Would anyone like an 'in a chain' support group?

[thenewaveragebear1983]

Would anyone like an 'in a chain' support thread? We're selling and buying and it's so stressful!! We've found our 'dream house' and had an offer accepted, had an offer on ours within a week which was subsequently retracted. Wondered if anyone else was finding this whole process ridiculously stressful?

northumberland
I really feel for you, this forum has been a bit of lifesaver for me, I have almost resigned myself now to the fact that we will be moving in a mad rush or that it will all go tits up and we will be unpacking things I've already packed. We are going from a 5 bed to a small 3 bed so I've started the packing/throwing/giving away my friends think i'm mad . We are also moving about 200 miles away from where we are at the moment, I don't even want to consider the logistics of the actual day - I might need intravenous wine.

North it does sometimes feel like a game doesn't it? Lots of cat and mouse and second guessing people. You can see why it brings out people's bad side as it's all very anonymous and everything rests on the bottom of the chain which gives them a lot of power over what happens. It's truly amazing really that in the modern world there's a) no commitment from anyone until exchange and b) no way to do it quicker. If everyone did their own survey on their own house, brought along all their paperwork and got everyone in a room together with solicitors it could be done and dusted in 3 hours. Instead we have weeks of to-ing and fro-ing!!
Just repeat the mantra- it will happen, it will happen, it will happen

Anna - I am downsizing too - 3 bed Edwardian Terrace, with dining room & loads of original storage to a Victorian (1850) wonky house with 2 Bedrooms & a dining kitchen...so I feel your pain! Although I am staying in the same town. You are brave!!

I even did a car boot sale yesterday (horrendous experience & one for another thread) but I got rid of loads of stuff & made £125!

Bear - I don't know if I'm lucky or not...I work with the person I am buying from (well it's her late parents house) and the people who are buying mine are friends of friends! It's a small town!
I totally agree, it would be so much better if we did our own paperwork. I think that is how it works in the States (?) - apparently the process doesn't take more than a month.

Hi all, I've been in hiding while time ticked by. It's D day tomorrow. We find out if our buyer has been made redundant or if he's ready to proceed. It is exhausting. In the interests of staying positive, I packed three boxes today. The thought of losing the house we want to buy makes me feel sick.

Gosh small how stressful! Everything crossed for you - pour yourself a glass of wine. It's horrible but it's totally out of your control. Hopefully all will work out for you

Thanks bear, I just want it to be over with now. If we are proceeding I will make it my mission to move as soon as possible before anything else causes a problem!

Hi all. Just sticking my head in here! We aren't exactly in a chain - we are 'swapping' houses with the people we are buying from (part-exchange), but it is still very stressful. I can't imagine what it's like if there's a chain of six or so .

Offers were all accepted last week and we have requested searches etc. We are hoping to be in by Christmas, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. The house we are buying doesn't need much doing to it, but we are going from a three-bed to a six-bed, so we will need more furniture to stop us all rattling around in there!

Welcome Maurice, you are our first house exchanger on this thread. My parents did a house exchange once, it does have its own particular stresses I'd imagine.
We are moving from a 4 bed to a much bigger 4 bed- although ironically we have fewer rooms in our new house (eg. We have a playroom here but not in the new, and also a converted outbuilding/ storage room here and not in the new) so I am a bit concerned that we will have jumbled furniture for a while as bits will be put in everywhere to make it fit! Our new place also has 'incidental space' which we don't have here, like a wide landing and a bay window (current owner had a beautiful chaise longue on the landing) plus an actual entrance hall/foyer which is just crying out for some sort of console table. My crappy pile of trainers and old coat pegs just ain't gonna cut it!!!
I feel a lot better after today- our buyers are lovely and it was clear that they are really excited about moving so I had a renewed wave of excitement myself. I am, this weekend, going to get some boxes and begin packing some of the stuff I never use (like photo albums and kitchen bits) - I 've been putting it off so as not to tempt fate, but I feel quite positive now and it really needs to be done. I've also started deep cleaning a room at a time so that I don't have such a mammoth task ahead- it will still need doing again as we move but at least it's not going to be so awful!

Morning All

small keeping everything crossed for you!
Welcome maurice I hope everything goes well. I should think its just as stressful to (part) exchange.

We did some more packing yesterday evening and are going to go for it over the weekend. I wasn't tempting fate either bear but have already packed loads to go into storage and feel like I should start looking in cupboards I'm going to give the EA a ring today and see whats going on further down the chain as we are ready to go (we are 3rd of 4 in the chain).

Good luck with the packing Bear and Anna. It's hard to know when to start isn't it. The whole process is so impractical.

Good luck today small and welcome Maurice.

We're speeding ahead with our buyers, who now have contacts to sign, but things are sloooow with our vendors, though I suspect our (shared) EA is to blame as she didn't send out the notice of sale though claims she did. We're also still waiting to hear back from Nationwide, who did the valuation a whole week ago. It seems like such a long wait to know if they've approved our mortgage or not!?

We're the same apples, our buyers are keen and everything's done; our vendor is just slow, we don't know how her purchase is going - I am going to pester the EA today for some updates. We all have the same agent in our chain, so there's really no excuse for the lack of communication!!

Right lets all ring the EA - I think they need a bit of a shove!

My solicitors are all gung ho about moving at the end of next week, which has caused a rise in my blood pressure

I'm not even sure if that is feasible...I will keep you all updated with my panic attacks.

Everyone is very keen to move, but the solicitors are just slow to respond to everything.

Northumberland Wow really!! I really hope we get a bit more notice than that or I might keel over.... Keep deep breathing and drinking wine let us know how you get on.

We've had a big bundle through the post today with lots of the answers to our questions to the seller, so I felt a bit less stressy. She will have to buy some indemnities to cover most of the rest and then just a few more bits to do. We have found out though that they are still waiting for the results of the searches on our purchase property! Ours for sale were pretty quick, how long do you reckon these will be? They were ordered on the 3rd October so that has already been 2 weeks!
I hate this roller coaster - it's like the suggested 'end of October' date keeps wafting in front of me and then gets whisked away !!
I did tempt fate and bought 5 big moving boxes from b&q and a roll of bubble wrap, for some tentative packing at the weekend!

We are all sorted and ready to exchange. YIKES! Last I heard our vendors wanted to complete on 26th and our buyers are living in a holiday cottage atm. So we may be moving next week. I'm so excited and terrified all at one. It will definitely be in the next 2-3 weeks

ginger thats amazing news i'm so pleased for you. Keep us all posted.

bear our searches for the purchase were applied for on the 23rd September and we got them on Friday 14th October. So 3 weeks from when they were applied. Same as you for the sale they were 7 days.

I reckon you get packing what you don't need and leave as little as possible for the mad rush. Says me who emptied loads of boxes on Sunday looking for something

I sent a little nudgey email to the guy at the solicitor who ordered the searches and low and behold, they have been received.
Seriously, I expect a cut of their fees.
In other news, we have a rental flat which was my dh's bachelor pad which we were planning to sell in the new year to fund the work we need on our new house. Well, email today from the agent who says that a previous tennant has asked if we want to sell it and how much for. Obviously nothing agreed yet, but how awesome is that?? It's Fate, I tell you.
I have already firmly told dh that I am NOT having the stress of selling again, it must be a straightforward process organised entirely by him
I need tonight!

Thats amazing news on the flat bear you definitely deserve a drink later - I will join you promised myself no wine tonight

I'm sick of chasing everyone. I sent an email to our EA earlier - no reply yet, I will keep chasing them though. Our vendors EA has been amazing she has organised everything for us. Ours on the other hand has been a bit lapse (you would think they would like their money).

Hi everyone, finally had time to read back a bit, rather than just popping on for updates.
Dolly and Crazycat we did have a real wobble a couple of weeks ago about going into rented, as we really can't risk losing our sale (our type of house hasn't resold well on the estate), but I persuaded DH to hang in there and hopefully we are ready to exchange maybe tomorrow in the next few days
Bear that's so great about your flat, fingers crossed for a smooth sale, I think you deserve one
I totally agree that conveyancing and estate agents fees are money for old rope, they do nothing unless you constantly push them grrrr
Good luck all

Finally got an update from the EA- our solicitor waiting for a few bits from our seller; sellers solicitor waiting for searches and 1 answer from her onward purchase- but, all have agreed that if solicitors can do it then 7th November works for us all. No promises yet but we'll get another update next week, then hopefully we'll be finally on the move.
I've packed 5 boxes today- literally hasn't made a dent in it!
Also Found out that our seller's solicitor only works part time which is why they are so slow. They are going to make it a priority now to get our chain moving, so let's just watch this space......!!

Ginger and Bear Wow that all sounds great! Fingers crossed to everything going as planned.

We just got survey results back and the house we're looking to buy has got a structual issue and been valued down by 70k. I could cry!!!

So the worst case scenario it is! Buyer lost, and our vendor can't wait for us, so it's back to square one. Dreading having to do viewings again, the house has reverted to it's usual tip like state, and I have boxes everywhere!

:( sorry to read all the bad news.

Our solicitor is waiting for "enquiries" from our buyers solicitor and our EA had been chasing for our buyers elusive mortgage offer. He said he spoke to the lending panel and it's definitely on its way.

I've never even heard of a lending panel before.

Oh no!
Apples what do you think you will do? Would you be prepared to do the work if they would accept the lower offer or are they going to pull out?
Small that's horrible. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to have to start all over again.

for you both tonight