Buyers Sellers Roll Call 14

[PowerslidePanda]

New thread for anyone buying or selling houses at the moment - come join us!

The previous thread ran for about 10 weeks and in ordinary (non-stamp duty holiday) times, that's long enough to get a transaction through, so let's hope this thread sees lots of people finish!

[Bells3032]

Thanks for the new thread.

Nine months in and we are still selling our chain free flat to the most useless first time buyers with the worst solicitor in history. I unfortunately fell for the sunken cost fallacy even after months of them messing me around.

Then on Tuesday they had the audacity to ask me for £1000 off the asking price as the sink is dirty and the taps are stiff. This flat was a previously my own property which i let out following moving in with my now DH and they originally were buying it as a BTL and then changed their mind...the tenants - after i gave them a nice chunk off their last month's bill- left on 1st November and it has been gathering dust since.

I told them to fuck off and if they didn't exchange by the end of the day at full asking price then I will pull out. Turned out they hadn't even transferred funds and had only sent a scanned copy of the signed contract rather than a hard copy. So i stupidly relented and let them send a paper copy which arrived yesterday morning. My agent specifically asked this useless lawyer to confirm with the bank about the funds on Wednesday which she dismissed and said she could do it thursday and we will exchange thursday. It is now Friday and apparently we are waiting for the bank to confirm the funds so we are delayed by the exact thing she refused to mitigate for.

I am so so done with this sale.

[HouseyHouse21]

Thanks for the thread Panda. I joined in thread 12 so if we don't complete during this one then something's gone seriously wrong!

Today's the deadline we've set for our CF buyers to exchange, so if it doesn't happen we're pulling out anyway. Had enough of being held to ransom over ridiculous things.

Also keen to hear from @badgerbadger22 as you've been a week ahead of me throughout - did you exchange last week?

[HouseyHouse21]

Oof - nine months? OK, I'll stop complaining @bells3032. It must have been incredibly stressful.

[ChittyChittyBoomBoom]

I’m finally completing TODAY after exchanging yesterday 😬 I wouldn’t recommend a last minute exchange...it’s been a very tense week with some last minute paperwork issues 😫.

I had my offer accepted in the first week of September and it’s been a pretty straightforward, short chain.

Good luck everyone!

[PowerslidePanda]

Oh wow, you guys have been in this for a long time too! I didn't dare start posting on these threads until things were reasonably far progressed, but we've been trying to move since July 2019! Our previous move took 11 months too. It's ridiculous how broken and flawed the system is in this country.

We're also hoping to exchange on our sale today or Monday. Purchase is still a bit further off (don't know if we'll make the stamp duty holiday...!)

[Bells3032]

@HouseyHouse21 yes and for no actual reason either. there is nothing wrong with the flat at all it has literally been all feet dragging from the buyer/their solicitor. The buyers did seem to finally get their butts into a gear after i threatened to pull out in September but then appointed the world's worst solicitor who kept misleading us. She didn't apply for searching til Nov (despite several times in October telling us they'd be back soon) and then refused to do a single enquiry til they were back. They were finally back the first week of December but then she didn't send any enqueries til the first week of January. Not a single one of which was in relation to the searched and included a whole page on the tenants that were no longer in the flat. So some of these included info needed from my managing agent and the council so that took another 4 weeks.

Then the buyer was kicking up a fuss about the standard clause on the 4% interest if they don't complete - the agent gave them a kick up the bum on that last week and then there was this week

[ethelredonagoodday]

Just marking my place. Fingers crossed for all of us!

[IWBAGE]

I joined in thread 13, so not too bad. We had an offer accepted on a house in early November. Small chain of us -> sellers -> sellers' seller. Our solicitor's secretary just called me to get consent for the exchange. So we're still on to exchange today! 🎉

It's been stressful though. My Mum died of cancer in October, and my Dad was diagnosed with cancer last month - and the sellers have been pressuring and guilting us throughout, even knowing this (and we're working full-time, too, whereas they're retired).

We've responded within hours to any requests for information or bits of paper from us. And considering they only sent the contract pack in December, and we were lucky that the searches came back early, I think actually it's been a very quick sale so bah-humbug to them. We certainly won't be bothering ourselves to forward on any errant post to them once we move in! 💅

[SheWouldNever]

We should be getting contracts for exchange next week, with a view to completion a week or two after that.

Starting to get funny pangs about leaving our current house. It isn't where we want to be long term, or big enough for us long term. But after a full renovation and layout changes to suit us, it's a really lovely house and we've been very comfortable and happy here. The next place needs all the work imaginable, and won't be as 'easy' to live in for at least a year. Feeling guilty at unsettling our primary age children who are quite frankly going to be like "Why on earth have we move here?" Guessing it's normal to feel a bit like this when you are about to leave a house that's been really good to you?

Good luck to everyone waiting to see what the next few weeks bring - never been so stressed in my life trying to buy and sell during covid and with the added challenge of a stamp duty deadline we weren't anticipating. ( If we didn't have to move this year for schools, we would have waited to buy/sell in a less stressful time! )

[HouseMoveHell2021]

I joined thread 13 too - so staking my place here also :)

I went under off beginning of Oct, the chain completed end of Oct (my seller took a while to find her place, I had already agreed the purchase prior to going under offer)

the buyers at the very bottom were insistent they had to move by Christmas but come Jan still had outstanding searches and an unapproved mortgage (suspicion that the buyer at the bottom ahs changed and we haven't been told - but not sure we will ever know) just heard that my buyer has only ordered her management pack for her flat in the last week.. so god knows if we will get this through in time.

My seller and I talk regularly and are both ready to exchange (and have been for AGES) but are now waiting for the bottom of the chain to get themselves in order. its driving me nuts and def challenging my mental health a little! the next 5-6 weeks are def key (and now I'm stressing about securing a removal firm - as I have some big kit to move) best of luck everyone!!!

[JustCheesz]

Joined on thread 12. Still here! Were supposed to exchange yesterday. Our buyers changed this to 1st March with no explanation given.

Two other houses on our road went up for sale just before we put ours on the market. One of them is moving today! Hopefully we'll be next.

[JudgeRindersMinder]

Hi, I’m joining this thread for the first time! We’ve had an offer accepted on the dream house, and ours is away to go on the market! We’re in Scotland so a different buying/selling system but I’m sure the nerves will be the same!
Right now I should be cleaning as photographer due on Monday....

[Comps83]

Re joining
We are in a very small chain
Buying an empty house and a ftb is buying ours
Had a disaster last year though so I'm not getting too excited and it's still very early days for us

[CricketLover2021]

Rejoining the thread. It’s been a long few months with plenty of hitches along the way. We have a telephone appointment booked in with our solicitors next week, contracts have been signed so presumably exchange will take place after this telephone conversation? I take it this is standard?

[PowerslidePanda]

Our buyer's lender is doing some final checks for the funds release, so won't be exchanging til Monday now

[Winterwaves]

Rejoining this thread. We end each week hopeful to exchange the following Friday only for more information to come to light that things haven't been done yet down the chain. All that's left now is for the other two parties to sign the remaining documents and transfer funds - I'll give them 2 weeks for that as their solicitors are unbelievably slow! So Thankful for this group!!

[january29]

Thanks for the new thread though hopefully I’m almost done! Offer received for ours and then accepted on new house end of November in short chain 3 in total. Exchanged 2 weeks ago and completing Monday. Busy packing now and thinking what have I forgotten to do! Good luck to all

[floofycroissant]

Joining, just had an offer accepted on a house last week.

[Hmmph]

Hello again. I joined at the end of last thread after hanging around since the thread before. House went on the market in July, sold in November and we completed the chain early December.

We think (although why does it need to be a secret?!) we’re just waiting for ftb to get mortgage offer through and for replies to enquires. Very panicked about 31 March!

No sure what happens next once those things are done? I assume we all need to sign and then arrange exchange of contracts? How long does it take from the “admin” being finished to exchange?

[IWBAGE]

Solicitor just called - we've exchanged yaaaay! 🎉I'm so, so, so relieved!!!

[Hmmph]

Great news IWBAGE!

[PowerslidePanda]

Congratulations @IWBAGE!

@Hmmph - Our sale was "ready" on Tuesday and we expect to exchange on Monday. The steps in between seem to be agreeing a completion date, everyone lining up movers, banks providing details about any mortgages that are going to be paid off, banks lining up funds for any mortgages that are going to be drawn down and solicitors producing statements about the financial balances (fees as well as the transactions themselves).

If you haven't already, start getting quotes from moving companies. In some cases, that process can take a few days - whereas if you've already got the quotes then when you're ready to exchange, it's just a matter of calling them to find out their availability. And the more quotes you have, the more chance of one of them being able to do the date you need!

[HouseyHouse21]

@SheWouldNever we're in exactly the same position.

Moving from a house that is completely done and suits us beautifully, to a house that needs a lot of work done to it, in order to potentially get DC1 into the secondary school we want. I just hope it turns out to be the right decision - we won't find out for another year.

[ldnirish]

Thanks for the new thread. Joined in thread 13 so not too bad, although I thought we'd be done quickly as a chain of 4!

We're now not exchanging until Tuesday at the earliest, was meant to be a week ago. And we complete on our sale on Wednesday, moving in with the in laws on Sunday.

I really hate the system. I'm never moving house again after this unless it's to leave the country!

[CricketLover2021]

As above, can anyone tell me what the phone call with our solicitors is likely to be about please? We have signed contracts to buy and sell, mortgage offer etc is in place and we were hoping to exchange this week but it hasn’t happened? I’m just so unbelievably anxious, with our last chain breaking down so close to completion.