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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want to buy a house again

65 replies

LegoBitcho · 30/06/2018 08:05

Because buying and selling is so stressful in England.

We are selling to FTB and no onward chain for us. Sounded so easy, we could complete end of June the EA said. We've not even got to exchange 😞

It has seriously put me off buying anywhere again, I feel as though I'm trapped here and renting would have meant freedom to go when we were ready.

I know long term buying means security in old age but I'm seriously deflated by this whole insane process.

OP posts:
theluggageslegs · 30/06/2018 12:29

Not unreasonable. We marketed our house in January and are finally limping towards completion in the next week or so, but it’s an awful process.

I recently heard of something on here called an attended exchange - all parties meet at an office with all paperwork, which is combed through and contracts exchanged at the end of the day. That seems much more sensible!
Failing that I do wonder why vendors can’t be required to make up a pack of paperwork consisting of searches, deeds, etc before marketing. Buyers get a mortgage offer pending survey before an offer is accepted, vendor sends out legal packet, buyer could be in within a couple of weeks.

What happens with chains in other countries where the process is faster?

LongSummerDays · 30/06/2018 12:37

Selling my old house was a nightmare as the buyer didn't finance it with a mortgage but with monetary gifts from his extended family so there were many delays while they investigated all the sources of money for potential money laundering. That combined with the relevant parties going on holidays and as such incommunicado for 2 weeks at a time: I was tearing my hair out with stress as there was no chain (I had already bought my new house mortgage free and my buyer was coming out of renting). I vowed that this is my forever house.

I truly feel for you. Good luck!

Original poster
LegoBitcho · 30/06/2018 12:45

theluggage in Australia for example there is no chain. You sell your house and have a agreed settlement period (60/90/120 days)

You find a house in that time or you rent. The buyer has 2 weeks from acceptance of offer to pay deposit and get everything sorted, then it's binding.

OP posts:
fridgepants · 30/06/2018 13:32

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the user's request.

lljkk · 30/06/2018 13:49

"in the USA you can buy a decent family sized home for a fair price as long as you dont want to live in manhattan or the middle of a major city."

I wouldn't say that. House prices are high across whole states.

The80sweregreat · 30/06/2018 14:16

It’s a nightmare - we moved in 06 and I said never again then! So stressful.

tixdy · 30/06/2018 14:57

dangermouse's point is why most people - who can afford it - prefer to buy/sell.

CornishMaid1 · 30/06/2018 15:23

It is a long process and one that is difficult to speed up.

We did have HIPs at one point that had the searches, deeds etc so they were available up front. The problem is that mortgage lenders only allow searches to be a maximum of 6 months old at completion so if the house took a while to sell the searches were out of date and all had to be redone anyway.

There are also a lot of extra hoops that have to be jumped through for the mortgage company if you have one and that can hold it up.

Back in the day it used to be that a solicitor received and checked the deeds and as long as the deeds were clear and the seller said there were no disputes or adverse rights you were okay and signed the contract.

Over time the requirements on solicitors increased, especially if you have a mortgage, so it is not just the deeds to check but you have to deal with identity, no money laundering, searches, planning and building regulations etc on top of what is in the deeds.

It would be lovely to have proper HIP packs with a survey, deeds, full searches, all planning and building regulations etc so you got everything up front. The problem is that would mean the seller spending a lot more to sell that they would have to have money for up front and they would need to pay their solicitor to review and compile everything. That could speed it up (so much is going back and forth asking for documents and information that could be provided up front) but you would need sellers to be willing to spend the money and mortgage companies to relax the time limit on searches.

dangermouseisace · 30/06/2018 21:36

My point was the OP felt that renting would mean freedom to move when it suited them. I was pointing out that this is rarely the case in rented property, more often it’s at the landlords convenience.

MrTrebus · 30/06/2018 21:39

I'm a mortgage broker. Basically you have to push push push be on the estate agents and solicitors daily, threaten to pull the same etc. You got to be tough or each day you go to the solicitors and estate agent bottom of the to do list! I moved same as you not too long ago, FTB buying mine and we were buying a house with no chain,what we were selling was leasehold which always takes longer and still we moved into within 3 months. Be ballsy!

MrTrebus · 30/06/2018 21:39

Pull the sale not same!

cadburyegg · 30/06/2018 21:45

Oh YANBU. I totally get it.

We put our house on the market in February 2017, accepted an offer in March, found our new house also in March, our buyer pulled out in April, new buyer found in May, eventually moved in August!

Whilst all of this was going on, I also had a miscarriage in March and spent 3 weeks in and out of hospital. Fell pregnant again and had a very stressful first 3 months with bleeding and extra scans etc.

Thankfully it all came together, we have been in our new house 10 months now and our baby is 3 months old (also have a toddler) but NEVER. AGAIN.

Original poster
LegoBitcho · 30/06/2018 21:58

We have never had that experience danger with renting which is probably skewing my idea of it but I know it happens.

Mr dh and I discussed telling the EA to put the house back on if we don't exchange this week. If they ask for another viewing I definitely will.

OP posts:
BrightYellowDaffodil · 30/06/2018 22:07

YANBU at all

My house purchase was very straightforward: I was a FTB in rented accommodation on a periodic contract, so I only needed to give a month's notice. The vendor was selling an empty flat. Simple and quick, right?

No. It still took over two months to get to exchange, and even then that was because I chose a solicitor that was nearby and I used to go and -harass- visit them often. I remain baffled as to what it is that takes so long. Surely a better system would be that the vendor has to get all the reports/searches done BEFORE the house goes on the market and then all it needs is a check through before exchange?

I don't ever want to move again, the process nearly sent me doolally tap.

ResistanceIsNecessary · 30/06/2018 22:27

It was awful, awful, awful.

Took us 7 months from sale to completion - with no upward chain. And that was with me being on the phone daily pleading, threatening and cajoling. You have to abandon any sensibilities you've been nursing about being reasonable and patient, because the reality is that it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.

Our move was without a doubt the most expensive and stressful thing i have ever been through. We are never moving again - and I mean it. The English system is fucking nuts; designed to cause you maximum stress and relieve you of maximum cash with zero protection.

Notso · 30/06/2018 22:28

YANBU we're not selling our house yet and the house we're buying is empty now. Yet things are dragging on for no particular reason Hmm

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 30/06/2018 22:34

This gives me The Fear. We're selling mortgage free and buying for cash, and it takes 6 fucking months?

DisgraceToTheYChromosome · 30/06/2018 22:35

Fatfinger...and we have a private buyer lined up as well.

Limpopobongo · 01/07/2018 21:13

Elspeth
You’re not a “freeman on the land” are you Limpopobongo...?

Well this could be a whole new topic ! FMOTL theorists are often held up to public ridicule but the wider arguments they raise are often perfectly valid and are worthy of consideration.

I stand by what I say. No one in this country owns land. All land is held of The Crown to do with as it likes. Those who sit upon the land are merely tenants of the crown and are granted leases (in fee simple..) i.e a type of freehold, the highest form of land "ownership" that ordinary subjects can aspire to.

ElspethTascioni · 01/07/2018 21:22

On the contrary Limpopo, being a lawyer, and having come across FMOTL types as litigants in person in court, I have yet to encounter a single one who has even a basic understanding of English Law...

ShotsFired · 01/07/2018 21:36

Next time I move house I swear I am budgeting for:

(a) professional movers and/or storage
(b) the cost of a short term let/serviced apartment to bridge the completion date. So I can get a
(c) professional clean/redecorating etc done of the new place and then
(d) move in at my leisure.

GraffitiArtistTV · 01/07/2018 21:38

I feel your pain

We completed this weekend and the entire experience has been a complete pain.
I am never moving again!

Our sellers used the estate agent solicitors, part of the Sequence Group who were incredibly slow responding to our solicitor.
We've been on the phone to the estate agent weekly at first then daily, well I say we, it was me at first but he was a misogynistic arsehole who spoke down to me but was fine with DH so he dealt with them. Never believe an estate agent who says they'll ring back.

I've read that the Sequence Group are a finance company who sell houses on the side and that seemed about right.

Limpopobongo · 01/07/2018 21:43

On the contrary Limpopo, being a lawyer, and having come across FMOTL types as litigants in person in court, I have yet to encounter a single one who has even a basic understanding of English Law...

But English Law is such that those who espouse alternative views could never "win" anyway since in relation to land and property, the law is designed to protect the interests of The Crown.

There are wider issues in these arguments which are very often conveniently bundled up so as to easily dismiss them as FMTL rubbish.

User5trillion · 01/07/2018 21:48

Our last move took almost a year! Yes a whole fucking year, luckily we had nothing to sell and as it took so long all the competition for the house dropped out. My ds started school.in a new county and had to be driven in every day. The person we bought off couldn't find just the right house 😥 . It was an epic nightmare then we found out something legal hadnt been sorted from when they bought the house 10 yrs earlier - cue more delays. NEVER MOVING AGAIN.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 01/07/2018 22:03

@DisgraceToTheYChromosome

This gives me The Fear. We're selling mortgage free and buying for cash, and it takes 6 fucking months?

Don't panic, it's not necessarily this long. I went from putting in an offer to being able to complete (I chose a longer completion date) in less than 2.5 months.