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Original poster

Buyers support thread - stressed? Worried? Stuck in a chain? Gazumped? Well come and join us here

999 replies

Bakingnovice · 25/06/2013 12:31

I can't see if there is already a thread like this so here goes..

We finally upped our offer enough for it to be accepted on our dream house. It's been stressful so far and this is just the beginning. We have had so many let downs: vendor changing mind, vendor getting higher offer etc and we hope this sale goes through smoothly. We've been looking for years. Come and join me if you're buying and equally stressed....

OP posts:
50shadesofmeh · 02/09/2013 10:00

I'm having a complete meltdown today my husband has been called into work for 2 day shifts on his supposed days off and I'm trying to cope with 3 kids and a complete mess around me as we try to pack. My buyer wants to come to measure up tonight so I told estate agent it wasn't convenient as you can barely walk about just now and she acted like it was a legal requirement to let him in grrr, I'm fucking knackered and feel like calling the whole thing off.

50shadesofmeh · 02/09/2013 10:02

And i second viewing everything that might fit your criteria as the house we are buying I scoffed at in the pictures and said ' no blinking way' and husband read description and said it sounded great , when we viewed it I fell in love.

hefner · 02/09/2013 10:12

Baking, that sounds so annoying! Is there anyone else in the practice you could speak to? I'd be tempted to phone the secretary/receptionist and ask them to check if your emails have been received, acting concerned they may have gone astray as there has been no response.

Turnip, I think you're right to stick with your buyer as they've been honest about what's going on. It might buy you some goodwill and make them more willing to wait if it takes you a while to find something to buy.

We saw an amazing house over the weekend. We can afford the asking price, but can't go any higher and they're bound to get an asking price offer from someone in a better position as we're nowhere near selling Sad. We're tempted to go straight in with an asking price offer to show them how much we want it. Would that be stupid? Houses in that area tend to sell for asking price or very close to it, and the agent has already told us that the vendor won't settle for anything less than asking price as they were hoping for a higher valuation.

Turnipinatutu · 02/09/2013 10:27

Hefner, if you can afford and it feels right, go for it. If they go on to accept an offer from someone in a better position, as least you will know you tried.

50shades, grit your teeth, the chaos is nearly over.
If your buyers insist on coming, they shouldn't be surprised to find boxes everywhere, feral children and you huddled and muttering in the corner!
Do you have anyone you could call on to help whilst dh is away?

hefner · 02/09/2013 10:36

50shades, just a couple of weeks to go and you'll be settled in your new house. You're completely within your rights to tell the buyer it's not convenient to come round, but if you do decide to let them in don't make any effort to tidy up for them. Just let them climb over all the boxes - you did warn them!

50shadesofmeh · 02/09/2013 10:57

Thanks for the support, I have so much to do but my 5 month old won't stop crying, I'm a mess in pyjamas crying and just can't cope, my friends all at work and my parents away on holiday. Told buyer definitely not but will rearrange next week, estate agent a bit sniffy about that but they can piss off.

hefner · 02/09/2013 11:07

Sod the estate agent. You'll get through it, feel free to vent on here if it helps. Nothing wrong with staying in PJs if you're having a rubbish day. Will your baby sit in front of the TV for a bit to let you get stuff done? Or could you stick them in a sling/bouncy chair and let them watch what you're doing, with silly songs to make both of you laugh? Or just have a break with plenty of biscuits to give you chance to recover, this is a stressful process.

Turnipinatutu · 02/09/2013 11:15

Oh 50 Sad Sounds like you need chocolate Wink

Would the baby be happier in a sling/front carrier while you pack etc? Can you get out the house at some point for a break if you can. Just kids to the park or something for an hour?
Keep thinking of your lovely new home Brew

50shadesofmeh · 02/09/2013 12:21

She's only just turned 5 months so not quite at the tv stage yet, I guess I could use my sling . Just feeling a bit useless and stressed out , the buyer trying to get in to measure for something now is pissing me off , he's had weeks to come in while place was decent.

Original poster
Bakingnovice · 02/09/2013 18:31

Oh 50 you poor thing. Right first thing to do is to put little one in front of some toys and have a cuppa and a biscuit. Then make a list. Lists are good. And take the rest of the evening off.

OP posts:
AndWhenYouGetThere · 02/09/2013 20:49

Can I join in, please? Offer was accepted in mid July, property information forms returned to the seller with missing info on 12th August, and nothing from him since then? I've had delays on my mortgage offer so haven't really been chasing, but I've been given notice that I need to be out of my current flat at the end of Sept. So I'm panicking now.
Nothing to do but wait and keep phoning, but aargh.

citysnow · 03/09/2013 11:24

I'd like to join too please! The stress of buying is like nothing I have ever faced before! Having a baby seems so easy by comparison...

andwhendoyougetthere sounds similar to us. Delays on mortgage - rejected my first letter from work but no one tells you that straight away, first you have to chase and chase and chase the broker. You fix that with new better payroll letter and only then do they find sometime else not quite right (why don't they check everything at one time???)

And so no valuation has been booked and I can see from this thread that they are all delayed anyway esp in London.

Time just ticks away.

I'm seeing house again this week and meeting vendor this time. Hope to swap numbers so we can keep in touch. Am worried that they are worried that we will pull out but we totally want this house. How much direct contact with vendors should we have??

I hate feeling helpless!

Buddhagirl · 03/09/2013 13:34

27 days from application to validation. Nationwide take piss.

Buddhagirl · 03/09/2013 13:34

*valuation

citysnow · 03/09/2013 13:56

At least this thread shows its not just us... I never thought the mortgage application would be this stressful (naive first time buyers?? we are in a strong position so didn't mentally prepare for delay after delay...sigh)

Purpletoes · 03/09/2013 18:11

Can I join as well? Started looking in July. Saw and fell in love with a house put an offer in but was outbid.

Sat back and reassessed our situation and decided to have our current flat as a Btl and use capital from it to get mortgage.

All ticking along slowly as we haven't found anything else we liked enough to put an offer on.

Last Thursday we gotta call from the 1st house. Going back on market as buyers were stalling were we still interested.

So we now have an offer accepted on it. But are panicking about the mortgages and everything that goes with it.
Still not sure how large the chain is but I know our vendor was getting a survey on her new house this week.

SmileSmileSmile

Some handholding and a place to de stress would be greatly appreciated.

To top it all off we are in London which means house prices are going scary and I am afraid we will not be able to afford as nice a house in 6 months time! WinkWinkWink

Original poster
Bakingnovice · 03/09/2013 20:07

I feel for anyone buying in London. I just don't know how you cope and I'm always shocked at what a 2 bed terrace costs down south.

Stressed like mad here too. The person at the top
Of the chain Isa cantankerous fool. We are at the bottom of the chain and boy do we feel it. Last to know of delays, always being asked to move dates to accommodate the chain. Arghhhh. We go on holiday in a few weeks and I'm sure everyone's waiting for the hol to draw closer so they can create havoc and ruin our break.

OP posts:
WorrisomeHeart · 04/09/2013 08:57

Well the buyers surveyor is coming around today - I'm panicking that they'll value it as less than the offer or find something horrendously wrong. How long does it normally take to get the results through, does anyone know? And do we get a copy of the report?
Oh and the amazing house we're desperate to see the inside of appears to be in probate [bangs head on table] so I think we may end up in rented for a bit so that we don't lose our sale. Nothing on the market in my part of London - do you think the school hols being over will help?

50shadesofmeh · 04/09/2013 09:11

I've came out my slump and started packing again , went to ikea and bought massive zip up laundry bags so I'm ready to clear this place, I also told buyer to come and measure up tomorrow night.
Drove by our new house last night in the dark and it looked amazing!! :-)

Wishfulmakeupping · 04/09/2013 09:46

50 I keep driving past my soon to be new house sure the new neighbours think I'm stalking them ;)

citysnow · 04/09/2013 13:59

worrisomeheart I think school holidays being over should definitely help. A friend selling her flat was told to wait until September before putting it on. Apparently sept-oct key time as people can be in by Xmas (although perhaps not unless valuations speed up a bit!)

AndWhenYouGetThere · 04/09/2013 16:05

Horrible to read your stories - which are all so similar to my own. But glad too that at least I'm not alone in my naivety.

The new financial advisor seems really decent, the bank say they have everything they need, and their valuation is booked in for Monday.

Not sure how long to hold out before sorting temporary accommodation and storage though.

Is going from mortgage valuation to completion and exchange in 3 weeks a pipe dream?

Turnipinatutu · 04/09/2013 17:30

Our buyer has managed to sell again! Their buyer dropped out on Saturday and they accepted another offer on the Monday Shock

We have now viewed every possible property currently on the market in our area, so now just have to hope some new possibilities crop up as new listings.
We will leaflet any houses we like the look of too, although its sometimes difficult to judge the value etc from the outside......

Hello and good luck to all the new movers on the thread.

wordfactory · 04/09/2013 19:39

Well I had a very odd experience today. I wonder if anyone can help.

Weve seen a house we like, but it needs a lot of work doing to it. As such we won't be paying near the asking price.

I called the estate agent to begin negotiations and to get a ball park fugure of how flexible the vendor is likely to be and he said there was no point discussing anyhting until we had an offer on our house!!!

Now we simply can't be arsed to get into the whole issue of putting our house on the market if the vendor won't play ball, but apparently 'that's not how it's done.'

I've bought a lot of property over the years, but this is the first time it has been dependent on us selling our current house.

Perhaps things aren't done my way?

LunaticFringe · 04/09/2013 20:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.