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

Realising that if I want to sell, which I need to do, all those bits and pieces that make the house 'mine' have to put away. Windows and paintwork washed, just about there. Good luck to everyone

I never thought I'd say this but after putting the house on the market in February we are exchanging contracts today! People further down the chain are pushing for completion on 29th.

I've got removals firm coming to do a quote on Friday but I'm a bit worried we've left it too late and we won't find an available firm (completion dates have been too vague up till now).

We're moving in with in laws for what will hopefully just be a couple for weeks. Mortgage application is just pending the valuation, survey was yesterday so just waiting for the report now then I think we're just dependent on the searches/other solicitor stuff.

I've got my survey booked for next Friday - mortgage application went through without any problems. I'm allowing myself to look at bathroom ideas and to think about what I might do with the rest of the house but I'm not getting too excited just yet. Would be nice to be in before Christmas though.

This is the thread I've been looking for!
We're at the relatively early stages of first time flat buying - gosh it's stressful!

2 weeks ago: viewed a flat, offered twice- both rejected. Vendor won't budge from asking price. Agent called us back a week later asking if we'd re-consider without shifting a penny. We walked away. It's still on the market.

Saturday: viewed a gorgeous flat in a perfect area but it was an open house viewing (scary!) - offered 3 hours after viewing, first offer 5k below and declined (bidding war already apparently)- shortly after we offered our topmost: 2k below asking price.

Nervously waiting to see if it will be accepted tomorrow!

Fingers crossed notamum.

Well we didn't exchange last week hollow laugh DH will be on to the solicitor first thing. The middle of the chain is faffing, our buyers have sold their fridge and are living out of a cool box, it's getting ridiculous! We need to confirm with the removals firm this morning - argh!

So a wee update: after waiting all day, had a call from the agent late afternoon who said they had two identical offers on the table: cash, no chain (both ftb) and for the same amount - seems like mad odds, I didn't believe it at first. We've upped by a tiny amount but thats the most we can go. Hoping for an update tomorrow.

Also booked a viewing of another place...seems too close to call on whether we'll get this one but we love it so much (and another couple seem to, too!).

Good luck to everyone else!

We are moving tomorrow yippee it's been a long time coming!
House on market in March, lost one buyer and two houses but we got there in the end. Decided to do all packing ourselves so today spent boxing and throwing bits away! Sitting here now almost not believing it's finally going to happen!
Good luck to all of those who are in the process

that's fantastic news isthereeverarighttime1 - happy packing!

We've exchanged! Jesus Christ I never thought the day would come! Booking movers for next Wednesday.

For our purchase the survey has come back with no nasty surprises, just things we already knew about e.g. basement is a bit damp, downpipe is starting rust, downstairs loo has no sink (I still don;t understand why you'd not put a sink in). Has been a struggle to get the mortgage valuation done but this is now booked for the 5th and searches have started to come back so hopefully we'll only have minimal time between houses. Just end to sort out insurance.

On Saturday my partner and I made an offer on a house, and it was accepted immediately by the seller. We have spent the last day and a half trying to decide whether or not we want to pull out. It's the right house, but we're worried we've offered the wrong price. I think the seller was chancing their arm, and we fell for it. We're first time buyers, and neither sets of parents live in the area so we have little local knowledge to fall back on.

The house is nigh-on perfect, and other 3 and 4 beds in our budget pale in comparison. The house is in the high end of the price bracket for a 3 bed detached in our area. We're worried there is no market for this type of house apart from us. If you want 4 beds, you'd increase your budget and go for 4 beds even if it's a small 4 bed house. If you wants 3 beds, you'd pay less and compromise on the downstairs loo/garage/being overlooked/large garden/ensuite etc. The house is nigh-on perfect. 3 proportionate bedrooms rooms including 2 doubles and a decent (i.e. not box) single, kitchen and bathrooms don't need re-doing, ensuite, downstairs loo, garage, coat cupboard in the hall, pantry in the kitchen, utility, conservatory, schools ok, large lounge and small-ish dining room, small kitchen, boiler's a bit old, cavity wall insulation, built in wardrobes we like in the second room, wardrobe cupboards in all 3 bedrooms, decent sized main bathroom, 2 rooms need painting but I can live with them as they are...

The problem is there is a possibility there will be an opencast mine on the other side of the village on the other side of the dual carriageway that borders the village (approx 1km to 500m from our house - I've had to guestimate from the planning application and google earth). This means we're concerned that it will be noisy, dusty, and a significant increase in traffic on the already busy dual carriageway. It might also be difficult to sell in the future if we need to, although the mine will only be mining for 2 years and 2 months, then they have to make good the land. You can't see the mine from our house, and might not even be able to hear it but I'm concerned. The house is, obviously, more than big enough for us now (no DC so far, but we're planning to start a family and have 2 DC in the next 2-3 years), so we're worried we'll outgrow it and the mine will negatively affect its value.

We're seriously thinking of pulling out outright, or trying to offer 10k lower and cutting our losses completely if it's rejected (seller might understandably tell us to FOTTFSOFANFOAWWGT anyway). We're worried about lots of possibilities, but this is a major decision, and I think we didn't think it over enough when we made the offer. It's perfectly possible to raise a family there if for any reason we cannot sell the house. It's not like we're buying an expensive 1 bed cottage or flat.

Has anyone had these kind of worries when buying? Are we just fannying about and being capricious tightwads?

Now that our house sale seems to be getting underway (fingers crossed), it's time for me to venture on to this thread - mainly for a moan! (BTW, we are relocating to another city for work, so it's a bit of an inconvenience to view houses there in the first place).

It seems that there is hardly anything coming on the market, and if it is remotely decent and realistically priced, it gets snapped up before we can even arrange to see it. Of the houses we have managed to see, we have put in offers on three so far and every one has turned into a bidding war and then gone to "best and final" offers. I have to say that I'm feeling a wee bit resentful of having to offer (sometimes substantially) over AP on houses that I don't even love, only to lose out on them anyway because somebody else has bid higher What on earth is happening to the housing market?

Update - we finally had an offer accepted! Now, can anybody remind me what we need to do?

Congrats TES! Solicitor>Mortgage Application>Survey I reckon

We're having a minor disaster. Mortgage valuer has refused to provide a valuation due to "signs of serious rot and repairs may be expensive."

The only thing flagged in the structural survey is damp in basement which needs tanking (we already knew this) so I don't know if this is the problem he means or there's something else wrong. Having to get a specialist damp survey done next week.

As I understand it it's fairly common for banks to request this kind of thing for old houses so Im hoping its not too big an issue but it's super stressful! It's the only thing left to do.

Just wanted to say I have read the whole thread over the past few days and it really highlights how terrible our system is. I'm not sure whether anyone is still about on this thread or whether we need a fresh new one soon. After months of open days competing with up to 15 people looking at 2 bed houses, flats with gardens and flats without. We continued being priced out with offers up to 25k over the asking price, it was bleak. We started looking at 1 beds that we could squeeze into and found a lovely one that we got for the asking price.

So now we are applying for our own mortgage online and are already chasing people up. The conveyancer has already said that we were buying a property 50k less than we are actually buying it for. I'm shocked at this early stage people are doing things wrong when we are being really thorough and accurate with our application to ensure everything runs smoothly.

One thing I wanted to ask was do you think we are making the right decision in not applying for surveys as our property is in a council block with a service charge and any repairs will be split across the block anyway so we won't be burdened the same as freehold properties.

Be vvvvvvv careful about the repair bills you might be expected to meet. You MUST talk to the neighbours, find out what if any major works are scheduled and what you would be liable for. Some councils are notorious for using private owners as cash cows, Southwark in London is a prime example. Sorry to piss on your parade but these bills can run to tens of thousands

Haven't spoken to neighbours yet, that's a good point. We were told that there are no scheduled works but I don't know how long they have to give notice. I know what you mean about the cash cows though, that's what I'm scared about. They have recently had new doors and have had double glazing. There are no lifts to maintain so hopefully that gets rid of most of the biggest costs.

Can I join in please?
Feeling very frustrated here. We happened across a house we love, which isn't easy with our requirements. We put in an offer but it wasn't even considered because they were only accepting offers from people in a position to proceed. We then had a whirlwind two weeks where we got our house tidy, photographed, marketed and amazingly sold. So went back with our offer. In the mean time thwacking price of the property we want went down to an offers over amount. We offered the amount. Next day we hear that the owner of our wanted house, who has already vacated, has a family friend who is interested,so wants a few days to consider the offer. Then within an hour my zoopla email alert pinged, the house we want has just been put on the market with another agent along side the original.
That was at the end of last week. At what point do I go back to the estate agent and say our offer will be withdrawn? I'm not going to be kept waiting forever! Any tips gratefully appreciated

It's a nightmare, the whole thing. Who exactly does the English housebuying system benefit? It's certainly not the buyer or the seller.

I've had my survey done and have commissioned searches. Mundic block (dodgy concrete blocks made from mining waste) is a problem in my area and due to the age of the house it has to be tested. Currently arguing with the seller as to who should pay for this, but normal practice is for the seller to do this because if it tests positive for mundic it affects the value and makes it unmortgageable. So we'll see.

However I also know the next-door neighbour and they had theirs tested, and it came back as clear (phew), and no issues with the searches, so once this is sorted I should be all OK to exchange. There is also woodworm in the roof and my solicitor has asked them to get it treated. I expect they will refuse but if you don't ask you don't get.

I would love to be in for Christmas but I think that's pretty unlikely.

we accepted an offer but were struggling to find somewhere to buy after being gazzumped by countrywide and their fake higher offer. Really getting stressed about losing our buyers as they were BTL investors and so were ready to go.

a couple of weeks ago my phone buzzed with a rightmove alert, for the exact type of house we wanted on one of the streets we wanted! I called up and arranged a viewing before the pictures had even uploaded to rightmove. We viewed the next night, and told the vendor there and then we loved it and would offer full asking price as long as it was taken off the market and other viewings cancelled. We were told the next day it was accepted!

Just had our mortgage approved, were not having a survey as the valuation one was fine. Wont be moving till after xmas now, but we hope to exchange in the next couple of weeks!

Oh, and the countrywide house... we got a call last week telling us it was back on the market as the buyer has been made redundant and pulled out... fancy that

Anyone getting a mortgage with Nationwide? We did our full application last Monday, heard nothing since then so called them today to find out what was happening about the survey - apparently the earliest date they can do is the end of next week! Surely 3 weeks to get a survey done is not normal?

We're waiting to exchange at the moment. All 3 of us in the chain have given the signed paperwork back to our solicitors so it's just waiting really.

Either we complete on the 30th before our Firstbuy loan repayment expires, or we've got to wait for the extension to kick in (maybe a week later) before we can set another completion date. It's our vendors that are wanting to move asap so it's all feeling a bit rushed.

Our solicitor emailed me yesterday to ask whether I knew we had to pay an early repayment fee of over £4000 on our mortgage, as she'd just had the redemption certificate through. We are porting the mortgage so there shouldn't be any fee - turns out they've got it wrong and although our mortgage advisor has said that she's emailed the relevant department to sort it out we won't know until the solicitors can request a new one on Friday. No idea whether this is going to hold the exchange/completion up.

Been a while since I posted on here and we're finally exchanging on Monday with any luck. It's been a stressful process.

We had a mortgage approved through HSBC our current mortgage lender. Accepted the offer and all was fine.

2 weeks later we got a call asking for some info (that was already on the application! ) about our btl property. Were told it was just a formality as it had gone to an underwriter and not to worry.
2 days later we got a call to say we didn't meet their criteria and they were withdrawing our mortgage offer! And it happened the day we got told that out 18 month old needed another operation as they had found malignant cells in some tissue they removed. So worst day we could imagine.

We found a mortgage broker and they have got us a new mortgage within days through someone else with much less fussing but the stress of he whole thing has been awful.

Still not exchanged. Still waiting for full mortgage offer - valuer hasn't updated the valuation in his report due to computer issues that went on for a week. Lender has told him to get on with it, deadline last Monday. Still not heard anything as mortgage adviser went on holiday on Tuesday. Solicitors now closed till 4th Jan although they've done all their paperwork.

Everything else is ready. If I've not got my offer through by the end of next week I will be ringing the surveyors and going postal. All this because he wouldn't put a valuation in his report until the mundic report came back clear.

I finally completed on Friday - it all happened very quickly in the end, but would have been even quicker had the surveyor not failed to update the valuation AGAIN. Anyway it matters not now as I've moved in and am very very pleased with the place :)

I don't know if anyone's still following this thread but we exchanged on our purchase today - we offered in September and there's no chain but it's been needlessly long and complicated Completion set for next Friday, can't actually believe it.