The waiting for exchange of contracts ...in limbo......

[nell15]

Hi we've signed our contracts 10 days ago, our vendor has signed last Thursday. I don't know if our buyers have signed yet but we're all hoping to move before xmas and have set a provisional date with our vendor and our solicitor for fri 9th Dec. I rang our solicitors on Thursday to ask them to check on our buyers progress and was told they'd call us back after speaking to their solic. When they hadn't replied by fri I rang them again and she said she'd try again to contact our buyers solic and get back to me. It's Monday and no reply. Rather than ring again I rang the estate agent to ask them to check on progress in the chain and it was "yeah we'll call you back when we've spoken to them" etc. No reply ...

Why the lack of contact? Could anything be going wrong? Is this not responding normal? Will we be able to exchange and complete by 9th Dec??

[wowfudge]

Are you in a chain? Each solicitor will only be prepared to exchange when they are satisfied they have all the search results, that all queries have been adequately responded to and any indemnities needed will be in place. If the solicitors are acting for mortgage lenders they'll need to satisfy the lenders that they have everything they require.

[bilbodog]

Very frustrating for you but i would nag the estate agent again - they should be able to contact all areas of the chain to see if everyone is ready to exchange. Good luck.

[Sunnyshores]

Im afraid all this is completly normal - really bloody frustrating but not necessarily indicative of a problem.

You need to call your solicitor to see what they're waiting for but the EA is the one who'll be able to call up and down the chain to find the full story. Develop a thick skin and pester them continually!

[nell15]

Yes we're in a chain - it's a small one with no mortgages. It consists of our buyer - their property has had a buyer since august who wants to get her dc into the local school for next term, our vendor has split with her partner and is buying a small flat. All searches within the chain are (fingers crossed, complete)

I'll keep onto the estate agent - they don't seem too good or bothered about chasing things up though - it's what they're paid to do though. It's frustrating as we want to book removal van etc

[Rensterdenster]

We're in the same position. Meant to exchange a week ago, original completion date was the 7th Dec. After delays thought we were back on track this morning, new plan was to exchange tomorrow & complete on Dec 14th. Then this afternoon we hear delayed again as buyer at the bottom of the chain (our buyer's buyer) is waiting for money from his mother in laws house sale, she's buying him out of his marital home as he's divorcing his wife. we keep hearing we're nearly there, promised dates & then the goalposts are moved again. Not sure if it's a serious problems or not. We're moving halfway across the country with children so it's all really stressful, especially just before Xmas. Our seller is losing patience & threatening to remarket their home. Just want to exchange so I know we're off. Feeling depressed & helpless in limbo land!! 😩

[nell15]

Oh dear Renster that's hard and very frustrating! I hope it gets sorted out very soon. We're only moving about a mile up the road but it's bad enough but nothing compared to you.
I just hate this limbo situation where you don't know what's happening

[ShowOfHands]

Join the club. We were supposed to exchange 2 weeks ago. We've exchanged on the sale of our house and we have 28hrs until we complete have to be out. Exchange hasn't happened on the purchase and they've been saying "definitely tomorrow" for a week now.

So 28hrs to homelessness and DH deploys for 6 months in precisely one week.

Stressed is about right.

[ShowOfHands]

There should have been an "and" somewhere in that paragraph.

Our house has been boxed up for a week, the two small children are confused, I'm confused.

I can't even order Christmas presents because I don't know where I'll be living tomorrow.

[NotAPuffin]

We're in a similar position. The only upside for us is that we're living with my parents - we sold our house two months ago. On the negative side, we're living with my parents!

The whole process is hellish. I'm never moving again.

[Rensterdenster]

It's such a stressful process!! How terrible for everyone. It just takes over & dominates your whole life & its very unsettling for young kids. My Daughter doesn't know for sure what school she'll be at next term. If we don't exchange in the next few days I'm not moving before Xmas/New Year. They'll all have to wait until early January, that's if it even goes ahead.

[crabwoman]

In the same position here. Accepted an offer on our house and offered on our new house August bank holiday weekend. Taken so long as it's a chain of 5 (i think), and the bottom of the chain had shit solicitors.
We don't even have a date. Supposed to have heard last friday afternoon, but nothing. Rang yesterday to chase up. Will give them til lunch today.
Getting stressed now as there are family birthdays the week before Christmas, and then Christmas itself
The only festive thing I've brought so far are christmas pudding bin bags!!

[Rensterdenster]

Exactly the same time frame as you Crabwoman. We accepted the offer on our house the August bank holiday weekend. Bottom of our chain is using a conveyancing bucket shop rather than real Solicitors too. My Solicitor had to help & advise them on an issue they were clueless about. The difficulty is trying to fit real everyday life around it all especially when you don't know where & when you'll be. I just want life to be normal again.

[nell15]

I've just found out that the buyers of the house our buyers have sold haven't YET got their mortgage off through!!! Their house was sold in July. Why did we not know this??

[Rensterdenster]

That's terrible!! What's wrong with people? They've had ages to arrange their mortgage. It's the lies & dishonesty that annoy me most. We were told our Buyer's buyer was a cash buyer, he's waiting for the cash from his mother in law and that's currently tied up in a house she's selling & therefore technically another chain. He was in no position to offer on our buyer's house, he lied. Something needs to be done regarding conveyancing, people blatantly lie & are dishonest & there's no comeback. They offer on houses they are in no position to proceed on.

[scaryteacher]

Show I know it's not ideal, but can you stick your stuff into storage and et a temporary short term furnished MQ? i know that they do exist...might b worth your dh contacting the Housing Office to see what he can achieve?

[ShowOfHands]

I just don't know what to do. Less than 24hrs until we must vacate. I've been phoning our solicitor since 9am. He will not speak to me or return our calls.

I'm going to have to put everything in storage and move in with my mil!

[FunkinEll]

We moved last Wednesday and we were supposed to exchange 3 weeks before, in the end it was 1 week before completion. The person at the bottom of the chain was in no rush so we all had to wait (chain of 5). We ended up getting our removals company to pack because I really didn't want to pack before exchange and by then it was almost move day.

Thinking of you all in much more stressful situations.

nell15 nightmare re. no mortgage, what have they been doing since July?!

[nell15]

Show I'm so sorry

[nell15]

You do wonder why they didn't see this as an issue early on in the conveyancing process. What a c**k up!!!

[crabwoman]

show that is awful im so sorry
We only found out our buyers were in a chain about 10 weeks in. We had been advised they were ftb!
Our car has been off the roroadas for a week, thankfully it's fixed, but my brain has ground to a halt today from the stress of it all!

[Rensterdenster]

Just spoke to our Solicitor. The person at the bottom of the chain has said they will exchange when ready!! Well that's all right then!! On a positive note my Seller who was getting twitchy about the delay has asked that completion to be delayed until January as she can't get a removal firm. I was going to ask for a delay in completion as we're moving from Sussex to Wales & the last suggested date was the week before Xmas. With kids that was impossible! Plus if the exchange is delayed further it gives us a window to allow for it. Person at the bottom of the chain is getting her cash from equity release so that's what's holding us up. Reading everyone else's posts makes me realised this moving lark is a total nightmare.

[crabwoman]

Still no date for us....
There are a few teachers in this chain inc DH who all want to move before xmas as it's the only time off they'll have to sort/unpack. They get a moving day, but cant take extra leave. So I'm hoping something will be confirmed this week.
That's another thing - getting removals so close to christmas. The firms I've had round to quote have said it's their busiest month, as so many people want to complete before christmas.
We're getting a packing service so I've not even started boxing things up. If we get a date and we can't book packers and removals, it's going to be a total nightmare uf we have to do it ourselves!
I've never driven a van

[ShowOfHands]

I'm 100 minutes to being homeless.

Nobody will explain wtf is going on.

I'm at the inconsolable sobbing stage. I've done denial and anger.

I feel so fucking powerless.

[AnnaELC]

Hi All,

Show thats a nightmare! Makes mine sound petty in comparison, at least we still have somewhere to live.

Lots of us seem to have a similar story, my whole chain has been ready for a month apart from the FTB at the bottom who is using Ezie Conveyancers and they are so s**t. We are in week 15, we were supposed to exchange so many times I've lost count, once again last week, agreed a date of tomorrow , thats obviously not happening. So after much debate, re-agreed a date of next Wednesday and that looks like its not going to happen either. My sellers pulled out about 15 minutes ago so it looks like its all off.

[nell15]

Show that's awful!! Anna sorry to hear that
It seems like the people at the bottom of our chain went on holiday to USA and are back today. Everything legal is done but they've not got their mortgage yet and no survey has been done yet, despite their offer being accepted in august and the chain taking off at the beginning of oct. They still think they'll be moved house by xmas

It seems like they've done things the wrong way round. Why would anyone not put in for their mortgage first ??? Surely they'd be advised on the process by the estate agent and solicitors???
Our estate agent thinks that someone somewhere has co*ked up