How Long should it take for contracts - conveyancing?

MiaMia

Hi

I put an offer on an apartment in late March and it was sale agreed. However 7 weeks later the vendor's solicitor has still not sent the contracts to my solicitor. The Estate Agent is no longer responding to me.

How long should it take to obtain the deeds and draft the sale contract?

The apartment is vacant - it used to be an investment property - therefore should the vendor not want to sell as quickly as possible - esp considering the market and the fact that he is presumably paying a mortgage but not earning any income.

The apartment still appears on the Estate Agents website for sale - though it does say sale agreed on the sign outside it- could they be trying to sell it to somebody else for a higher price and therefore delaying?

If they do - am I still liable for my solicitor's costs?

cold_filter

When myself and my gf bought a place from the time we made the offer to the time we moved in was 1 month, as the vendors were in a rush, friends of ours had an offer accepted in october and got their keys on friday. it really does vary

c07

miamia - i'm no expert, but 7 weeks is a very long time.
It usually takes about 2 weeks for a solicitor to get title deeds for a house from the bank, so that leaves 5 weeks to account for.
If I were you, I would visit the estate agent (if possible) and state your concern.
Not sure what it can do, but it's worth a shot. At least you'd get answers.
I would have thought in the current market that they would be happy to have a buyer and would have paperwork through asap.
Good luck with it.

MiaMia

Thanks for your replies guys.

giddyup

ha ha...I just replied to you on AAM. So I wont repeat the answer here! Are there any rules about cross-board posting