1. Our client is buying a property where the seller is in a desperate hurry. We do all the legal work in a few days, the client pays extra for a personal search and by dogged persistence gets the mortgage offer through a few days later. We telephone the sellers solicitors to exchange contracts and they are not ready! The seller has not signed his contract! He did not think it was necessary to speak to his solicitor - as long as he hassled the estate agent he thought it would all magically happen without him actually doing anything!
Note: in our experience the people who shout the loudest are nearly always the last ones to be ready!

2. Our client's buyer is in a hurry and we send out the draft contract and supporting documentation within a few days. Several weeks later our client rings up to tell us that he has not heard from his buyer and the survey has not been carried out yet; should he be worried? Yes, he should tell the buyer that if the survey is not carried out within 48 hours the property will be put back on the market again.

Note: once the survey has been done you know the buyer is serious; very few surveyors will carry out a survey without payment in advance, whereas solicitors frequently confirm to us that they are instructed before they receive funds for searches.

3. Our client is desperate to buy a flat because it is a good price and the seller is threatening to sell to someone else if we do not exchange within two weeks. As the deadline approaches we still await information from the sellers solicitors with details of service charges. Against our advice our client agrees to exchange without this information. Shortly after completion he receives a demand for £1200 for arrears of service charges which he must pay, unless he can get the seller to pay them - if he can find him.

Note: be suspicious if your seller is in a desperate hurry and expects you to exchange contracts when the legal work has not been completed - and listen to your conveyancer!

The following are just a few examples of typical quotes from other parties involved in the house moving process together with an interpretation of these quotes:

Quote Explanation