Would anyone like an 'in a chain' support group? (2)

[AnnaELC]

Seems we reached 1000 messages so I've started a new one!

Mortgage application was successfully - today we were given the go ahead and a formal offer from the mortgage company all within 2 weeks of applying! Shocked but mega happy!

Shadowboy congrats so now how long should it be until completion and did you do anything I.e survey or searches while u were waiting for mortgage app to come back ??

The survey was done for free as part of the mortgage application. It was actually only day one yesterday- we had the text message to say the mortgage offer was done!

Searches applied for last week so fingers crossed within the next 3 weeks we should be ready, just hope the rest of the chain is too! (We are the top of the chain)

Hello all

Where do I start? We are in the middle of buying a house (lovely Victorian end terrace etc) had surveys back and discovered lots of issues with damp, wet rot and roof needing repair. We pulled out this morning and are back looking at houses.
We have sold our house to local housing association and are 78% completed on that.

We saw a house this evening that is a very real contender, lovely inside, tiny bit on small side but as we are moving from ex-council anything we buy in our price range is going to be a bit smaller. We are seeing four (!) tomorrow so hopefully will be booking 2nd viewings next week and maybe out in an offer on something.

Good luck dobby. It will be worth it.
We've now been in our house for 10 days and is beginning to feel like our home. The six months waiting has paid off

Hi y'all. Good news at this end - looks like the new chain checks out. The only potential problem I can see (for now) is that the two properties at the bottom of the chain are in a Council area which has a massive backlog. 5 weeks wait! Has anyone ever used a personal search? If so, how much did it cost? We may offer to pay to speed things up if it's not too hideous?

We had personal searches done Ocelot and they were back in 2 weeks. I don't know how much it cost as it is included in the amount we paid the conveyancer, but I think it was comparable to the council search.

Thanks user - that is helpful to know.

Sorry for sounding stupid but what do you mean by a personal search?
Great that everything seems to be ok again ocelot.
I'm assuming when I hear from the solicitor next week confirming things to do with the house we are buying (not had the written confirmation from ea yet as offer was accepted late yesterday and I think I'll be waiting until Monday) I organise a surveyor and electrician and gas check and get going with my mortgage application?? Does that sound right?

Personal search is when your conveyancer / private search company does the search, rather than the Council doing the search.

I can see now why the EA of the property we bought recently thought we we the perfect buyers - offered mid October, exchanged mid December and completed end of January!

Just got back from seeing property 3/5 and now I'm a bit confused [confused ]. Both have good and bad points. One is top of our budget and one is lower. One is in lovely area with good school and other is in area I don't know well but been told nice enough though does have problems that you get in any area

Seeing two more this afternoon with my MIL. My head is slightly spinning!!

On the plus side we have seen two that we can totally rule out

Dobby I got completely fed up of looking at houses over the last few weeks. Some were ruled straight out but a few had plus plus and minus points but none grabbed my heart. Until Thursday. The house that had been on the market for 2.5 months and I completely ruled out every time I saw it on right move for various reasons won me over. Just pulling up in the street I felt happy and at home. We only went to see it as the estate agent thought we would like it and we initially said no but were seeing one round the corner so thought we might as well. It was also over budget but we managed to get it for 13k under an 'offers over'. It's still a stretch but the house felt so right.

Iamcheeseman that is just like us ! We had flicked through the pics of ours and hadn't fallen for it and EA persuaded us to go and hinted that they would take an offer as I said it was over budget .. went and fell in LOVE

Really nice to hear some happy stories here. We have just given the go ahead to proceed with the same buyers now they have new buyers. Just hope the downward chain holds this time. Projected end date beg of May now, so it looks like I will be around for a while. Any news from Campervanlady?

Fingers crossed for a smooth sale this time Ocelot!

Thanks user. I feel completely wrung out with stress and I know there is bound to be more in store. By the time this is all over (IF it goes to plan) it will be 9 months. That's only marginally less than it took me to grow a person!

Yay good news oce

No news here. I'm worried sick that our flippant buyer will change their mind. We're waiting for their mortgage offer to come in. The lender asked for further bank statements after the valuation was done. I'm hoping that's normal. Their mortgage is really small though.

Words can't describe the worry. I'm convinced they'll fail to get a mortgage or change their minds

(They had an AIP though and their mortgage is very small)

I've mentally detached myself from this house. I just want to crack on with life.

Thoughts that go through my head are;

1. are we stuck here forever? What if we never sell the house?
2. how can we enjoy this house if we are stuck here forever?
3. all houses sell eventually, right?

It's a nightmare! Trying to reason with myself every second.

I darent pack anything until exchange.

Sending a very unMumsnetty hug your way Camper. Its so stressful, isn't it?

I am pretty confident in our buyer - its the downward chain that has me worried. But at some point you just have to commit and hope it all works out this time. Silly system if you ask me! Why aren't surveys and valuations available before you go to view, like they are in Scotland?

Can I ask what order is 'normal' to get mortgage, survey and searches done please? And should I wait for everyone else in the chain to get their done first/at the same time?
Also, being top of the chain I want to get cracking but don't want to waste money if anything below is going to collapse. Can I ask the solicitor to find out how far the others have got?
I don't even have a clue when the FTB in the chain found their house, all I know if when our buyer sold (2 weeks ago) then when they offered on ours (last week) and when we offered on our new house (Friday). The rest of the chain could have been started months ago and be underway couldn't it? Or it could be really new. I just want an idea of where everyone else in the chain is to give me some confidence in it all going through!

It is entirely up to you which way you do it Iamcheeseman.

We waited for our mortgage offer, then when we had that and knew we could borrow the full amount we started the searches, then commissioned the survey once we were happy there were no issues there.

However, we commissioned our own survey, and the mortgage company just did their own valuation, so if you want to upgrade the mortgage companies valuation to a survey that might not be an option, or the best way for you. We aren't in a chain thankfully.

I would ask your EA to make enquiries in the first instance, as until the solicitor receives the contract packs there isn't a lot they can do. That could be weeks away, depending on how fast your buyers/vendors are.

So we can rule the two out we saw this afternoon (won't be taking MIL again ). We see one more on Monday but going to arrange 2nd viewing of our two faves.

My prob is that is the one I really like is right at top of our budget at 290k if we were to put an offer in would you go lower and and if so how much lower? According to Zoopla, it was bought for 280k last year

Receives a contract pack? What is one of those? My solicitor emailed on Friday to say she'd been in contact with our buyers solicitor to basically let them know she was working for us. Is that what comes next?
Why does this all have to take so long?!
I'm thinking end of May might be about right if nothing bad happens in between- does that sound about right?

Dobby I'd offer what you want to pay for it. I don't want to give specific figures but the house we are buying we are paying 13k less than the 'offers over' price and it's in a similar bracket to yours. We really love the house and it is going to stretch us financially.The EA knew we just couldn't go higher. We offered 20k less than the price for another house (as it was all we felt it was worth) but that was rejected. Although I'm glad it was or we wouldn't have found the one we love.

Iamcheeseman from google a contract pack "... is a set of documents forwarded to your buyer's conveyancing solicitor so he may investigate your legal title over the property.

Usually it contains the draft contract, title deeds, property information form, fixtures & fittings form, leasehold management information (if applicable), building guarantees and any planning consents you've been granted."

Dobby, agreed offer what the property is worth to you. However, if they paid £280k last year I would think it was unlikely that they would go much lower than that. Have they told you why they are moving so soon?