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

[AnnaELC]

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

"I used 'there' instead of 'their' in an email yesterday" - OMG! I hope my move doesn't get this bad, I really couldn't stand it!

:)

Good news for me this morning. Our chain is now complete again. The guys at the top are moving into a new build. The hope is to exchange within 28 days and complete 5-6 weeks later when the builder has put the kitchen and bathroom in. Starting to feel like we might be getting somewhere but I don't want to jinx it. I know our buyer was hoping to complete sooner but that's the way it goes with chains.

I really feel for all of us it's so stressful
I've been ringing every day different companies switching everything over and it's so time consuming constantly on hold ! Just happy that I can see us staying here long term

Pleased to see some of you have had some luck. Sorry to those all still waiting.

Upperlimit the stress is making me silly too. Or maybe that's all the wine I've been consuming

Ocelot I would go and see the house. But then I love a bit of house porn. I want to view one that we can't even afford as I like their decor and wanted to steal ideas. Don't worry DH won't let me view any more

So many of you sound close to completion now hurrah.

Some good news today as our chain has come to a halt because of us (damn first time buyers). Finally had communication from our broker saying that our mortgage has been approved and the offer will be issued subject to valuation. Now they went around for their survey/valuation two weeks ago so I'm not sure what that means. I won't get excited until I get the offer through the post.

Waves to Beautician - I couldn't resist, am booked into go see it tomorrow,!

Wahoo lots of good news stories- keep them coming (it gives me hope!)

I thought things were going smoothly here but asked the ea for an update on the whole chain today. The first 3 in the chain are in Dorset and searches there are taking 7 weeks! One of the 3 only put in for then 2 weeks ago so that's another 5 weeks just until their searches are done
Mine and my buyers searches took a few days, not 7 weeks! Why on earth do they have such a backlog?
So by that reckoning I think we'd be lucky to be in by the end of may. I'm just going to weep in a corner!

Yay and a text message from Santander confirming offer means we are no longer the annoying ones in the chain

All our searches have already been done so hoping that the end of chain new build is complete on time. If so we are looking at end of May for completion. Although we won't move in until mid June as the whole house needs re carpeting/flooring throughout as well as complete redecoration. Now to choose all the colours

Yaay for Beautician and fist bump for cheeseman - the ftbs in our chain put in for their searches 5 weeks ago and I thought that was taking ages! You can pay to get private searches done in 24 hours y'know....

I mean WHY would anyone wait that long?

You can pay for private searches?!! Did nobody tell the people of Dorset this?!
How expensive are they do you know?
I imagine given 3/5 of the chain are Dorset and have already started the waiting process (first ones have been waiting 4 weeks already) they might just say they will wait it out :-(

ooo colours beautician sounds like fun. I'm thinking the new trend (or is it old already?) of grey looks quite nice.

About the same as going via the Council... Too late now?

In fact we offered to pay for the ftbs at the bottom of our chain to get them done when we heard how long the Council wait was. It was about £200. No biggie for us,but we know ftbs are overstretched so offered to help. No reply from the EA so don't even know if they got the mg.

Private searches? Say what now? They are the way forward!! I didn't know they existed!

7 weeks is ridiculous.

Happy to read the good news above! Glad to see people actually do exchange contracts. I was beginning to think it was a myth!!

To be perfectly honest if we aren't going to move before may 6th ish, which obviously we aren't now, I'd actually rather we then stayed put for 3 weeks as I have 40 hours of extra work for 3 weeks. But I just want everything signed so want it all hurried.
How long from last searches coming in to everyone being ready do you think?
(All surveys and mortgages where necessary are done)

Linky for anyone who is interested

www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/875-conveyancing-personal-searches-vs-official-searches

Cheeseman Grey is exactly what we are thinking. We will probably go for mid grey carpets on stairs, landing and the bedrooms. Four boys here and the cream carpets in rentals never fare very well with all boys.

Our searches took a few days and we are with a conveyancer where everything is done online. Although they aren't too far away if need be. They order the searches pretty much straight away as they are aware they can take a while sometimes. If the house falls through the second lot of searches are free. But of course it's going to be nice and straight forward from here right ?

Just wanted to butt in with a bit of a daft question as we've not been in a chain before but are likely to be now. We want to sell our house and upsize. How does it work with deposits please as our money is tied up in the house we will be selling? So for example, on exchange you have to pay a 10% deposit. We have the other costs, stamp duty etc set aside.

I'm new to this myself but my understanding is that our deposit essentially comes from the deposit the people buying our house provide us with.
I'm sure I don't need to give over any money anyway.

MrsPatmore - you pay a 10% deposit usually. Sometimes they will agree to less. But, sadly you have to find a way to fund it. It's a royal pain and something no-one really tells you about.

Oh, yes, if you have a deposit coming to you, that can be set aside for it, but it may not be enough of course if you're upsizing.

Yes that's right iamcheeseman. We are downsizing so our buyer's deposit covers the one we need to give our seller - everyone will exchange on same day so it all just covers itself.

If you're upsizing and your deposit isn't covered by the one your buyers will give you, I think you will need to fund the balance.
I don't know if there's a way to get round this, other than if you exchange and complete on the same day (as then all the full purchase proceeds move at once so no deposits needed).

I am no expert either though!

XP with outto

MrsPatmore don't worry, it's usually fine. As mentioned before, the start of the chain will provide a 10% deposit and it will be passed up through the chain. That won't be 10% of the selling price of the most expensive house in the chain obviously, but it is generally accepted that funds are tied up in the properties and will be released on completion day. The solicitor may phone up the chain to let them know that a "lesser" deposit is coming and the solicitor will revert to their client to advise them of this. However, it only becomes a problem if someone in the chain fails to complete and then the defaulting party will need to pay the 10%.

OutTo is wrong, you don't have to find a way to fund it, the only time is if a vendor insists on the full 10% (and the solicitor will probably persuade them otherwise) or if someone defaults between exchange and completion.

Hello all, sorry to hear your tales of woe

Does anyone know if at any point you can refuse to pay some of your agents fees? Ours has done such a shocking job in variety of ways all of which have dragged the sale on and caused significant stress, including telling us the sale might fall through and then promptly going on holiday without telling us, that I feel some sort of financial compensation should be looked at.

Does this ever happen?

Zelda you would need to put into writing your grievances against the EA directly and then give them time to resolve the issues and/or offer a sum in full and final settlement. If you wish to take it further, you would need to escalate it to the ombudsman (find out which scheme the EA are signed up to)

Thanks Spickle, I've started drafting a complaint anyway, makes sense that that is the first step.