onward chain.) Its the first time buyer holding things up. Evidently querying this, querying that, but I was told that was sorted on Monday, but still nothing this end !!!
 

[Kevin Wood]

We are on week 12 now....and there are only three in the chain (not counting our purchase which is no onward chain.) Its the first time buyer holding things up. Evidently querying this, querying that, but I was told that was sorted on Monday, but still nothing this end !!!
 

Sounds like it's about time for one of the solicitors to go on holiday, or may be they already have, but haven't thought to tell anyone?

I hope it is soon sorted.

[Terbs]

Cheers Kevin. It would finish the misses, but I really feel like pulling the plug, staying here, and telling them all b******s

[Terbs]

Kevin....spot on. Just had Estate agent on with update. A solicitor is on holiday, and no-one checked the inbox. Form LR1 or LD1 !!!! reputedly, not been received by buyers solicitor, so it has now been sent direct to the buyer, who is going to print it off, and take it personally to the solicitors office. Date for moving now looks about 3rd August. Evidently all parties are desperate to move, but we are thwarted by bloody solicitor's office. As I said earlier, this form was supposed to have been sent Monday, buyer has been asking where the hell it is....now we know

[Mister Rog]

Kevin....spot on. Just had Estate agent on with update. A solicitor is on holiday, and no-one checked the inbox. Form LR1 or LD1 !!!! reputedly, not been received by buyers solicitor, so it has now been sent direct to the buyer, who is going to print it off, and take it personally to the solicitors office. Date for moving now looks about 3rd August. Evidently all parties are desperate to move, but we are thwarted by bloody solicitor's office. As I said earlier, this form was supposed to have been sent Monday, buyer has been asking where the hell it is....now we know

We moved about four years ago and an incompetent solicitor two steps up the chain from us caused huge problems and a lot of bad feeling that exists even now. Everybody down the chain was stuck. Complicated by the fact I was buying two properties. There were threats to pull out, arguments down the telephone, tears in offices. Terrible. And there was no real reason for delay just incompetence. It ended up with simultaneous exchange and completion on our sale. So exchange and complete on the same day. Hair raising, as even at the very last minute before handing keys over it can all fall though.

[Viral_Jim]

We are on week 12 now....and there are only three in the chain (not counting our purchase which is no onward chain.) Its the first time buyer holding things up. Evidently querying this, querying that, but I was told that was sorted on Monday, but still nothing this end !!!
 

The other thing is there may be shenanigans on the part of the FTB, in this instance not wanting to move before the end of the tenancy and thus have to pay a mortgage and rent. Not that that helps you of course.

I'll hold my hands up to it to a minor extent. If we move before 31/08 we'll have a £4k early repayment charge on the mortgage, so if it looks likely theyll rush it through (doubtful given it's only 6 weeks out) then I suspect an impromptu foreign holiday will be in order.   

[Terbs]

The FTB in our case, Jimmy, are living with parents, so that should not present problems. They are the ones getting off their backsides to try to speed things up, and repair solicitor incompetence.

[henryd]

Kevin....spot on. Just had Estate agent on with update. A solicitor is on holiday, and no-one checked the inbox. Form LR1 or LD1 !!!! reputedly, not been received by buyers solicitor, so it has now been sent direct to the buyer, who is going to print it off, and take it personally to the solicitors office. Date for moving now looks about 3rd August. Evidently all parties are desperate to move, but we are thwarted by bloody solicitor's office. As I said earlier, this form was supposed to have been sent Monday, buyer has been asking where the hell it is....now we know

We moved about four years ago and an incompetent solicitor two steps up the chain from us caused huge problems and a lot of bad feeling that exists even now. Everybody down the chain was stuck. Complicated by the fact I was buying two properties. There were threats to pull out, arguments down the telephone, tears in offices. Terrible. And there was no real reason for delay just incompetence. It ended up with simultaneous exchange and completion on our sale. So exchange and complete on the same day. Hair raising, as even at the very last minute before handing keys over it can all fall though.

We had a seller pull out on day of completion which was shit at the time as our house sale had already completed,turned out well though as the house we eventually bought was much bigger and better