Anyone else hoping to be in by Christmas?

[Thingsthatgo]

2 weeks ago we completed our 3 property chain, and our estate agent is very confident we will be done and dusted by early December. I’m not convinced it is going to happen, but keep imagining a massive real Christmas tree in our new living room!
Things are progressing quite well so far, we’ve had mortgage valuation surveys on both the house we are buying and the house we are selling. Our home buyers survey is going to take longer though, he’s busy until mid October.
Anyone want to join me through this painful process?! Have you experienced many delays?

[ethelredonagoodday]

Yes! Accepted offer mid August, had mortgage application approved in principle by the bank on Monday, but advised of delays with underwriting approvals. Solicitors instructed and moving forward, but our initial hope of a half term moving date has now fallen off the end of a cliff...

[YellowNotRed]

Really hoping October, never mind Xmas!! Maybe I'm being too hopeful...

[BrowncoatWaffles]

We completed our three property chain four weeks ago. Buy to let investor on one end and probate on the other with us in the middle.

Everyone cheerily told me it would be straightforward and done and dusted within six weeks. Ha. First available home buyers survey for our buyers is a month away (they didn't book immediately). We'd always wanted to move outside of half term holiday and in my head I thought early November might be ideal. Bit wary it's going to drag on but if we're not in by Christmas I'll weep!

[Hoviscats]

We found the mortgage process took a month to 6 weeks at least.... underwriters are swamped and lenders are changing what they want to offer all the time!

That being said we are now past that stage thank goodness and looking at being all done by mid Oct. We sold and bought (only 3 in our chain) mid July and our agent thinks 3 months is probably about average at the moment.

Good luck!

[Pipandmum]

My buyer was well under way on her sale before looking and will be buying with no mortgage. I accepted her offer last week. She probably wont do searches as it's a flat (no need). She plans on completing late November and I see no reason why not!
For my sale of a different property I suggested to my lawyer that I commission the searches myself now to speed things up - I read in The Times that sellers are doing that, but he said not to as no guarantee buyer will pay and accept them - don't see why not and wonder of it's a regional thing?

[elfofftheshelf]

We have a similar chain and are aiming for early November. Of the 4 in the chain, 2 require mortgages (already approved), the 3rd is a cash buyer and we are at the top. We have a private bank which thankfully means the mortgage approval process is much quicker (around 5 days) - although we pay for that privilege! Searches are slow at the moment, stay on top of your solicitor, keep your estate agent updated (as they can be great at unblocking issues if they are a good one!). Good Luck!

[Thingsthatgo]

Well... just mere moments after making this post our estate agents phoned to tell me that our buyers have pulled out so bang goes my massive Christmas tree!
We are going back on the market, and hoping for a new offer super fast so we can hang on to the house we want to buy.

[Bol87]

Oh no 😫 I really hope you find a new buyer ASAP!

We completed our 4 people chain a couple weeks ago, our buyer is cash but needs the sale of their house to get the cash. They are past survey stage and are booking a private survey on our house for next week. Our mortgage app is in, solicitors are underway.. no idea about the people we are buying off. They are buying a chain free house at the top. Our buyers want their kids moved & in school by December so fingers crossed 🙏🏼

[ethelredonagoodday]

Oh @Thingsthatgo what an absolute pain. I hope you get sorted with a new buyer soon!

[Thingsthatgo]

Thanks guys. Feeling a bit blue about it today, despite trying to keep a cool head I had got a bit too invested emotionally! And, it’s my birthday today!
It isn’t in my estate agent’s best interests to get out sold ASAP, because he’s a small local firm, and he is also selling the house we want to buy... so it’s an awful lot of commission he is going to miss out on if it all falls through!

[RedStreetMonument]

Happy Birthday @Thingsthatgo ! 🎂

Good luck with your sale, hope you find a new buyer soon.

[BrowncoatWaffles]

So sorry to read your update @Thingsthatgo. Hope you have a lovely birthday in spite of everything going on and have a new buyer soon.

[ethelredonagoodday]

Oh happy birthday @Thingsthatgo. 🎂🥂

[sufferinsuccertash]

Happy Birthday 🎂🎉

[DeeplyMovingExperience]

We accepted an offer 3 months ago and our buyer is still faffing around with endless enquiries and no mention of even exchanging contracts.

Every time we think we are making progress they find another excuse to delay. I feel really stupid about having accepted an offer in good faith then to be messed around so badly. Part of me wants to tell them to forget it and go back on the market.

All I know is that there had got to be a better system for buying and selling than the one we currently have. It's a bloody nightmare.

@Thingsthatgo - happy birthday!

[mountains76]

@DeeplyMovingExperience

We accepted an offer 3 months ago and our buyer is still faffing around with endless enquiries and no mention of even exchanging contracts.

Every time we think we are making progress they find another excuse to delay. I feel really stupid about having accepted an offer in good faith then to be messed around so badly. Part of me wants to tell them to forget it and go back on the market.

All I know is that there had got to be a better system for buying and selling than the one we currently have. It's a bloody nightmare.

*@Thingsthatgo* - happy birthday!

our solicitor keeps asking more questions and refuses to give us any idea of when we might exchange - so it may not be anything to do with your buyers, just a slow solicitor.

[ethelredonagoodday]

I'll be emailing ours again tomorrow telling them
To try to get things moving. They'll probs just flick me the figurative v's and move on, but you can try?!

[IamtheOnewithSocks]

@Pipandmum

My buyer was well under way on her sale before looking and will be buying with no mortgage. I accepted her offer last week. She probably wont do searches as it's a flat (no need). She plans on completing late November and I see no reason why not!
For my sale of a different property I suggested to my lawyer that I commission the searches myself now to speed things up - I read in The Times that sellers are doing that, but he said not to as no guarantee buyer will pay and accept them - don't see why not and wonder of it's a regional thing?

If the searches are not too expensive (so if the buyer didn't refund you and organised their own searches it wouldn't be a disaster for you) and you use a reputable Solicitor, I would think that a good idea. As a buyer I would definitely go for that, as long as a reputable Solicitor. Solicitors are professionals so should do a diligent job regardless of who is paying them. Would be great to speed things up..... We are buying now and we were talking about how it would make so much more sense for the searches to have been commissioned and started early on in the process by the seller.

In Scotland the seller organises a short survey before marketing the property which you can obtain before viewing, so when you offer you actually know what you are offering on - makes sense! (survey less thorough than the English version but the buyer can commission a more detailed one if they wish).

[IamtheOnewithSocks]

We are also hoping to move in by Christmas.
Will just depend on if the Survey throws up anything unexpected, or if the Searches take ages, especially if covid affects response times.

[IamtheOnewithSocks]

We are cash buyers so no mortgage company, if there are a couple of queries taking ages I imagine we could find out what they are and decide whether to wait for them or not, if they are very minor issues. Has anyone ever considered this?

[badacorn]

Having had an offer accepted in July I have adjusted my expectations sufficiently and I would love to be in by Christmas, lol. Our seller’s purchase has just fallen through.

[OfUselessBooks]

We accepted an offer end of July and had our offer accepted beginning of August. We are waiting on searches at the moment, and surveys are booked beginning of October. I was really hoping end of October but we have to be in before Christmas otherwise it is going to muck up school applications!

[Thingsthatgo]

Well we have more viewings booked in this week. Our estate agents said he is looking for a cash buyer for us to speed things along
The people we are buying from have agreed to wait and see if we can find another buyer in the next few weeks, so all I can do is lean on the estate agent to get it sold. My work gets super busy in the lead up to Christmas, so maybe new year would be better anyway...!