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

[AnnaELC]

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

Good stuff beanhunter! Big sympathy to Kilburn - "relaxed" buyers (ie lazy, inconsiderate sods) are starting to make me feel all stabby. And Outtogetyou- that's bonkers! Can your boss give you a morning off?

BTW, has anyone seen the other thread on property about someone thinking of gazundering by 35k because, on second thoughts, the garden is too small? Horrified.

ocelot41

A morning off would be no good. It would need to be a whole day and that's annual leave and I need all my leave to move house.

I live north of Peterborough, the EA is in Rushden, but I work in London, so there is no way I could get to Rushden and still be at work for half a day. I honestly don't see why I should - it can be done by phone.

I have sent them a very stroppy email, copying their CEO, saying it looks as if they are trying to pressurise me into taking their financial products which is a breach of several laws (which I quoted).

It's all so bloody exhausting!

Hi all. I struggle to keep up with this thread (and it scares me slightly)!

Nice to see 2 of you complete since my last post- wahoo!

I've now had survey done and mortgage offer in. Solicitor is now doing searches.

Today I've been sent 2 things from our solicitor regarding the sale of our current house if any of you can help me with questions please?
First thing was draft contracts for us to sign (and big letters saying do not date). This is ready for exchange of contracts right? Does this mean our buyer has signed it too?

Second thing they have sent me is a list of queries from the buyers solicitors. 9 of them!! Most are related to planning permission for 2 extensions and a dropped kerb done waaaay before we moved in so of course I don't have them. The solicitor says in the letter that if I don't have them they want me to pay £175 and £125 for 2 insurances- is this normal? Nothing like this happened when we moved in and I'm sure there was paperwork from the solicitors saying they had checked on planning permission.

I'm still just desperate for an end date!

Thanks if anyone can answer about the above. I have, of course, emailed the solicitor but wanted a normal answer as I'm sure I won't understand what the solicitor tells me.

ocelot I saw that thread and had to leave it as it was making me nervous. People seem to be more fickle about buying a house than they d a packet of crisps.

Iamcheeseman, I like your turn of phrase!

On the other hand, Worcester sauce versus cheese and onion, can be a lifechanging decision! And then there is sweet chilli...

Cheeseman I think receiving the contracts is a good sign and so is receiving the enquiries. If I were you I'd just pay the indemnity just to push the sale through I'm a pushover though

Glad I didn't see that thread. Sounds proper shit.

I doubt I'll have any news for a while as we're waiting on leasehold enquiries and they take 2 weeks. No idea how I'm going to remain patient and calm though!

Thanks campervan I hope it's a good sign and I have told the solicitor we'll pay if we need to as we don't have paperwork for extensions done decades before we moved in!
Us having those contacts doesn't mean the people below in the chain have necessarily done theirs though does it?

ocelot my 3 year old loves cheese and onion but she thinks they are called chicken onion. I keep correcting her but it's fixed in her brain. It's rather amusing when she asks for chicken onion crisps

Cheeseman We had responded to 11 enquiries on our house and agreed to pay an insurance for not having paperwork on an alteration in the kitchen. Unfortunately our buyer's buyer pulled out, so having contracts and enquiries is a good sign but still unfortunately nothing guaranteed until contracts signed and exchanged.

Does anyone know how long searches are valid for?

Cheeseman - boring but normal.

You may well have all the building regs and planning permission stuff in your paperwork from your purchase, if not, you could ask the solicitor who did that conveyance. And the council may have copes of the PP and the details for the dropped kerb.

If not, just pay it - I've had to pay for this before, always seems to be me. Last time I was buying and the sellers could not turn up the docs and we ended up paying for the indemnity as they refused and once the solicitor knew about it he said he had to get it to cover the mortgage co. I wasn't going to lose the house for £90 but it was annoying!

I look around a house I might buy for about ten minutes. I definitely spend longer than that thinking about what crisps to buy!

We are going in to sign up todAy!

I would pay too cheeseman.

Thanks folks. I have told the sol we'll pay. It's the same solicitors we used when we bought the house though and I took the whole folder of paperwork we had on the purchase into them when we instructed them to help with things. Feels like it might have been easier to keep it all myself so I could look through it all.

How long is a search valid for?

Local Authority searches are certified up to and including the date it is stamped and returned to your solicitor because the information being requested can change frequently.

Generally, they are accepted as valid for at least 3 months, and mortgage lenders require that they are no older than 6 months at the date of completion. You might be able to get them updated for a minimal charge if within the 6 months.

Weird question but does a local authority search ever come back surprisingly early? Here it takes 2 weeks to do (apparently)

Argh, our seller's purchase has fallen through. And it was a great one because they were buying somewhere empty. Now they'll probably find somewhere that has a further chain above them. I really hope they move quickly, our buyers are in a hurry and we can't afford to lose them. My hopes of being in by July are fading fast!

I'm rapidly losing the will to live, been advised by our EA that exchange is unlikely to happen this week as another document has been requested by 2 down the chain from us, grr I'm at the head banging on desk stage! We have been stuck at this point for about 3 weeks with no progress - why are they so slow and useless!

Well we have signed contracts and due to exchange in the next day or so. Cannot wait for this time next week it will almost be over

Well after a couple of weeks of 'we're ready to exchange' 'no we're not there's another query somewhere in the chain (including questions raised by our buyer's solicitor yesterday which were ridiculous and they said they were happy last week!!)... we have finally exchanged contracts today and are completing on Friday!! Eek!

That's brilliant LittleMiss! Sympathy call to donkey and Kilburn...

Inching forward here - our buyers are ready to exchange, their buyers are not far off, but the f-ing ftbs are waiting until next week to do their valuation (6 weeks in!) So holding everyone up.

Meanwhile a FAB house has come up here but of course I can't put an offer in until I have exchanged (we have moved to Scotland). House is likely to go to a closing date for bids in a couple of weeks.

Do I dare go and see it or not? I don't want to fall in love and then not be able to offer!

I've actually come to the conclusion today that all my efforts of chasing and pushing have come to nought. So I'm backing right off and waiting to see if that has the desired effect and we get a nice surprise early next week and exchange. My theory is the opposite approach might have the opposite effect! It will kill me as I'm quite tenacious and not known to accept defeat! Wish me luck (plus I need distractions to stop me chasing)!

So, my cross email to the EA has resulted in the Head of Compliance getting involved (I had copied the CEO of the group), which is going to mean the EA hates me even more than she might already have done.

I've noticed that the 'offer' she sent to the seller claims I am not financially checked (but they have not told me what I need to do to get financially checked, other than go to their offices and talk to their FA which is impossible) and that I am 'sold subject to contract' which I am not - I am being bought out by the (uncommunicative) ex and that is all in place, ready to go.

Sigh. Maybe it's a good thing the Head of Compliance is involved.

Woo-Hoo! A victory moment for us, the mortgage offer is through . It is such a relief not to be the weak link in the chain. So, a step forward, the solicitors are doing their thing, fingers are firmly crossed to move in May.

As a side note, holy crap all this is stressful, more than it realistically should be when I think about it logically. And the stress is making me stupid, I keep forgetting where I have put stuff, I used 'there' instead of 'their' in an email yesterday, I tried to put the Sky unlock code into an atm, if I don't move soon God knows where this will end.