Just accepted an offer on our house & had an offer accepted on another house. Anyone want to join me in a hoping it all goes OK/preparing to move thread?

[jenduck]

We have just accepted an offer on our house of 183k, not too bad as it was on for 189k. The buyers say they are cash buyers with money in the bank (although my dad, our conveyancer, says always to be wary of people claiming this until you've seen the evidence ). We have also had an offer accepted on another house of 223k (was on for 239k). The vendors are 2 brothers who have rented it out & have to give a 2-month notice period.

From our side, there shouldn't be any problem with the legal side of things as my dad is our solicitor, plus I work there 1 day a week! Our mortgage has also been agreed in principle, have to go in at the weekend to sign some more forms.

We would like to be in the new place in time for the first May bank holiday, as there is a lot of work to do. Ddad says this is entirely realistic, given the chain-free nature of things.

I am, however, panicking about packing everything up in such a short time! We have tons of junk stuff & I don't know where to start! I also am mainly SAHM to DSes 4.2 & 22m for 4 days a week & can't really do anything with them around - DS2, in particular, will just unpack anything I pack! Thinking of asking Dgrandparents to come round for an hour once a week, to take boys for a walk or just sit with them while I go up in the loft of doom

Think I will start tomorrow by taking a few black bags of clothes to the cash for clothes place nearby whilst DS1 is in pre-school. We are putting any cash we get from selling things into a tin you can only open with a tin-opener & will then use it for furniture for the new house (Ebay!)

Is there anybody in a similar situation who wants to join me???

[LadyKooKoo]

Jayne, it can sometimes be quicker. The house we are currently selling was completed within 28 days when we bought it. This was because there was no chain, we were cash buyers and the house was a repossession. The house we are currently buying will be (fingers crossed) complete within 8 weeks and our current house will be sold within (fingers crossed) 5 weeks. In my experience you need to be chasing EAs and solicitors all the time to get things done (though I have to admit, both of mine have been great this time).

[jaynebxl]

Thanks for that. What do we need to chase the EA up about? I guess we can email the solicitor in a few days to ask how the searches are going?

[hellohellohihi]

Can I join in too please? I've not read through the whole of this yet as am too excited to do anything much because just about an hour ago we had an offer our dream forever home accepted!

I saw it on Monday, we went back and forth a bit on the offer and now it's been accepted :) DH is working abroad at the mo so hasn't seen it!!! Eek - hope he likes it when we go back for a 2nd viewing on Tuesday.

It's slightly more than our original budget so we're getting our fab broker to work his magic and hopefully all will be ok.

To be honest I'm a tad overwhelmed by this house - it's much bigger than we thought we'd be able to get and whilst it is a slight stretch financially, we won't need to move EVER. Keep panicking about how I'm going to keep it clean!!

Good luck everyone! I'll read back later once DD is in bed!

[jaynebxl]

Fantastic Hello! What's it like?

[ninjanurse]

Hello - that sounds exciting!
Jenduck - worst case scenario we could stay with my mum or BIL but it would be a last resort as they are not that local and it would be a pain with the kids schools. DH, of course is totally laid back and not worries 'oh it will all sort its self out, dont worry about it!'

Have applied for the mortgage properly today and awaiting paperwork from solicitors to get things rolling.

[kid]

ninja, our mortgage came through really quickly. It's the searches that are holding us up at the moment.

[hellohellohihi]

It's a 4-bed, 5 reception (lounge, dining room, morning room, study and play room) room Edwardian semi-detached. There's only me, DH and 15mo DD! It ticks all of our boxes and more. Lovely garden, downstairs loo, off-street parking, great school catchment, close to DD's nursery...

We're FTBs and have been looking for over a year. I spoke to our mortgage broker on Monday morning to see if we could up our budget because I was totally cheesed off with the crap that was coming on the market, he said yes and I viewed the house on Monday afternoon so it's all happening very quickly! The vendors have had an offer accepted on a new build, so no chain that end, and we're FTBs in rented so obviously no chain our side either.

So next steps for us: DH needs to see it on Tuesday (god I hope he likes it), then we need to wait until the new tax year starts before we can apply for the mortgage (DH is self-employed and needs this year's accounts and his net income figure for the mortgage application). Broker reckons we can survey before this as he's spoken to DH's accountant to get the minimum his net salary will be and can use this initally.

I've got the forms for the solicitors, so will fill those in over the weekend so they are ready to go. The broker has our bank statements and payslips so he's going to speak to the mortgage company tomorrow (the Woolwich) to get us set up with them.

The vendors are apparently keen to move quickly thank god as I'm very impatient, so I'm going to suggest we all aim for Friday 4th May. Eeeeeeeeeek!

[LadyKooKoo]

HelloHello, good luck, house sounds lovely!

Well our buyer went in to his solicitor yesterday to sign his contract and left a deposit :) We haven't exchanged yet as my solicitor needs to send something to his confirming we will fit a sump pump in the cellar prior to completion but she will be doing that today and we are having the sump fitted on Tuesday so will be complete within a week or two. I am so so so relieved!

The people we are buying from are signing today and we should complete on Friday next week (or maybe Thursday, I am not sure). We are going back to see it on Sunday.

[MrsJamin]

How's everyone doing? We are hoping to exchange this week! Survey on the house we're buying came back really positive, surveyor reckons we are paying below the value of the house which is really encouraging. Currently trying to source a fridge freezer and we'll need to get a dishwasher too. #excited

[Goodwordguide]

Good luck MrsJamin! We are moving Thursday yikes! Also completing that day so really really hope it all goes smoothly otherwise we are going to be stuck with a removals van full of our furniture and nowhere to go! We are the beginning of the chain so I hope that helps.

Current house is more or less all packed up though there still seems to be loads to do and I'm sooo bored of living in chaos. At work today and it's nice to get out of the chaos. DH is off now for the next two weeks, which is a great help.

DCs' last day at the old school tomorrow . I spent all last night writing thank you cards for the teachers.

[doglover]

Hi everyone! Please may I join in? We've filled in all the (copious) solicitor forms and are arranging survey on our (hopefully) next property today. Our buyers had their survey done yesterday. We are in a chain of 5: FTB, cash buyers, our buyers, us, us buying a vacant property. All feels incredibly stressful!!
We finish for Easter on Thursday and I will be starting the de-cluttering process with a vengence - car boot sales / ebay / charity shops. We only moved 7 years ago but have accumulated SO MUCH stuff. We are downsizing from a large house to a 3 bed bungalow but won't dare sell any furniture until we know that everything is going ahead!

[jammybean]

Hi everyone. I've been lurking on this thread for a while. Hopefully the end is in sight for everyone.

We're due to have a final viewing on Thursday then we'll exchange and complete 2 weeks after. We're lucky in that 2 previous houses fell through just before exchange so most of our stuff has been in storage for the past 10 months.

GoatsHaveStrangeEyes You can request your solicitor & the vendors solicitors communicate via email and phone call wherever possible. We did this to speed up the process, as a condition of our offer we wanted to exchange within 6 weeks.

[MrsJamin]

jammybean - not so jammy that two houses have fallen through before this one - that's unfortunate. Hoping that this is the one for you!

[jammybean]

Mrsjamin I feel like an old hand at all this. Not at all fazed third time round.

[Notyetthere]

It has been a while since I was last on here. Well nothing exciting has happened since then, our offer on the house stood rejected at 198k so we decided to wait it out. While we waited another property came on the market, it was already extended and fully modernised so we offered asking price. We just have to move in and enjoy living there! Offer has been accepted.

Estate agent has said they won't take it off the market until we give them our soilicotrs details (this includes an open day planned for Saturday). We are using the bank's panel of solicitors, appointment with the bank for full application is booked for Tuesday where we shall get the solicitor's details. So not out of the woods just yet!

[Notyetthere]

Jammybean, I'm fazed by all of this! I have just learnt today that there is something called a sales pack. I thought I had done all the research there is to do. A long way to go.

[NaturalBaby]

Can I join in too? We sold our contemporary townhouse a few weeks ago and have bought an old cottage in need of modernising, the survey came back yesterday and it needs a bit more work than we were expecting (roof, chimneys, septic tank) so DH getting cold feet now.
I'm not ready to start packing yet, and absolutely dreading it as I am a sahm to 3 under 5's, trying to run a newish business self employed.

[Goodwordguide]

Hi to everyone.
NaturalBaby my biggest regret so far is not getting packers in. They weren't even that expensive but DH wanted topack ourselves so we could declutter along the way etc but, TBH, it's been nothing but an almighty PITA - I have spent days and days jsut bubble-wrapping pictures and glasses etc. The children are very unsetttled living among boxes - there is no room to even sit down in the sitting room (or their bedrooms) so I've had to keep them out of the house lots. If we'd used the removals to pack, it wouldn't have been boxed up til the day before.

[flow4]

I'm eavesdropping watching with interest cos I'm in the middle of negotiations (the vendor has just made a counter-offer I am considering)... I have been in my current house for 22 years, and you would not believe the amount of junk we have accumulated! The good news is, I am letting this house not selling it so can move over a few days rather than in a single day, and there's a garage in the new place!

[NaturalBaby]

We I will not be packing everything up ourselves, am definitely getting packers in and may even get the unpacking done as well! I cannot cope with that at all, even though I am a total control freak and did it all last time (pre DC). I do not want to live among boxes but there is no usable loft or garage space for storage so not sure where stuff will go for storage.

[jammybean]

Notyetthere I was following your other thread. Glad you've found something else that suits you better.

I think after looking for the right house for nearly a year. And falling for 2 other houses I've become somewhat detached from the whole process. It'll sink in on our first night at the new house, I'm sure.

[jenbird]

Can I join as a latecomer too please. We should be having a very straight forward move - we are renting our house out and buying one that is empty, in no chain and wasn't even on the market (I phoned the owner on the off chance). However we have had to remortgage our current house which ended up being delayed due to a technical error and now our second mortgage has been delayed due to an error on the paperwork. Just found out today that one of the searches revealed a potential chancel liability so this will hold the process up even longer.
We have tenants moving in on the 7th and a decorator in on the 2nd. This should have given us plenty of time but as it is I think we will have to stay with in laws and have the prospect of moving our stuff twice.
To add to the stress EVERYTHING has gone wrong in the last 3 months; car, washing machine, Hoover, dryer all broken down, dog died, roof sprung a leak and now the seals have gone on 50% of our double glazing and cost to fix is £750. I have four dc's including a 2 year old and 16 week old. I am self employed and run a small business. I could just cry!

[jenbird]

Just realised that was a hugely self indulgent post, sorry. natural I envy your packers!

[kid]

We exchanged contracts yesterday.
Completion is in 5 days. That will mean that from having our offer accepted to completion date was 8 weeks and 1 day.

[Jaynebxl]

Surveys done on our house and the one we are buying. Mortgages all sorted. Buyers' solicitor's queries about our house all answered. How come we still aren't exchanging?? We had our offer accepted Jan 4th, sold ours a week later and almost 3 months down the line are still waiting...