Once upon a time a man and woman found their ideal home.
They were thrilled.
But it did not end happily ever after.
Why not?
Because they never actually managed to buy the property. This is not something that happens every once in a while, but over 25% of the time. Indeed, it has recently been estimated that nearly 500,000 property purchases failed last year after a price had been agreed.
Santander estimates that this costs buyers and sellers £560m as well as resulting in a further £950m hit to the wider economy.
Of course, some purchases fail because a major issue is discovered during the legal due diligence or a change of circumstance happens suddenly for either the buyer or seller. But this does not happen half a million times a year.
No, the major problem is that transactions are taking 65% longer than in 2007 – anything from 109-123 days! Is it any surprise that nearly 500,000 transactions fail?
How can you avoid this problem?
The wasted money spent on solicitors and surveyors is annoying but often the wasted time and stress is far more painful.
One of the main issues if you are acquiring an apartment is a poor managing agent. Some of them are excruciatingly slow and disorganised. Although, this is the sellers’ issue to sort out, many sellers can also be disorganised and, unfortunately, many also use average/slow solicitors.
All of the above is out of your control. But you can control what you do, in order to ensure that you are the driving force behind the transaction. And while this sounds as though you will have to invest more time than normal, by doing the following, you will actually save yourself a huge amount of time and stress. So, before you make an offer:
1. Treat the purchase like a business transaction.
2. Be organised – ensure that your funds are ready and your mortgage broker/bank is ready to move swiftly
3. Have all your AML documents ready
4. Instruct a GREAT solicitor
I can’t stress how important it is to have a great solicitor. And by great, I mean someone who not only spots the problems but will also suggest ways to solve them. It is essential that you are looked after by an experienced partner at the firm.
What I am about to say will be unpopular with many solicitors, but I’m afraid that the standard of property solicitors has dropped noticeably in the last ten years. There are various reasons for this that I won’t bore you with although working from home appears to be one of them (several solicitors I know say the younger ones aren’t learning by sitting next to partners and seeing how to take a commercial view).
Indeed, I represent several partners at corporate law firms, private equity partners and hedge fund managers, all of whom are surprised by how slow property solicitors are and how unwilling most of them seem to be to work outside of normal hours.
The best property solicitors just focus on getting the job done as effectively as possible while keeping you informed and often managing/guiding the sellers’ solicitors to avoid or reduce unnecessary delays and arguments.
This is often as simple as just picking up the phone and talking to the other solicitor. It sounds absurdly simple, but it is stunning how few are willing to do this. Nevertheless, good communication solves most issues.
So, please, please instruct a great solicitor. They are worth their weight in gold and definitely worth paying that little bit more (although this doesn’t guarantee you will instruct a great solicitor).
Oddly enough, one danger is using solicitors that are recommended by friends. I have had several clients, including a lady who was a solicitor herself, who have used partners at firms that were recommended to them, and it turned out they were not very good, so you need to double check.
If you are planning to acquire a property and need introductions to the best property solicitors, then do let me know. These are highly experienced professionals who will happily call you outside of normal working hours, will help deal with any “difficult” or inexperienced solicitor the seller might have and will do what is necessary to get the job done even if that means exchanging contracts over the weekend or at midnight.
And don’t worry, I am not on commission! But I cannot overstate how important it is to use a great solicitor who will not only protect your best interests but prevent any unnecessary delays and solve any issues.
