Is anyone else feeling the pinch when it comes to delays around the process to buy property at the moment?
We have really felt a delay in the process of buying projects recently & have taken a look to see how we can address this & is there anything we can do to mitigate the delays. As the old adage goes; time = money & therefore we have to try & reduce the time things are taking.
Why are things taking longer;
- The increased transactions across the market caused by the looming end to the stamp duty holiday has meant solicitors are working at maximum capacity & inevitably therefore things will take longer to be dealt with.
- Funding delays – traditional lending is still very cautious & the legal due diligence is extensive & can take as long as the legal process to buy.
- It’s never simple – this is very specific to us but would probably apply to most investors/developers – the very nature of what we buy is complicated. It’s how we add value, we solve problems & create value where others perhaps could not & this therefore requires a keen & detailed look at the title, covenants & other important legal factors to do with the property.
So what can we all do to help things along?
Have a key team of people around you, we work with two legal teams well known to us & who know how we do things. Nazish Ahmad at Jury O’Shea solicitors & Justin Thompson at Thompson Allen, this means they have a lot of our ID’s etc already & know what they are looking for us straight away. This saves lots of time.
Funding – Be ready & choose your route early, this will save you time & money in the long run.
Be tenacious, always ask what you can do to help your teams & be kind to them, it will go a very long way to making sure you are top of their list to deal with.