Make your property deal move faster
Recent data has highlighted that both residential and commercial property transactions are taking longer than ever to complete, even despite the lowest overall deal volumes since 2013 in the latter.
Usually, when commercial deal volumes are low, transactions move faster because all parties – seller, vendor, funder and professional partners including QS, lawyers and brokers – have more time available.
Yet commercial property deals are regularly experiencing significant delays. According to Bridging Trends, the average completion time for a bridging loan, traditionally a fast-turnaround finance option, was 58 days in Q1 2024, which is an 18-day increase since Q1 of 2019.
While market factors may contribute to this, some factors are within your control and there are some steps you can take to ensure your property deal moves as fast as possible.
Bathgate Director and BDM, Ian Adams, said: “In commercial property deals, to facilitate a transaction that is as fast and smooth as possible, solicitors need to work effectively together and provide regular updates. If they do, this is to everyone’s benefit.
“However, there are common issues. Acting as the broker in deals such as these, we might see situations where a client for whom we have secured finance for a commercial property deal instructs their usual solicitor, who might be a small local set up, or a generalist with limited commercial experience, who might not be as proactive as needed.
“As a broker and trusted advisor to our client we can speak to the funder and find out which solicitors they have previously had a good experience with. We can then recommend those to our client. Having worked together successfully previously, they are likely to be more communicative and any teething problems will also have been ironed out.
“We can also act as the intermediary, speaking to all parties, getting and sharing updates and ensuring any blockers to the process are swiftly addressed. There are many factors in the market that are slowing down property transactions that we cannot change, but there are many that we can.
“Working with the best professionals for the job, good communication and taking advice from trusted advisors, such as brokers like Bathgate, are factors that you can and should take control of.”
For more advice on commercial property finance, contact Ian Adams on 0151 625 7323, email proposals@bathgatebf.co.uk or visit bathgatebf.co.uk to find out more.