Closing on a property transaction - how long's it supposed to take

erudec

Apparently there is a hold-up here at closing stage. My other half is at their wit's end with all these crazy delays.

Can anyone advise what might be jamming up the gears?

If the seller is getting cold feet, can my other half sue the seller for breach of contract, or does the seller have the freedom to pull the rug out without any explanation?

My other half has already paid out the money to the buyer's solicitor, and now the man in the office of the buyer's solicitor is saying they need to charge extra fees to my other half because they weren't expecting so much back-and-forth.

Is it really normal practice to charge a customer extra when there are unexplained delays in the closing process?

My other half is buying a house and he had originally believed that closing was supposed to be done and dusted on Thursday, but it's Tuesday and we're still dragging along and no light at the end of the tunnel.

Kyta

The seller can not pull out if contracts are signed by all parties.
What is nature of the delay?

mel.b

Surely the sellers solictor can’t also charge the buyer due to ‘additional back & forth?’ I would expect that the seller would pay those costs you your partner oay his solictor costs. Of course your solictor’s costs may be higher as well if there was more work due to the back & forth but i wouldn’t be expecting to pay the sellers extra costs as well!

Mint Sauce

Have contracts with a close date been signed? If so the seller cant pull out with out risk of being sued for costs, as the buyer cant pull out with out risk of losing their deposit.

If the close date has been passed, then there is a procedure which gives the seller an ultimatum of completing with x number of days. If still not closed it may allow the buyer to walk away without risk, and the seller sued (by the buyer) again for costs. Cannot remember the name of the procedure, but discuss it with your solicitor if the date has passed, or looks like it could pass.

Edit.

Its called a 28 day completion notice.

stimpson

erudec wrote: »

My other half is buying a house and he had originally believed that closing was supposed to be done and dusted on Thursday, but it's Tuesday and we're still dragging along and no light at the end of the tunnel.

It's unclear what you mean by the buyers solicitor - I thought your brother was the buyer? The question is if it has been paid to the sellers solicitor. Once this is done (and it can take 24 hours via EFT, or longer if cheque/draft)I would be expecting to close within a couple of days.

I don't mean to be flippant, but it's less than a week. It's not all that much in the grand scheme of things. My closing recently slipped over a week as the other side hadn't got their life insurance in place and the bank wouldn't release the funds until it was sorted. I had drawn down the loan for my new place and was paying 2 mortgages for over a week. C'est la vie.

At this stage I'd be on to the estate agent to see if they can find out what is delaying things - it's cheaper and quicker than going through a solicitor who will charge you for every letter.

erudec

stimpson wrote: »

It's unclear what you mean by the buyers solicitor - I thought your brother was the buyer? The question is if it has been paid to the sellers solicitor. Once this is done (and it can take 24 hours via EFT, or longer if cheque/draft)I would be expecting to close within a couple of days.

I don't mean to be flippant, but it's less than a week. It's not all that much in the grand scheme of things. My closing recently slipped over a week as the other side hadn't got their life insurance in place and the bank wouldn't release the funds until it was sorted. I had drawn down the loan for my new place and was paying 2 mortgages for over a week. C'est la vie.

At this stage I'd be on to the estate agent to see if they can find out what is delaying things - it's cheaper and quicker than going through a solicitor who will charge you for every letter.

My other half = the buyer.

My other half != my brother. Gross!


No estate agent involved. Just 2 solicitors.

If the seller's solicitor has messed it up, can the buyer pursue the seller's solicitor for damages?

stimpson

erudec wrote: »

My other half != my brother. Gross!

Oops. Apologies to your brother.

But yeah - he has a contract for sale that is legally binding, so the sale should complete. Delays are not unknown, but I'd just be chasing to get them sorted. I doubt the extra costs are going to be worth the cost of suing for, so he may have to suck it up. FWIW, the messing on my purchase cost me 6 letters@ €35 each (discounted by 50%) and an extra weeks mortgage interest is about €400. So about €500 all in. Annoying, but not the end of the world.

erudec

stimpson wrote: »

Oops. Apologies to your brother.

But yeah - he has a contract for sale that is legally binding, so the sale should complete. Delays are not unknown, but I'd just be chasing to get them sorted. I doubt the extra costs are going to be worth the cost of suing for, so he may have to suck it up. FWIW, the messing on my purchase cost me 6 letters@ €35 each (discounted by 50%) and an extra weeks mortgage interest is about €400. So about €500 all in. Annoying, but not the end of the world.

"Prepare for the worst" is my motto. So would anyone know what he's entitled to when he sues? Is he entitled to the house, in other words?

If he sues, can he force the other side to push the transaction to the agreed-upon conclusion? Meaning he gets the house and the seller gets the agreed upon price?

Or does the seller simply get to return the money and keep the house?

Mint Sauce

erudec wrote: »

My other half = the buyer.

My other half != my brother. Gross!


No estate agent involved. Just 2 solicitors.

If the seller's solicitor has messed it up, can the buyer pursue the seller's solicitor for damages?

Messed up how? If the seller fails to complete, or withdraws from the sale, then the buyer is entitled to his/her deposit back, and can sue the seller for their costs/expenses occurred.

Reading your OP again though, it's four days over, if the buyers solicitor has not mentioned a completion order, maybe the buyer should bring it up. As per my last post, if the sale still fails to complete, or the seller pulls out, then I believe the buyer can look into retrieving their deposit and costs for breech of contract.

erudec

Mint Sauce wrote: »

Messed up how? If the seller fails to complete, or withdraws from the sale, then the buyer is entitled to his/her deposit back, and can sue the seller for their costs/expenses occurred.

Reading your OP again though, it's four days over, if the buyers solicitor has not mentioned a completion order, maybe the buyer should bring it up. As per my last post, if the sale still fails to complete, or the seller pulls out, then I believe the buyer can look into retrieving their deposit and costs for breech of contract.

But again, my other half doesn't want to lose the house. Is he going to be entitled to the house?

You'd think he would be, given that he complied with every part of the contract. He doesn't want a deposit back, he wants the house that he agreed to and paid for.

Mint Sauce

erudec wrote: »

But again, my other half doesn't want to lose the house. Is he going to be entitled to the house?

You'd think he would be, given that he complied with every part of the contract. He doesn't want a deposit back, he wants the house that he agreed to and paid for.

Not sure if entitled is the right term, but both parties are legally required to complete the sale once contracts are signed.

Has your other half been told why its been delayed, or how long it is expected to be resolved. Their solicitor should be able to advise.

Of course he wants the house that he has waiting all this time for, but sometimes these delays happen. If the sale still falls through after the completion order, then he will have to make do with his deposit and costs back.

If the house goes back on the market, then try again for it, or look else where. But again, its only been four days, actually 3 days, Friday, Monday, and today. Yes it might be causing stress, but he has to let procedure run its course, and follow the steps.

First of all you need to find out exactly what the issue is, and then decide for yourself if this is important or not. Some solicitors have no concept of client time or deadlines and it might be as simple as that.

On the other hand there might be an issue with title or supporting documentation or maybe the seller has had second thoughts. When you know what the issue is you need to decide what the best approach is.

Your options vary from ignoring your solicitor's advice (some can be overly cautious), giving the process more time, pulling out of the sale, or going for specific performance to force the sale through.

If you are depending on a loan, the attitude of the lending institution might limit your options.

But first, and most important, make an appointment with your solicitor, sit them down and find out exactly what the issue is and what the response of the sellers solicitor has been.

Only then can you start to weigh your options.

erudec

[Deleted User] wrote: »

First of all you need to find out exactly what the issue is, and then decide for yourself if this is important or not. Some solicitors have no concept of client time or deadlines and it might be as simple as that.

On the other hand there might be an issue with title or supporting documentation or maybe the seller has had second thoughts. When you know what the issue is you need to decide what the best approach is.

Your options vary from ignoring your solicitor's advice (some can be overly cautious), giving the process more time, pulling out of the sale, or going for specific performance to force the sale through.

If you are depending on a loan, the attitude of the lending institution might limit your options.

But first, and most important, make an appointment with your solicitor, sit them down and find out exactly what the issue is and what the response of the sellers solicitor has been.

Only then can you start to weigh your options.

Solicitor says the transaction is done. There's no documentation to prove that, and the deeds have apparently been sent to the land registry where they will stay for months.

That's apparently the norm? My other half is quite peeved that there's no document in his hands saying he is the owner of the house.

You'd imagine that the land registry would at the very least provide some type of receipt or docket saying "we confirm receipt of documentation purporting to be the deeds to a property, said document now being in the queue for registration and archiving."

But if that exists, there's no sign of it.

Great little system we have here: you buy a house and have no earthly means of proving you own it.

If I buy toilet paper at Tesco, they give me a document to prove I bought and paid for it. Because in this country the law has decided that that needs to happen at the moment of sale.

But if you are buying a house, no documents are provided to the owner except some number of weeks, months or years subsequent to the sale.

Wow, that's really what passes for a system here? I think I understand how the crash happened. What I don't understand is how we are ever able to function at all.

Tow

It is a nice little closed shop system.

You can do it your self... But it does not seem to be the done thing in Ireland.

My experience in another country is most house purchases are DIY. It required running around to (visiting in person) several government agencies getting paper work approved and stamped etc (tax clearances both sides, property tax fully paid, utilities etc). You eventually end up in the local city hall, where it is all registered, making you the official owner. You go then back a week or two later to pick up your title/paperwork. It requires a lot of time, most spent queuing, but it is the system and the staff are helpful.