Time Frame for Contracts to be signed etc,

Hello all

I have been given formal approval for my mortgage last week, hooray!. Initially I thought I'd be cutting it fine in terms of signing the contract etc as I had not got it formalised until about 3 weeks after going sale agreed.

However, is it normal to still not have received contracts/deeds etc from the vendors solicitor nearly 4 weeks after going sale agreed?, I do not want to pester the solicitor every day but he's just reporting back that he has left messages and they have not responded.

I'm starting to get a bit worried...

This can be for any number of reasons:

1. Worst case scenario - they are actually holding out for a better offer from someone else
2. Second worst case scenario, the deeds are lost somewhere
3. More likely, they only contacted the solicitor after sale was agreed and it does take several weeks for the vendors lending institution to release the deeds to the solicitor so that they can issue proceedings.
4. Or, the vendors solicitors has the deeds but some ghastly problem has emerged that needs fixing before contracts can issue e.g. vendors title not registered, or registered incorrectly, etc.,etc
5. Or solicitor just sitting on the file because too busy.

If your own solicitor is getting nowhere, ask the auctioneer to get you an answer from the vendor or vendors solicitor with an idea of when everyone intends to complete.

And remember there is no binding contract in existence until such time as the contracts are signed by both parties and exchanged and the agreed deposit has been paid. So, yes, until then either party can walk away with no legal repercussions.



mf

Yikes!, that sounds very worrying. I just hope it is the bank being slow issuing the deeds, etc

I'd be amazed if they are holding out for a better deal, there was very little interest in the house to be honest (not in Dublin!)

Thank you very much for your post

Hi it took us three months to get our contracts issued and signed when we were buying our house. It was a very anxious time but the vendors were also buying a new house and did not want to commit to a date on a contract when they were still unsure when their house would be ready.

Check with the estate agent and they should be able to put your mind at rest but try and set a deadline as to how long you are prepared to wait for contracts. Keep looking at other houses also - just in case you need something to fall back on!! I'm almost sorry we didn't do this when we put down the deposit for our house as other houses were coming up in the area.

We could have looked at them and perhaps one of them was looking for a quick sale as opposed to a slow and painful sale like we were in involved in. Hindsight is a great thing. Best of luck and try not to take any nonsense excuses or whatever from the EA.

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