Solicitor communication

Ferdia_free

Hi everyone,
Long story short, I have a deposit down on a house and am sale agreed on my own house.
I had a survey carried out and emailed the report to my solicitor. I also rang her to ask the sellers solicitor a few questions about the house. I didn't hear from her so assumed she was still looking into that.

In the meantime I rang the sellers estate agent to arrange a day to revisit the house who git back to me and said that the owner was away, and didn't want me in the house but he didn't know when she would be back.

My solicitor then sent a letter saying that the contracts were with her and to go and sign them, my estate agent told me I wouldn't be signing anything for a few weeks because of paperwork etc.
The company that carried out the survey also said not to sign anything until I discussed the findings with my solicitor.

So I rang her and she told me that the closing date is in two weeks. Can a closing date be sorted without my signature?

This surprised me but when I tried to question her she shot me down and said it was my fault that I never made an appointment, but I thought she would get back to me when she went through the surveyor report?

Is this common practice? I have no experience with buying or selling and I feel so stupid. Is the closing date the day you leave the house?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

johnnyskeleton

Ask her to explain it more clearly and if you have genuine concerns about the structure of the building make it clear that you dont want to move forward to sign the contract without dealing with that first maybe?

Ultimately your solicitor and engineer are best placed to advise you.

Ferdia_free

Thanks for that.
So can you tell me is the closing date the day you leave the house? I was hoping to co ordinate the dates with the owner of the house I was buying. From what I thought you discussed all this then signed? Can a closing date be decided without me being consulted?

April 73

Take charge of the situation. You agree each step of the process and the timing with your solicitor. This is not something that is happening to you. It is a process that you should be in control of.

Ferdia_free

I know, I've an appointment with her on Monday so I want to know all the facts!

April 73

Do you need the money from the sale of your property to buy your next house?
If so, you need your solicitor to work with your purchaser's solicitor and the solicitor for the house you are purchasing to agree on a closing date. If you want to move from one house straight to the next the two sales should close on the same day. This is possible but requires co-operation on timing & money transfers.
Your solicitor should advise you on the order of signing your contracts to sell & purchase. Your solicitor is there to protect your interests & will advise you but you retain control of the decisions.

Ferdia_free

Yes I need the money of the sale to buy the house, I thought all of this would be discussed aswel when we signed contracts. I tried to ring the estate agent of the house I am buying to ask him if the sellers knew about this date and he was not answering his phone, I guess I will find out when I see her on Monday.
I'm not happy with the way this is being done, I take it this is not normally how things are done?

Kings Inns or bust

No it's not. The only person you need to be communicating with is your solicitor; save the obvious ancillary matters.

Was this solicitor recommended or where they just the 'best' price?

Ferdia_free

The deeds of my house (previously my parents house) were already with them so just went with them, feel very foolish now that I didn't shop around.

Any advice for when I go up on Monday to sign the contract? I feel like this is a mess 😔

Kings Inns or bust

Some solicitors are much better in person. Go in with an open mind, if you don't like what you're hearing change solicitors. In an organisational sense rather than in a bad legal news sense.

Glass fused light

Ferdia_free wrote: »

The deeds of my house (previously my parents house) were already with them so just went with them, feel very foolish now that I didn't shop around.

Any advice for when I go up on Monday to sign the contract? I feel like this is a mess ��

This maybe the biggest amount of money you will ever spend, so you can ask 'if it makes your ass look fat' and expect an answer.

So for one dont go up to sign, go up to talk.
Get her to explain how the process works, it's her job, she would know the ins and outs of it, so it's not a big thing to her and she has no personal involvement.
Remember there are no stupid questions just ones you don't know the answer to.

List your questions eg what documents are needed and what they mean, (eg the survey was there any real issues), what happens if your sale goes sideways .... and any other question which springs to mind. Some of the threads on here have great info.
I would also suggest that you sit down and read the paperwork and have stickies to mark up things you are not sure about and get her to explain. (This may seem ott but it may trigger more questions.)

Have it in your mind that you will be going away to think about what is said and then you are making an other appointment to sign. But take on board that this may/will come with an extra cost so her bill will be higher.

+ Plus what Kings Inn or Bust said above

Even if you end up signing on the day you will feel more in control.

Ferdia_free

Thanks for your help, writing my list now!

April 73

Have you signed anything yet?
Either the contract to sell your property or the contract to purchase the new property?
It's not entirely clear.

Ferdia_free

No haven't signed any contract yet, solicitor said I would do it tomorrow, that's why I'm confused about the closing date, like who decided it and why wasn't I consulted?

mirrorwall14

Is the close date on the house you are buying? The vendor put the close date into the contract they sent us, we weren't consulted in advance. Suits us perfectly so we didn't mind