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

When we've had packers, we just lived as normal until the day of packing arrived. It was much better than doing it ourselves, and they were super-efficient.

We're still waiting. It looks like there'll be no decision until next week.

The vendors are being quite annoying, tbh. They want to be sure that our sale will definitely complete before deciding, and want to know about an exchange date. However, as the two transactions will be tied together, we can't even think about (never mind) agree exchange dates until they accept the bloody offer and we go to the bank, arrange the mortgage (which will not be a problem) and get our own survey done on their house. The vendors seem to have very little understanding of how property buying and selling in England works.

I think they're more wary because it sounds like they've been strung along by non-proceedable buyers for months already. The house came back on the market a month ago having previously been under offer for months. The other offer is apparently still on the table, but it's been more than 6 months since they first accepted it and nothing has happened. I suspect it a mortgage issue because the other offer is apparently from a FTB (and there's no upper chain). So why not just get on and buy the place, especially if the vendor puts it back on the market and gets other offers (higher) offers? It should be the most straightforward sale in the world, and it doesn't appear to be the sellers that are holding everything up (they are super-keen to move as quickly as possible).

It's all quite annoying and I'm not hopeful (although, unlike DH, I don't think the other offer will ever come to anything; I think the vendors are just using it to try to manipulate us).

Hi all, think I'm going to need to join your ranks

We are FTBs. Offer accepted on a lower ground flat, a proper do-er upper. So far we've had the starting documents from the solicitors, we've had the survey (because it's a do-er upper we figured it was an investment - if the place has serious problems then it's a non starter) and we're currently going the stress of getting the mortgage sorted.

That said, the solicitors have gone suspiciously quiet, the surveyors haven't sent their survey and the lenders are ticking everything over after I provided them with every document known to man (we have the DIP but I want it agreed yesterday!)

We're moving out of our rental on 2 May, though thankfully we can crash with family for a bit if needed (and we probably will, given the place is currently uninhabitable). Time is ticking and I am beginning to freak out that the whole thing is going to collapse around us like a house of cards....

Hopefully it'll be OK, scribble.

I think our buyers (who have had a survey done but are waiting to hear back from the surveyors) are feeling similarly stuck in limbo. We've given everything to our solictors (last week) and DH phoned them today to find out how everything was going. Apparently they're still putting together a pack to send to the buyers' solicitor. DH asked when they would do it but the guy was non-committal. DH suggested they hurry it up a bit.

our buyers do know that we're still trying (desperately) to find something to buy ourselves though. If the annoying vendors above don't accept our offer, I think we'll have to rent. But I really don't want to, not least because the rental market is as tumbleweedy as the selling one round here. There are almost no houses to rent that aren't horrendous priced by the room student squats houses.

good luck Scribble, you have my sympathy it's a terrible process. I'm still waiting for my sellers to get their act together with the damn paperwork. I've done everything I can from my perspective, surveys, mortgage, searches are back. what i would do for the responses to enquiries and the fixtures and fittings... sigh. I just want to complete now.

Thanks Bumble and Step. It's a nightmare isn't it?

Survey is back and indicates a need for damp coursing and raises possible vermin issues (though frankly I'm yet to live in a flat in London that doesn't have those...) DP is going to freak out.

Just had our survey back. Raised a couple of red flags and quite a few Amber ones. Nothing that cannot be put right, at a cost of time and money.

We really like the house, it's old and a bit 'fur coat and no knickers' ,there will always be things to do, so were going to ask for money off. Though we think the vendor needs the current sale price in order to move on.

I hope your survey is not too daunting scribble . They are often a shock at first reading, especially on a doer upper. After a few more readings it does not seem so bad! They always err on the side of caution.

Step I hope all is resolved by next week. Enjoy your week end, if you can.

Thanks JT. Second read does say that the issues raised are common for flats of the age and style and, whilst they should be treated, the flat is habitable charming

I think DP would be delighted right now if I suddenly developed a love of 90s purpose built architecture but I'm a sucker for period features... (love the 'fur coat and no knickers' comment, sums it up perfectly!)

Hello! I've just found this thread. I'm in the middle of buying a house after renting for three years post divorce. I've found an ugly 70s townhouse right next to a park and it's great. Offer accepted on Friday, survey done and the seller, bless her, is in a nursing home. All going well, the agent thinks I may well be completing at the end of April.

I got it for £5k less than the asking price, survey good, just got to run around now to make it all happen. I have a double garage full of stuff I didn't unpack after the last move.

How much do packers cost for a four bed house?

My love of period features has diminished after renting one this winter. Leak after leak after leak...

Hi Temporary, welcome to the thread for all those mad enough to move!

Our packers are charging £200 for packing a 4 bed. There is a lot of merit in buying a 70s house. We hare just leaving a 60s one! They are often so bland that you can do almost anything to them without damaging any features! The rooms are also quite generous compared to new builds.

I'm very tempted by that. It took me three days to pack by myself (my friends did help one night but we got drunk and laughed a lot instead) and I've got limited annual leave to take.

My ugly house is ugly inside too so I've so much scope to improve it. You are right about the rooms, they are much bigger than I expected and I even have a sea view. I'm very happy about it. The house is on a hill so whilst the living room and kitchen is technically upstairs it is split level so the garden is accessible.

It's a marvellous new start after divorce. I've even started looking at interior design magazines :-)

I hope you enjoy your new home Temporary . The view sounds great and will be very calming after the move.

Pinterest is your friend, Temporary.

Scribble: I hope your DH managed to read the survey in a sensible way. My DH likes to panic first and think later, so I always need to do a lot of work to make him stop being ridiculous.

Hope the post-survey negotiations go well, JT.

Thanks Thesaurus. Actually he was quite measured about it! Quite a relief - your DH's thought pattern sounds similar! I think we will proceed, albeit with a higher than expected renovation bill so as to do some damp coursing. Guessing nothing has moved on for you today?

Temporary, try the website Houzz too! I'm obsessed...

Nothing at all. We're trying not to think about it or to expect anything.

I think higher than expected repair bills just go with the territory of house buying. I'm pretty sure the one we're waiting to hear back from needs a new boiler at a minimum (despite being less than a decade old).

Thanks Step , we think our first response will be along the lines of ' what is your opinion on these red flags?' Especially as the rest of the house is immaculate.

DH say it's what to expect on a house that age. I don't know why I feel disappointed, we have gutted three houses in the past, two being much older than this one! They both had more serious problems! Oh well we'll see.

Boilers can be tricky, sometimes the older ones just soldier on!

Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new on MN and have just ventured out and found this thread. I hope you don't mind me joining in.
hubby and I are FTB and have found our perfect house. I think I will be devastated if something goes wrong.
Timeline so far:
25th Feb - DIP from mortgage company

Went out and viewed about 6 houses

12th March - viewed "our" house, put an offer in and managed to negotiate 7k off the asking price (hope that is good!). Vendors said they have to find a house and haven't viewed any yet.

16th March - call from EA to say vendors have viewed a house, submitted offer and had it accepted! There's no chain with that house. So we submitted full mortgage application and instructed a solicitor.

Bank have booked the surveyor/valuation in for next week. We need to send payslips, ID, bank statements off but waiting til hubby is paid in a few days so they have them up to date.

Slightly worried as had a letter from solicitor to say that the vendors are using their company too, but a different branch and that they can still work for us but if there's a conflict of interest then we have to move solicitors and they'll still charge us. Has anyone had this before? We haven't sent their forms back in yet or paid anything so no commitments re the solicitor yet.

So yes, that's where we're up to and I feel really confused by everything and don't really know fully what to expect to happen next.

When I've had a buyer try to instruct the same solicitors when I had already instructed, the firm advised them to instruct someone else. If you instructed first I'd be inclined to request the vendors find someone else or do so yourselves.

Hi wow, thanks for your reply. I'm thinking that we might as well just change as I presume they will have already had some involvement with their solicitor (but I don't know as I don't know how you go about selling a house) and I guess they're using the same person for their purchase as well?

Hello all, only just found you. I'm on the sellers thread too but thought I'd have a look here too.

Another one buying a 1970s house. I love the giant room sizes. Small garden but that suits us. We're applying for our mortgage later this month (long annoying story about why we're waiting but luckily our vendors are awesome and don't mind).

I've heard bugger all from Estate agents until this week when they put the pressure on (we offered in early Feb). Its so annoying!

Hi, we're buying in Wiltshire, a bit panicked as our buyer has already moved out of their house and is staying with in laws, so need o move ASAP otherwise we may lose them! our solicitor has just started searches and understand that Wiltshire takes weeks as opposed to days where we are selling. Anyone had experience of this and how long did your searches take?

Time, where roughly in wilts? Mine is wilts and was done before I knew it!

Thanks Clock, that's good to know, moving not far from Trowbridge, hopefully will be as quick as yours, fingers crossed

Well, solicitors bumpf is posted and the mortgage is heading on, but, 5 days after receiving the survey report, DP has asked me to try and put some brakes on the process as there are a few things he's not happy about in the survey. I am resisting the urge to point out that we are due to be out of our rental in 5 and a half weeks and will need at least 3 further weeks after getting the keys before the place is inhabitable.

My dad (retired architect) is also really nervy about it. The only thing it's thrown up is damp issues, which I don't think are hugely unexpected in a flat that's 150 years old and on the lower ground?

Everyone thinks I'm charging on impulsively, but I'm not. I'm very realistic that the London property market is going insane and a do-er upper is the only chance we've realistically got now to live in a two bed without moving further south than Croydon. I am tempted to point out to them that as long as we are renting or stuck in a one-bed, grandkids are totally off the agenda - but that might considered emotional blackmail

Yes, it sucks that we'll have to do a damp proofing course, and we may need to badger the freeholder to undertake some repointing of the brickwork so that the damp doesn't reoccur. But frankly, if we could move into a flat without anything to do, we would. But we can't.

Sorry, I just need a rant!