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Original poster

How common is it to be stuck in limbo 2 days before exchange date? (Scotland)

17 replies

KellyGarcia · 16/09/2013 18:22

OK I am back again!!! We are due to move out in 2 days but the missives are not signed and there is no guarantee that the buyers mortgage will go through. Our solicitors say that this has been the case with a few first time buyers of late - they advise us to have a removal van on standby the day of exchange as they believe it will all be signed and exchanged on the day.

It is so stressful now. We have been boxing everything up in preparation to move but have visions of us having to move back into our own house.

Is anyone else in the same boat or have heard of this lately? Apparently the banks are leaving it to the last possible minute to release the money through the mortgage.

I have no idea what is going on and if it is normal.

OP posts:

Mum2Fergus · 16/09/2013 18:56

I was a FTB in Feb this year and had no such issues...Bank realeased mortgage funds to Sols the Monday, I paid deposit to Sols via CHAPS on Wednesday, and we got keys on the Thursday. Issues maybe due to chain though, just get all your side of things in order as best you can...it's the biggest thing in the world to you right now, but its just another file on a desk to someone else...hang in there, and good luck!!

Original poster

KellyGarcia · 16/09/2013 19:20

You are right Mum2Fergus it's the feeling of everything being out of our hands and there is nothing you can do but wait and wait. Here I am sitting with the laptop looking around at all our regular everyday stuff thinking we could be moving out of here in a couple of days or we could still be sitting here with all our boxes...

Thanks for your reply - maybe there IS a problem with the buyers mortgage. I suppose it is only a couple of days until we find out either way.

OP posts:

Mum2Fergus · 16/09/2013 19:35

Where are you moving to?!

Blankiefan · 16/09/2013 21:23

We've recently moved and was very pain free BUT 2 years before that, we had exactly your situation.

Our missives weren't concluded until the morning we moved. We were loading up our van not knowing whether of not we had sold. We had 2 different mortgages sorted for our new house (one if we sold - this was the cheaper one - and another in case we didn't and had to rent out the house we were leaving). We had to move for work so needed to leave either way.

I've moved house about 18 times as an adult including 6 times where I was either buying or selling - this was by far the most stressful.

Luckily it worked out and the sale went through. Unless I really had to move, I simply wouldn't accept this situation again. If missives weren't concluded by x date, I'd call
It off / move exchange date. It depends how much you need to move.

Original poster

KellyGarcia · 17/09/2013 07:43

We are temporarily moving in with PIL.

We really do have to sell because we are emigrating in a couple of months and need the money tied up in the house to do so otherwise we would have put the house back on the market weeks ago.

No one else I have spoken to has been in this situation in RL but then again hardly anyone else we know has managed to sell their house up here without losing thousands over the last 5 years to be honest. The only other offer we had on our house was from a couple who are downsizing from a much larger, more expensive house and they were struggling to sell so could not even suggest when they wanted to move before the end of this year so not an option.

Anyway, I am just completely sick of it all today and can NOT be @rsed packing anything else away.

Blankiefan what did you do about gas/electricity/water/council tax type payments? I will need to let them know we are moving but can't give them the date yet! AAARRGGHHH!!

Under normal circumstances there is NO WAY I would go through this. No. Way.

OP posts:

DreamingAlice · 17/09/2013 10:23

I'd be on your solicitor's case. It is totally unacceptable to leave it that late to conclude missives and he or she should have been chasing long before now. The buyer's solicitor is also under a duty to be completely upfront about matters that might hold things up. The whole reason we don't get into chains in Scotland in the same way is because people are locked into binding contracts much earlier and folk don't tend to buy until they are in a position to go ahead for the very reason that they can be bound so quickly.

We had a problem with our buyer's mortgage offer which was holding up conclusion of missives and after six weeks we went back on the market which made them pull their finger out sharpish and funnily enough they were then able to get it sorted in two days.

If the buyer has a proper offer in place I really don't see why the bank would delay releasing the funds for settlement date.

Original poster

KellyGarcia · 17/09/2013 10:41

Thanks for that DreamingAlice OH is currently waiting for a call back from our solicitor. There is some problem with a loan the buyers are getting as they need extra to buy the house since their mortgage is not enough on it's own. It is still sounds really doubtful that this is all going to go ahead. We are going to put the house back on the market - maybe that will work for us the way it did for you :)

It isn't looking good is it?

OP posts:

DreamingAlice · 17/09/2013 11:42

KellyGarcia- oh, I really feel for you. I just about had a nervous breakdown over it and that was early in the process. We were in a slightly better position in that there was a lot of initial interest in our property and we knew we would be able to secure another offer for the same price without too much trouble.

Seriously, how your buyers only be finding this out now?! Surely they knew how much they could borrow when they offered? Their solicitor should also have made sure that they had funds in place- and so should yours. I really hope it works out for you, sometimes a bit of pressure is just what is needed.

Blankiefan · 17/09/2013 12:53

You can inform gas/electric/council post move. Keep it as simple for your self as possible. Sorry it looks to be falling through... Any chance you can rent it out? The market does seem to be picking up tho... (we took a big hit on £££ WI the stressful move 2 years ago but did ok on the last one)....

Original poster

KellyGarcia · 17/09/2013 13:17

If it doesn't sell we are likely to stay here and extend. We need the money from the house sale so we can set up when we emigrate otherwise it is not really feasible any more. The rent for our house would not cover the mortgage we have anyway cos we got a full on 100% mortgage back in the day when it looked like you were never going to be able to afford a house and then the bank crisis happened. Stupid us. Oh well, roll on the end of the week so we can stop living in limbo.

Thanks for the replies. I feel quite numb now. Just so fed up with it all.

OP posts:

Crutchlow35 · 17/09/2013 16:07

Does your buyers solicitors have loan papers through? Your solicitor should be able to establish that quickly. If not then it is unlikely you will be moving due to the paperwork involved with that.

If it is a release of funds issue then yes that can delay things but should not cause issues with the missives b

Phone your solicitor and establish exactly what the delay is. It is not my experience with FTB.

mum23girlys · 17/09/2013 16:19

Honestly I would tell them if missives aren't concluded by noon tomorrow then the house is back on the market. They should have been concluded weeks ago. I cam only assume your solicitor has allowed this as you aren't buying another property therefore there isn't another solicitor breathing down his neck to get you to conclude on another purchase. This isn't supposed to be able to happen with the Scottish system but unfortunately it still does. I don't want to upset you but about 9 years ago I sold a house I owned with my ex and 3 days before I was due to move the b@#*#rds pulled out. I'd already concluded on my new flat and had no idea they hadn't. My solicitor was a tube. Had to put it back on market and pay 2 mortgages for another year.

Best of luck but honestly do not give your solicitor 2 seconds peace. That's what you are paying for

Crutchlow35 · 17/09/2013 16:22

Wow mum, did you report them to the law society? A solicitor should never conclude missives on a purchase without he sale being done first.

mum23girlys · 17/09/2013 16:22

Sorry also we sold to ftb last year and had no problems either. If mortgage was arranged there shouldn't be any hold ups. Only thing we had was their funds never cleared till late afternoon so we had to hang about outside our new house waiting for funds to clear so we could get keys

mum23girlys · 17/09/2013 16:27

No crutch I didn't. He said he hadn't realised I needed it to go through together as I had my deposit in cash. We hadn't been in house long and didn't have much equity. I was young at the time and very naive. Just never used him again and he has since closed his office. Will never forget how devastated I was but very lucky I could still buy my new flat.

Original poster

KellyGarcia · 17/09/2013 16:39

Bloody hell that is shocking! You put your faith in them (even though you might not trust them per se) but you are right - this is what we pay them for. I also think you are spot on in that our solicitor has been rather lax with our house sale due to the fact that we are not buying somewhere else so I suppose we are on the back burner. I want to go for the putting the house back on the market with an ultimatum but OH wants to give it one more day...

Thanks for all the 1st hand info - it is really helpful to hear from you when you have been there, done that already! I feel like a bit of a tw@t now though. Wish we had been a bit pushier weeks ago but things just seem to have suddenly come to a head.

OP posts:

PrimalLass · 17/09/2013 21:37

Mum he wasn't in Edinburgh with a name starting with M was he? We had an equally useless solicitor.

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