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

[AnnaELC]

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

I do feel a bit crazy by now MrsHandles! And very cross that my EA seems to make out like its a major hassle to answer my queries about where the chain is up to - you would think they would understand how stressful it has been!

Please can I join?

It might be a short visit though....

We found a house we loved (quite hard as have 3 DCs aged 4 and under and live in a very heavily subscribed place for school places). Managed to get a full asking price offer on our house in a week and a half from buyers in rented with a mortgage sorted. EA has said this is like the holy grail at this end of the market

Went to put an offer in on the house to be told they had received an "acceptable" offer but were still verifying their long chain so we could put one in as it hadn't been accepted. We did and it was rejected on Thursday night. Happy to up it and did so but the EA can't get hold of the executors despite them promising they would be available yesterday to discuss

Estate agent shut today and DH and I are just wholly uneasy about the whole thing. We feel we are messing our buyers about who are thoroughly decent and we will just stay in our house and extend a bit as we returned the whole thing and did a loft conversion 18 months ago so we need to let buyers know ASAP. Also not happy with our offer just sitting there

Intend to call the agent on Monday and give them until lunchtime to contact their clients. If they can't, we will withdraw the offer until they can reestablish communication and take it from there.

Any thoughts? This is so stressful and horribly awkward as we think the other couple who put the offer in are a mum I know from a baby group.

Hm gobbolino, does your buyer know the situation? I wouldn't blame you if I knew. Just being left hanging around and not knowing what's going on would be annoying tho.

Can I ask you guys a question? I am very fed up with my EA - he ignores email for long periods of time (he hasn't answered one I sent 10 days ago). When he does reply, he gives me emotionally reassuring platitudes about 'trying his very best' to get the same through. But he doesn't do what I have asked for, which is give me weekly, detailed updates on what is happening with the chain.

I get more info from the EA of our buyer, who is pretty good but isnt actually working for us. So I dont like bothering her too often. I have tried calling but that doesn't get better response. WWYD? Shall I gently remind him that I usually leave online reviews and that I would like to leave him a positive one? Or is that too passive aggressive?

No. we only got the offer on Thursday.

We have been explicitly clear with the agent that we put our house on the market to get the other house and if we didn't get it, we would not sell our house so they would need to deal with our buyers as we won't muck them about as it's not fair and I know they love our house. As far as I am aware, they told our buyers that we were in the process of securing a new property.

The agent was hoping to sort things out yesterday but couldn't get hold of the executors. We will phone back on Monday morning I think and give them til lunchtime to make contact. If they can't, we will withdraw the offer until they do make contact and take it from there.

Ocelot Try copying the CEO on your next email, I did and they've given me £75 compensation (which I am going to ask them to donate to charity) and it's not even my EA as I am the buyer.
Or, if that's too much, with one I just asked at the end of my email for them to confirm the CEO name and email (I had them, and put then in the email and just said "on another note, please confirm the following is correct") and he was on the phone in about ten minutes and now provides weekly updates.
You have no long term relationship with these people, get heavy on their asses!

ocelot the only person who can tell you how your sale/purchase is progressing is your solicitor. The EA can phone other solicitors/vendors in the chain to try and obtain information but they are not party to any of the legal bits, therefore the information they pass on to you can be sketchy, depending totally on what the solicitor/vendor people tell him. You're expecting weekly detailed updates from someone who does not have access to your file.

Thanks both - I think the biggest problem is, the EA at the bottom of the chain just isnt playing ball. He doesn't even return calls! Would it be reasonable, Spickle to ask our solicitor to confirm where things are up to with the solicitor of the ftbs at the bottom of the chain? I didn't know solicitors could do that.

I guess behind this is a bit of an AIBU? What should I expect from an EA by way of chain management? I am well aware that I have been strung out by this for so long that I am not seeing straight. I think my EA has me down as a 'difficult customer' because I call him once weekly to see where things are up to. I wait a couple of days and call or email again if I don't receive a reply.

He could be right or he could be being an arse. Thoughts folks please? Have I lost the plot because I have been house selling too long?

Unfortunately your solicitor will only be able to tell you where you are with your sale and your purchase, not anyone else in the chain. They can tell you what they are waiting for from your vendor's/buyer's solicitor but they would not know about the FTB, unless the FTB is your buyer? Similarly the solicitor for the FTB will be able to advise the FTB of where they are, so if that's what you want to know, you will need the FTB to ask their solicitor. The person selling to the FTB may be able to find out via their solicitor if that helps? This is why EAs can be useful because they are allowed to phone everyone, but because they don't have legal knowledge or access to your files, the solicitors don't usually offer much information as it can be miscommunicated. Hard as it is, sometimes it is better to just let the legal people get on with it and when there is news, you will be updated.

Sorry, it's not a lot of help but the legal work can be time consuming and not always straight forward and unfortunately EAs do place unrealistic timescales on a transaction.

Thanks Spickle that is so helpful. Our situation is that we are ready to exchange, our buyers say they are nearly there with their sale, but the agent dealing with the sale of the flat at the bottom of the chain (to ftbs) isn't communicating with the other EAs. We think they are some way behind us as they are going through a very slow mortgage application process (now 6 weeks in). But what else they still have to do, we have no way of knowing. We asked for an 8 week exchange date, if possible, as everyone at the upper end needs to get moved to take up job offers, school places etc. We understand that that was ambitious and that the date might slip a bit, but the lack of any communication at all is driving us nuts! Our mortgage holiday runs out and we don't know whether to renew it, we can't offer on other houses until we have exchanged as we have moved to Scotland. In short, we are in Limbo Land with no realistic idea of when it might end! What should we do?

EA chain manages by trying to keep everyone "happy" by providing updates. However, they also scaremonger by telling tales of clients threatening to pull out or by passing on incorrect information. EAs stir things up, even though a good one is probably worth their weight in gold. Remember, an EA sells houses. Once they have bagged a sale, their work is essentially done, other than making calls to satisfy the demands of their clients and to ensure they get their commission. They are caught between trying to keep clients happy and not actually being a party to accurate news to pass on. This is the point at which everyone has to appoint solicitors to do the legal bit. It is important that the legal bit is done properly and this can take time. At this point an EA is often in the dark and is dependent upon how good his relationship with the solicitor is. An EA constantly phoning the solicitor and interrupting their work will not be in their favour. I know some solicitors who refuse to speak to an EA or will tell them anything to get them to go away.

I do work in conveyancing so obviously see it from that side, but my advice to you would be that if the EA hasn't called you, or doesn't call you, it is because there is no further news that he knows about.

Ahh, now I see that there is a flat at the bottom of the chain. Flats are often difficult transactions because they are leasehold. Leasehold properties will involve a lot more work, including the seller having to pay for a leasehold pack to provide to the buyer's solicitor. The buyer's solicitor will have to look at the leasehold and freehold titles as well as request additional enquiries to be answered by the landlord/freeholder. There may be consents to obtain or anything defective in the lease to rectify. There will be long delays with the management company in responding to queries. Leasehold transactions typically take 12 weeks in any case. The FTB mortgage may not be the issue here.

While you and others higher up the chain may be ready, it would seem that the sellers of the flat to FTB are not and as such you will not be in a position to exchange until everyone has caught up. Extensions to mortgage offers are very common but your solicitor should advise you whether this is needed.

Unfortunately, regardless of job offers, school places etc, no solicitor would allow anyone to exchange contracts unless they were satisfied that all enquiries and paperwork had been dealt with. They could be sued if they don't spot something important, so in that scenario, a school place does not take priority.

This is why, after my first purchase was a flat, I swore never to buy leasehold again! It's a nightmare to buy and sell. Worse with mine that the leaseholder was AWOL though in the end I just had to pay for some kind of indemnity.

Our last EA was like that, oce! He was awful and we assumed that he was doing his job right haha! In the end we caught him out with lies and changed our estate agent. The new estate agent is spot on! I can honestly say your EA sounds rubbish. Definitely leave a review :(

Gobbolino we were in a similar situation a week ago. Had put an offer in but heard nothing back from the EA and we were very cross. Didn't hear anything for a few days but then offer got accepted and we have a complete chain. Turns out that the delay was just because the chain was being firmed up and offers being accepted all along it. So don't give up hope! I also think that perhaps we expect it to be as quick as Phil and Kirsty in a pub, but I can see how it doesn't always work like that. Good luck

Thanks Spickle - I really appreciate your straight talking and the reality check. It seems the EA set up false expectations about what was possible. I am also more familiar with the Scottish system, which is much faster (6-8 weeks is normal here). So that means I won't be able to bid on my dream house (which is going to a closing date on 24th - sob! I will probably have to renew our mortgage holiday too (as we have been paying for 2 properties for 8 months now as a number of chains fell through which is financially painful).

Emotionally, it seems I have been letting my exasperation about how long this whole thing has been taking go to my head.8 months is a hell of a long time to be going through this. I think I also have stopped trusting my EA after they failed to tell me (twice) that the lower half of a chain collapsed. In one case it took a month for that news to percolate through the chain to us via solicitors, which landed us straight on top of Xmas.

I think I should just stop looking at other properties to buy now if I won't be able to bid - I am just driving myself even madder! God it is hard to keep your sanity amidst all of this!

So what do I do now Spickle? Just sit tight for another month and a half and hope no one pulls out again? Ugh.

Ocelot, I don't have the answer as to what you should do. I guess sitting tight and trying not to stress is the only thing you can do. If everyone is committed to the process you will get there. Pulling out doesn't solve anything and just makes it more stressful. It will take as long as it takes unfortunately. If everyone involved replied to requests immediately, then it will happen quicker but there are so many third parties involved and it only takes one to be slow to affect everyone else.

Sending you a big bunch of these and best of luck that any issues are sorted out soon!

OK, new question folks. Those of you who have had multiple chains fall through and are in for the long haul: how do you stop you keep the stress levels down and stop obsessing? If I can't expect regular updates to help me count down (like a very, very lengthy Stair master session), how do you stay sane?

Thanks Spickle. Sorry, we just cross posted.

I am now in such deep financial doo doo its not funny. My DS is so strung out his behaviour is off the wall bad (he is being investigated for ADHD so has issues anyway). Oh and the friends we are letting from (understandably) want to know when they can have their flat back. Stress!!!!!

Hi please can I ask does anyone know how quick you should get paid after completion by solicitor any monies left over and owing to you? We completed on thurs and expected an immediate transfer .,, nothing?!

littlemiss your solicitor probably worked very hard on Thursday trying to get all the completions and exchanges for that day done. Once the completion is done, the file would be sent to the legal cashiers/accounts department to produce a final bill. Bearing in mind that the accounts department also would have been busy making sure funds were in from lenders and clients in order for completion to take place, finalising bills once completion has been effected tend to take a back seat. Good Friday was a bank holiday, tomorrow is a bank holiday so the solicitors won't be back in the office until Tuesday. If you get your money by the end of the week, you've done well.

Ocelot - it's the only answer.

Sadly for me, I don't drink alone and I am always alone.

I also can't decide what to do but my decision has been not to do anything and not to make any further decisions this weekend. But, I have to make one Tuesday I think. It's almost definitely going to be the sub-optimal outcome but I probably have little choice.

Anyone know a good quality yurt retailer??

Oce I know this sounds completely ridiculous but I found obsessing over something else helped me take my mind off it. It seems absolutely crazy to do this but it's been working for me haha! DH thinks I'm mad. Last week I was obsessing over hair colour. The week before it was finding the right summer trousers. Week before that it was trying to track down a friend from school. It's sad but it works.

Our last EA told us we were about to exchange contracts and we were actually at least 5 weeks off.

littlemiss are you in England? Maybe the bank holidays have affected bank transfers. No idea though.

Epic cross post fail! Haha!