Your House Sale Is Stuck. But Are You Following Up With the Right Person?

Once a property is sold, one question gets asked more than almost any other:

"Have you got an update?"

It is completely understandable. You are buying or selling what is probably your biggest financial asset and you want to know what is happening.

But we regularly see everybody following up with everybody, without first establishing what they are actually waiting for.

More follow ups do not necessarily mean a faster transaction.

The key is knowing what is outstanding, who is responsible for it and who you actually need to follow up with.

Start With One Simple Question

Before asking for another update, ask:

"What exactly are we waiting for, who are we waiting for it from, and when was it last followed up?"

That question is far more useful than simply asking if there is any news.

Sometimes the next action sits with the buyer. Sometimes it is the seller, solicitor, mortgage broker, lender, surveyor, managing agent, freeholder or local authority.

And sometimes everything has been done and you simply need to wait.

Searches Are Outstanding

If you are told you are waiting for searches, establish whether they have actually been ordered.

• Have the funds for the searches been transferred to the solicitor?
• Have the searches been ordered?
• What date were they ordered?
• When are they expected back?

There is a big difference between waiting for searches to come back and waiting for them to be ordered.

If the solicitor is waiting for the buyer to transfer the search funds, following up with the solicitor will not solve the problem. The buyer needs to take action.

If the searches have been ordered, repeatedly contacting the seller or their solicitor will not make the results arrive any faster.

The Mortgage Offer Is Outstanding

This is primarily for the buyer and their mortgage broker to investigate.

• Has the valuation taken place?
• Has the lender requested more information?
• Is the application with the underwriter?
• Is the lender waiting for something from the buyer?

A good mortgage broker should be able to establish where the application is and what, if anything, is holding it up.

Enquiries Are Outstanding

When you hear, "We are waiting for replies to enquiries", ask another question:

"How many enquiries are outstanding and who are we waiting for the answers from?"

The seller's solicitor may be able to answer some enquiries immediately. Others may require information from the seller, managing agent, freeholder, local authority or another third party.

If only two enquiries remain and both require information from a managing agent, repeatedly contacting the seller's solicitor will achieve very little if they have already requested the information.

Find the actual blockage and follow up with the right person.

The Management Pack Is Outstanding

Leasehold transactions can involve managing agents and freeholders providing information about service charges, insurance, planned works and other matters.

If you are waiting for a management pack, ask:

• Has it been ordered?
• Has it been paid for?
• When was it requested?
• What timescale has been given?

If it was ordered yesterday and the managing agent has quoted ten working days, contacting the solicitor every morning will not make it arrive any faster.

The Survey Has Not Happened

A survey is normally arranged by the buyer.

The estate agent can help arrange access, but they cannot instruct the survey on the buyer's behalf.

Equally, if a survey is booked and the surveyor fails to turn up, that is not the estate agent's or solicitor's fault.

If the agent has arranged access and confirmed the appointment, but the surveyor does not attend, the buyer needs to speak to the surveyor or surveying company and rearrange it.

Following up with the estate agent or solicitor will not resolve an issue that sits with the surveyor.

Always establish where the problem actually sits before deciding who is responsible for resolving it.

Signed Documents Are Outstanding

If your solicitor sends you documents to sign, deal with them promptly.

Do not leave paperwork sitting in your inbox for a week and then complain that the transaction is not progressing quickly enough.

Preparation matters too.

If everyone knows exchange is approaching, the necessary paperwork should be dealt with in preparation rather than waiting until a completion date is proposed before discovering something is missing.

What Is Happening Further Down the Chain?

Your solicitor is responsible for the legal work relating to your transaction. They are not necessarily managing the entire property chain.

This is where a proactive estate agent can make a significant difference.

Your solicitor may be completely ready to exchange, but your buyer could be waiting for their buyer's mortgage offer.

Someone needs to understand the whole chain, not just one transaction within it.

What Should Your Estate Agent Be Doing?

An estate agent's job should not finish when the Sold board goes up.

At 360 Properties, we believe sales progression is a fundamental part of selling a property.

Once a sale is agreed, your agent should be helping to establish:

• Have the solicitors been instructed?
• Have the search funds been transferred?
• Have the searches been ordered?
• Has the mortgage valuation happened?
• Has the mortgage offer been issued?
• Has the survey taken place?
• Have enquiries been raised and answered?
• Are any documents outstanding?
• Is everybody in the chain working towards the same timescale?
• What is currently preventing exchange?

The estate agent cannot answer legal enquiries or do the solicitor's job.

But they can communicate across the transaction, ask the right questions and identify where something has stalled.

Following Up Too Much Can Slow Things Down

There is also such a thing as following up too much.

Every phone call and email takes time to deal with.

If your solicitor is constantly responding to unnecessary update requests, that is time they are not spending reviewing files, answering enquiries and progressing transactions.

The same applies to your estate agent.

If your agent says they are going to speak to the buyer, solicitor or another agent in the chain, give them time to do their job.

Calling back ten minutes later to ask whether they have an update will not make the process move any faster.

They need time to make the calls, wait for responses and establish the facts before giving you a meaningful update.

If they give you a timescale, allow them that time. If the timescale passes and you have heard nothing, then follow up.

There is a difference between proactive sales progression and constantly asking for updates.

Do Your Part Quickly

Buyers and sellers also have responsibilities.

• If your solicitor asks for identification, provide it.
• If they need funds for searches, transfer them.
• If they send forms, complete them.
• If your mortgage broker requests documents, send them.
• If something needs signing, sign it.

And if other family members are involved in the move, communicate with each other.

If one person has spoken to the estate agent or solicitor and received an update, pass that information on.

Having another family member call shortly afterwards to ask the same questions wastes time and can create confusion.

It becomes even more difficult when different family members give different instructions or have different understandings of what has been agreed.

Good communication within your own family matters too.

One of the easiest ways to help keep a property transaction moving is to make sure you are never the person everyone else is waiting for.

Sometimes There Is Nobody to Follow Up With

Not every delay is somebody's fault.

A search may genuinely be outstanding.

A lender may be processing an application.

A local authority may be dealing with a request.

A management company may have a stated turnaround time.

Sometimes everything that can reasonably be done has been done.

Repeatedly contacting everyone involved will not make the process move any faster.

Know what has been requested, understand the expected timescale and follow up if that timescale passes.

Ask Better Questions

Instead of:

"Any update?"

Ask:

• "What are we currently waiting for?"
• "Who are we waiting for it from?"
• "When was it requested?"
• "What timescale have they given?"
• "Is there anything I need to do?"
• "Is this the only thing preventing us from moving to the next stage?"

Those questions give you useful information and make it much easier to identify where action is actually needed.

Good Sales Progression Is About Knowing Who to Follow Up With

Good sales progression is not about making the most phone calls.

It is about understanding the transaction.

• What is outstanding?
• Who is responsible for it?
• When should it be completed?
• Who needs following up with next?

At 360 Properties, we believe agreeing the sale is only the first part of our job.

Getting it through to completion is the part that really matters.

So next time your property transaction appears to have gone quiet, do not just ask:

"Any update?"

Ask the more useful question:

"What exactly are we waiting for, and who are we waiting for it from?"