Buyer's support thread #5

[scribblegirl]

Sorry for breaking the last one

and for all....

No and we won't until the referendum has been and gone (down to everyone involved in the legal process working at the speed of a slug) so we will be considering our options once we know the outcome.

We can take interest rate rises but the negative equity (if it was substantial) is something that would have pretty serious impact on us. Potentially. I'm not losing sleep over it at the moment but I'm not going to pretend the economy is going to be able to withstand whatever is coming.

Leave - I cannot see my vendor being willing to negotiate. I would hate for the sale to fall through though so pulling out would be a huge decision.

A lifetime ago, when negative equity applied to a fair few of my then FTB friends, one pregnant, they weathered it out.

Leavetheblindsdown can't you just slow down the process and look to exchange post-referendum? Then if it IS a Brexit vote you can negotiate a price reduction or pull out. If it is a Bremain vote, you just proceed as plannd and exchange.

If I were a vendor, the amount I would be willing to negotiate on on would depend on:
-How my property was priced v the local market;
-What the general level of activity has been/is;
-How atractive my property is and so chance of finding a replacement buyer (beautiful period in an outstanding catchment area with a south facing garden v ex-LA terrace needing upgrading with a north facing yard - for example);
-How much I wanted/needed to exchange to get the house I wa smoving to;
-My ability to take a cut; and
-How much you were annoying me.

I might take a couple of % points reduction (less than 5%) as long as I could pass that on to my house purchase, with the condition being we exchange pre Brexit vote. That way you have all hedged a bit.

So many very badly off people are voting Brexit. Can't help wondering what will happen when they realise they've been conned, and are being clobbered ever harder by an even more right wing government. Will there be riots?

Mary - that would certainly be what we would want to do. But it's still a worry.

I doubt there'll be riots. Seems that leavers are willing to accept a recession for the long term greater good - presumably because a recession wouldn't affect them.

The tendency is to label the current event (Brexit) as the only straw heavy enough to break the camel's back. Hopefully some will have noticed that the camel is already past its load limit, and possibly even expired.

Take a look at any market you fancy. The world will have to break before central bankers risk raising interest rates. Some people believe they are unbreakable. Even Mr Soros fears breaking...

I think that an awful lot of people have been misled into believing that the EU is to blame for everything. Whereas in fact the Conservative Government is to blame for most things, and what protection the poor have largely comes from the EU.
Say goodbye to workers' rights, human rights, and all the rest of it. Rich business owners making more money will be the only priority.
Look at the US and what the poor have to live with there - eg the constant fear of sickness or injury because they can't afford insurance, not going to the dentist when they need to, very low wages and can be dismissed on a whim with no compensation - and expect that to happen here.

Does anyone know what happens once searches and mortgage offers are back? I'm a bit in the dark now. We still aren't going to rush to exchange but is that the next step?

KirinM, we are in the same position as you, searches and enquiries have been completed, mortgage offer is out. We are now preparing for exchange or would be if we knew that the developer we are supposed to be buying from will still sell to us! Long story short, our chain on the sale side has held us up and we haven't met the deadline imposed by the builder, supposed to hear yesterday whether they are still prepared to go ahead, the whole process has been totally draining!
I hope all goes ahead smoothly for you now and everyone else enduring the stress that is house buying.

Kirin I think if there are any queries either you or your solicitor have after going through the searches, fixtures and fittings, and draft contract, these get sent back to the vendor's solicitor. Once those are resolved you move towards exchange. I think?

When your solicitor starts saying he is going to report to you (i.e. send you a long letter with all various matters raised/resolved, plus the SDLT form), that's when you are near exchange.

Ah okay thanks. I've had the searches report and the mortgage offer report. The vendor still hasn't done anything about the lease so we won't be getting to exchange if he doesn't start addressing it.

It's making me very cross that we all have to come on here and get the wonderful, amazing, PLEASE DO NOT EVER LEAVE US Spickle to help us as none of us can get our solicitors to explain what's going on. Why are they like this??

What isn't supposed to happen...

If your sale is as horrible as ours then you'll wait for many weeks while your vendor refuses to take responsibility for anything. Your solicitor will explain that they need information before they can do anything and the vendor will pretend that's unreasonable. Your solicitor will go out of their way to get information that the vendor is refusing to provide and will propose solutions to problems the vendor will not address. (Your vendor will refuse to countenance that this is them delaying the process).

The vendor will eventually (2 months after the first issues were raised) decide to accept your solicitor's proposals and their solicitor will then pass the documentation along to your solicitor so they can start preparing a report and producing contracts that you can sign. Literally 5 minutes after deigning to provide the necessary information, your vendor will start harassing your solicitor demanding immediate exchange. The vendor will then start personally harassing you and being very aggressive and making threats because you are delaying things.

It's incredibly stressful and our solicitors are being fantastic. They are doing their best to get everything done quickly but our vendor (who doesn't seem to like proving his solicitor with information either) doesn't seem to understand that things can't be immediate and they need to be done correctly.

That is most certainly not what's supposed to happen once you've got the mortgage offer and searches back.

Good grief that sounds horrible!

Step that's hilarious! Unfortunately, it's also true in so many transactions. We would categorically not advise anyone to book removals (only pencil in!) before exchange. Plus, even if there is only a short chain, it will still take a long time if enquiries and paperwork are not resolved/provided. Sounds like you've got a great solicitor and even though it's frustrating having to wait so long, it really is in your best interests!

Heyhey you're too kind - I'm a lowly conveyancing assistant not a solicitor unfortunately!

It doesn't feel so hilarious to us, alas.

Tbh, our solicitors have been trying their best. They really are being efficient, and I know the senior conveyancer was working on this last night (when she could have been doing something that wasn't work). It would have been really quick and easy if it weren't for the vendor.

The problem all along has been the vendor who is a total arse.

Well after a glimmer of hope we are still not sure our vendors have got a mortgage offer. They won't disclose what kind of issues they are having or even indicate whether it's resolvable.

Does anyone know if we can give a deadline to them?

Our solicitor is not very helpful and I'm not happy that she's been sat on all our money for nearly 7 weeks. Would I be in order to ask it be returned? I feel like reporting her to her boss. She's said if we want her to pester the vendors solictors more then we will have to pay her more money.

That doesn't sound good skitless. Our solicitors only asked us to send the money to them when they had the report ready and we'd signed. There's no need for them to hold thousands for weeks while there's no hint of an exchange in sight.

You are entitled to the interest back but I'd go above her head. Having a partner breathing down your neck always acts as good motivation.

If she's working on a fixed fee that doesn't mean she gets to do minimal work. You do the work you have to do to get the job done.

Skittlesss Ask for your deposit back if exchange is not imminent - solicitors shouldn't have it for an indefinite period in any case.

The problem with so-called deadlines is that if there is a problem with the mortgage lender or solicitor which is holding things up, your vendor can't do much about it and the lender and solicitor will not hurry things along just because you've issued a deadline. It takes as long as it takes unfortunately - you have to accept it and if not, the alternative is to pull out and then what have you achieved?

If we pull out then we can find a house where the vendor may be more honest about their position. It feels like ours are making excuses all the time and it's only when we push then things suddenly appear.

I will contact the partner on Monday and request the money back into my account.

Can you ask your vendor if they'd be willing to separate their sale and purchase? That way they could sell to you and rent somewhere until their purchase is sorted out.