Home Buyers' Support Thread, Part 4

[BeaufortBelle]

Here we go.

Good luck everybody x

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/2139089-Home-Buyers-Support-Thread-Part-3?pg=40

Good luck everyone for this week.

Was hoping to exchange last Friday, didn't happen. It had better be today!

Ooh - snagging support thread would be an excellent idea.

We exchanged a few weeks ago but house not build complete yet. Looks like completion will be end of June (was 22nd but just put back a week)!

I plan to bribe site manager with cake.
Any hints / tips greatfully received.
I'm nervous.

My solicotor is away until tomorrow! Another day wasted.

I doubt her secretary will be any use, he just ignores my emails.

Hoping to still exchange and complete by Friday!

We
have
exchanged!

Completion on 11th June

Now what do I need to do? Apart from take the day off work.

Wooop Socy, congratulations!
What to do - book removals, presume you've already got insurance, arrange utilities, tv, phone etc. erm, cant think of anything else at the moment!
We've paid our deposit over, still waiting for one final search to come back then we can exchange.

Thanks Empress. Got the insurance and booked removals. Can't face any of the other things right now. I seem to have been waiting so long for this it isn't exciting anymore and I just feel a bit sick. I've lived here for the longest ever except where I spent most of my childhood and my children have done most of their growing up here.
I've already been sorting and throwing stuff out for months but still a lot of trips to the charity shop / tip will be needed.

Well done Socy
We are away on holiday and a possible house has just come on the market.
DP says not to stress and its unlikely to sell before we get back, but I am a bit worried as there's been very little to fit our criteria so far.

We had our offer excepted 17 days ago so far things are running full survey was done this morning most of the searches are vac hoping to exchange on the 26th the house is empty and were renting so luckily no chain.

We got a bill from the solicitors yesterday, including the deposit and stamp duty. Scary numbers!!! Can't imagine there'll be any progress this week and I'm on holiday next week so looking like a mid June completion - since April with a straightforward no chain purchase. Ah well. The search is being chased again today.

Bugger.
My long chain has just collapsed at the top. Someone has pulled out of their house purchase (of a vacant property) - we only know this because the agent for that property told our EA. She hasn't let the agent she is selling through know. So we don't know if she is also pulling out of her sale, or looking for another property (which may be a longer chain still).
Me, my buyer, and the people I'm buying from are ready to go, contracts ready to sign. But it looks like we may be pushed back months unless someone is willing to break the chain and rent.

Scoopy - that's crap. fingers crossed for you that it works out quickly.

I am getting fed up. I have got a bit snappy with the solicitor today (by email). After seeing the house on Sat, we know the build has been signed off and we know of a number of snagging issues already (loads of sockets need sorting out as not fit right, one section of wall needs repainted, etc). Think all that is making me less tolerant. Turns out the developer has a buyer for our house (supposedly) cue another load of questions and another "pay us for indemnity against x" request. Most of the questions could be answered by looking at the property pictures and the others I'm not really qualified to answer so have to keep putting "I think..." before my answers. Still no idea when we're exchanging - developer is holding us up now.

Hi all!
New to buying...

Feel very anxious

We are now looking to buy as we will soon be returning to the UK and have sorted a mortgage in principle and have a good deposit ready.

Where we are looking is close to where dh will be based once we have relocated but is rural and there are very few similar properties to compare houses against each other...

We have found a property we like but want to know how do tell if the price is reasonable? It needs a new bathroom (grey bath wear!!) decoration and garden is pretty yak but we really, really like it. The house next door sold recently and had a price tag £35000 less than the property we are looking at. The only difference is that the extension that forms the kitchen appears newer better Nick than the sold property.

Sorry to be naive but is that enough to justify the price tag?

Anyone know anything about radon gas apparently this has shown up on our searches?
The house does have a vast cellar which from what I've read can be connected but I'm unsure

Thank you crafty
Now on the wine

Spottymoo - the house we are buying is in a radon area too. Have a look at the Public Health England website. Lots of very useful info there, with an interactive map helping to put radon affected areas into context.

Idefix, the price is just a guide, not what you may actually pay. So much depends on the area and what position the vendors are in, if they're just 'testing the market' and not in a rush they will price it higher than if they need a quick sale.
And a house is only ever worth what someone will pay for it.
Scoopy, what a nightmare, I hope they find something quickly to get you back on track. My friend's chain collapsed and rebuilt three times along the way last year, they managed to move eventually!

Thanks Empress.
Hopefully I will find out more today. Some of the people in the chain don't know what's happened yet, so the EA is doing a ring round. My buyer knows, and is apparently still hanging in there but not happy about doing so for another couple of months (accepted his offer in March).
Idefix it also depends what proportion that £35000 is of the total price and how fast the market is moving in that area. How long has the house you like been on for? I agree too that some people test the market, or are just stubborn because they can afford to be. Some near me are in my opinion vastly overpriced and, of the ones I went to see, the vendors were in no rush to move (often retiring/downsizing) and needed 'x' amount live mortgage free. They've been on at the same price for months, if not years.

Good luck to all Exchanging/Completing today.

I am a Herts based EA if anyone needs any impartial advice.

Massive congratulations to everyone who has exchanged!!

I've been lurking on the thread and not posting for a while because I just want to pretend that this isn't all happening. We had a bit of a hiccup with the survey on our purchase, we had to get a structural engineers report, which was OK, but still waiting to find out if our lender will accept it or insist or more tests like a drainage survey (which will tell us nothing and cost £400!!)

Now today, I've found out that the vendor has pulled out of her onward purchase which was the top of the chain. Part of the reason we went for this property was the very short chain, because it's the third one we've tried to buy and we're now in a crappy rental, trying desperately to move before DC2 arrives and I go on maternity leave and can't get a mortgage :-(

I'm trying to apply some pressure to get the vendor to agree to move out into a rental if she wants to sell. I think she would be mad to lose us as buyers as we are chain free and committed to buying her house despite all the survey problems and fact it is generally a wreck that has had no maintenance for 30 years. Also, she's managed to lose all the important paperwork, despite the fact she's lived in one place all that time :-/

However, I'm pretty sure she's going to come back and say she can't afford to rent - she hasn't paid a mortgage for years and is retired, and she won't move anywhere that won't take pets. I really want to cry today. I can't believe we have been trying to buy somewhere for over 6 months and might be back to square 1. There is very little coming on the market here in our price range. I'm starting to wish we never sold our place :-(

Oh, and of course the EA lied to us and told us she was ready to exchange and just waiting for us! Not to mention she found this out on Saturday and waited until today to tell us. I am just fantasizing about punching her in the face. I am so sick of these people lying at every turn, this has happened with all three purchases.

Oh tremolo that's awful. You have my sympathy, we're in exactly the same position, in a rental on our third attempted purchase. It sucks and we don't even have the complication of looming maternity leave though.

Tremolo that sounds utter pants, Can totally go with the fantasising to relieve some of the stress!!

Spoke to the estate agent for the neighbouring house who was super helpful.
They sold the property they had for just over 140000, felt next door was very overpriced and has had no offers as a result. Suggested going in with a low offer of 160000. Pointed out that with no chain we were in a good position.

I know the owner is retired and does have pet dog. Now wondering if she really is that motivated to sell. Or will this be a little like your situation Tremolo...

also worried the minute we put an offer in something better will turn up, currently in the area we are looking there only 3 other houses of a similar price/size.

Ugh Idefix, that is the problem we are finding again and again. Retired people usually have no way of renting and breaking the chain, they are often downsizing, but not in a real rush to do so and attached to their homes, so it all gets awkward and personal, especially when they expect a top price and can't accept that if they haven't maintained or modernised the property at all, the buyer has to pay for all that as well.

Just had an email from the EA:
I have spoken to the vendor, she is away on holiday at the moment until Sunday. She has asked that we can give her until after the weekend to consider your proposal, however she is reluctant to rent and would really prefer to find an alternative property to purchase.

We do understand that you may now start to see what other properties are on the market for you to consider, but in reality, there is a real shortage of available properties to purchase, which in turn is part of the issue for [the vendor] in trying to secure an alternative property to purchase.

I have basically said that there are two suitable properties on the market that are both chain-free and might go this weekend. I'm sure she will think we are absolute bastards for ruining her holiday and hassling her, but I am sick of her EA lying through her back teeth to me and altogether sick of the rubbish situation we are in.

That really is the pits tremolo, having always lived in fairly large urban areas with lots of choice we had no idea how difficult it could be. The very fact the ea is giving you the well that's that attitude can hardly be helping matters. Why cant they be honest and just say the women is just chancing it? Ultimately she will only get what it's worth in the eyes of the buyer and the continued neglect will only Lower the value

Yes, we have always lived in London we had no idea what buying in a small town would be like. The thing is, she would probably rather not move and just try again in a year when prices will have gone up even more.

Yes, it makes me angry that the EAs are just so smug towards buyers here, they basically say, oh well, it's very much a sellers' market, blah blah. So many of them think they can justify outrageous prices and vendors behaving like total idiots over things like structural problems... they just think, oh well, someone else will be along who is desperate enough to overlook that. I think they are finally getting some pushback as prices are starting to level off and overpriced things are not selling and coming down. The house we are trying to buy sat on the market for months at 425, then 400k. We got it for 381.

I just cannot get over the madness of the chains we have been in. I wish we could find someone who was as desperate to move as we are!