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Original poster

In a chain support thread Sept 2017

999 replies

Gizlotsmum · 04/09/2017 17:55

Hope it's ok to start another one! So we have a week of waiting for surveys etc...

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MajorClanger123 · 27/09/2017 09:57

I honestly don't get the whole searches "it'll take 6 weeks" thing.... we were told similar and they were back in 10 days. Do you think conveyancers just tell everyone that to buy more time Hmm?!

Ann excellent detective work! I did similar with our drain situation last week - a 10min phone call to building control confirmed exactly what we needed to know. Why drain people hadn't checked that themselves over 2 weeks ago I'll never understand. What's more, my solicitor actually seemed miffed that I'd found out something that she didn't know - she was all defensive when I told her what I'd discovered Confused.

Anyway, another day, another positive vibes start. I'm sure it'll all go tits up by this evening when we still haven't heard anything from the water company, but I might as well start off feeling positive!

PartyintheKitchen · 27/09/2017 11:02

Major good vibes to you and your water company investigations, fingers crossed.

Stormy welcome, you're in the right place to share stress.

Ann agreed, well done you on your detective work. Saved yourself a potential mess there.

We had an update from our sol yesterday, she seems to be on the ball and is trying to save us a chunk of £ on Indemnity, turns out our house was built on a trunk mains (not sure if I have the lingo correct) and the buyers are looking for us to provide indemnity against it as when it was built no permission was given/documentation. She is arguing that seeing as the house was built circa 1900 permission wasn't even a requirement. Fingers crossed as it would save us ~£500.

Ecureuil · 27/09/2017 11:27

MajorClanger123 ours was the opposite... told 7-10 days and it took nearly a month!

AnnPerkins · 27/09/2017 11:40

Hi everyone. Thank you for all my pats on the back Smile I think my solicitor is quite efficient, and his assistant is really good at replying to my emails. But the other conveyancer who's representing our sellers doesn't seem so on the ball. She didn't seem to understand the difference between a compliance certificate and a safety check with the whole boiler episode either. I did put a passive aggressive comment in my email yesterday, saying I expect they've probably received the consent now, as I noted it was sent 12th September - so that made me feel a bit better Grin

Welcome Stormy, most of our searches only took a couple of weeks, but the local search was more like 5-6 weeks I think.

Major, you will get a resolution from the water co one day, and it might be today Smile

Party, I hope your solicitor wins that argument. £500 is definitely worth saving.

Well I don't think there is anything else I can do to move things along right now. But I have a probably dumb question, we're going to sign the contract to purchase our house next Tuesday, but nobody has mentioned the contract for the one we're selling. Will it be the same procedure again? I know the buyer's sol was almost ready to report last week so I think they might be at the same point as us.

Original poster
Gizlotsmum · 27/09/2017 12:14

So trying to stay calm about the electrician tonight and hoping they don't try to reduce their offer price. Have just found out they are buying it as a company so they need to provide extra documentation to their solicitor. However should be able to firm up dates next week... I am still desperately hoping for the 20th October, but may be not exchanging on Friday the 13th!!

Sounds like we are all making progress, even if it is slowly...

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MightyMunki · 27/09/2017 13:29

Try not to worry about it Gizlot, there's a tendency for people these days to expect everything to be in tip top condition. They seem to be forgetting that houses have histories and will not all be perfect. Even if they do reduce their offer you don't have to accept it, always room for negotiation.

Nessalina · 27/09/2017 14:17

Argh, my DH is such a muppet! This morning I gave him the land registery document for the place we're buying, asked him to get his signature witnessed and bring it back. He looked a bit confused and I was like 'it's exactly what you did with the sale land reg document, you got Dave at work to witness it didn't you?' He says 'noooo... I didn't sign anything, I just took it to the post office like you said Shock That is NOT what I said! I even post it'd where he needed to sign! #facepalm
Even worse, the solicitors hadn't picked up on the fact that the doc they'd received wasn't signed, so thank god we realised now!! Angry

Ann yeah, you'll be signing the same sort of contract for your sale, I assume your solicitors will be in touch when it's ready?

MajorClanger123 · 27/09/2017 14:30

ann we've signed both a sale and a purchase contract - they were sent via post both times so fortunately we haven't had to visit the solicitors office to do that bit.
Thanks for all the positivity on the thread, have had a nice lunch out with girlfriends so forgotten all about drains today Grin

Original poster
Gizlotsmum · 27/09/2017 14:59

Thanks munki. My sensible head says it will all be fine but my negative Nora is expecting them to use it to decrease their offer and then DH will refuse and it could all fall apart. However a total rewire would be max £3k from looking online so with the £1k already off asking price we could add another £500 and meet half way.. can’t believe it is dangerous as not been a problem to us, although we do have random pull cords that do nothing as far as we can tell.

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Original poster
Gizlotsmum · 27/09/2017 15:00

Ann ours has all been done via post too

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AnnPerkins · 27/09/2017 15:14

Thanks all. I wonder why our sol didn't send the sale contract with the purchase one? I will ask if it will be ready for us to sign when we visit on Tuesday.

I did deliberately choose a solicitor that was within easy reach so not difficult to call at their office or hand deliver things, rather than wait for post.

Nessalina, your DH is indeed a muppet! Good job you spotted that.

Gizlot, I briefly considered getting an electrics check, because what's another 100-odd quid? I saw it recommended in a things you must get done list. Perhaps your buyers are just doing that.

Original poster
Gizlotsmum · 27/09/2017 15:50

Fx Ann. I just always go worse case but hopefully you are right..

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Original poster
Gizlotsmum · 27/09/2017 15:51

Ooh my Lakeland catalogue has arrived in the post.. so I will spend the evening mentally equipping the new kitchen and thinking happy thoughts!

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Original poster
Gizlotsmum · 27/09/2017 15:54

Would you ask the electrician if they had any concerns whilst they were here ( even with the buyer being present)?

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MajorClanger123 · 27/09/2017 15:59

Did electrics come up in their survey then gizlot? I guess you could ask why they are bringing an electrician round in front of said electrician. And let them know there are no problems with your electrics as it stands.

That's the thing though ann - you do become abit "it's only another £100/£200" in the whole house buying process, then lots of little amounts rapidly add up to a large amount Shock. Anyway, I'm still positive vibes today Grin

Fortheloveofscience · 27/09/2017 16:00

Gizlot probably not to be honest - but I would have thought it would be obvious, and that they'd report when they were finished rather than sending something through afterwards.

I'm about to head over to my purchase property to meet a builder, and absolutely fuming because we were hoping to exchange on Friday and my solicitor's just sent over a list of further enquiries from the buyer's solicitor dated over a week ago (and marked 'by email' so they can't even blame the post!) Angry

Ecureuil · 27/09/2017 16:04

Gizlotsmum we had an email a couple of weeks ago (so late on in the process, everything else was done) from our solicitor, and at the end it said ‘oh and the electrics haven’t been checked for a while so you might want to arrange that’. We chose not to, but something similar may have been said to your buyer and they’re a bit more diligent than us! I wouldn’t worry too much.

Fortheloveofscience · 27/09/2017 16:09

Ann that is odd, because ordinarily you'd expect the purchase contract to come from your seller's solicitor, and the sale contract to come from your solicitor? Definitely worth following up on.

Original poster
Gizlotsmum · 27/09/2017 16:11

I think the homebuyers survey they had done picked up they haven’t been checked recently so just a routine but no one is really telling me anything!

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YogaDrone · 27/09/2017 16:35

We got our building survey today and a red point (on their traffic lights warning system) was that the electrics hasn't been checked for 10 years and it advised us to have these checked urgently. Perhaps your buyer had something similar Gizlotsmum? I really wish people would share their surveys with their vendor, it would make things so much more transparent.

Nessa we managed to send one of the many documents in the contract packages back without signing it - oops. Fortunately the solcs were very on the ball and sent it back to us with an SAE almost immediately Smile

Hi Stormy - we kicked our searches off 2 weeks ago and we had the environmental one back last week but not had the other two yet.

Hope today is the breakthrough day with the water company Major! Fingers crossed

MajorClanger123 · 27/09/2017 16:36

gizlot - you never know, they might have a mate for an electrician who offered to do a once over check for free, so silly not to take him up on the offer.

I know its hard not to read lots into it (trust me, I'm the worlds worst over-thinker) but we finally met our buyers last week and they were utterly lovely, really excited about moving in and were measuring up for new furniture etc, which made me feel somewhat better and reassured that they are committed to the purchase.

MajorClanger123 · 27/09/2017 16:38

cross posts yoga yes i'm still remaining positive even though its now 4.37pm so I should imagine everyone is thinking about packing up for the day rather than write emails to totally desperate customers Grin

Ahh...tomorrow is another day!

AnnPerkins · 27/09/2017 16:44

I probably wouldn't ask, Gizlot. But I'm rubbish at being direct. DH probably would. If there's anything wrong the electrician is going to tell your buyer anyway. I expect our sellers are having similar worries about my plumber's visit. It really is only a formality to us so we know the thing's not going to blow up or gas my son in his bed any time soon.

Fortheloveofscience, now that is shit Angry Are they complicated enquiries or things you can answer yes or no to? It is amazing how much you can find out by googling.

I'm confused about contracts now Confused I will check with my sol.

Original poster
Gizlotsmum · 27/09/2017 16:47

Thank you all.

Ann our purchase and sale both came from our solicitor

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ThomasRichard · 27/09/2017 17:01

MajorClanger the meeting with your buyers sounds very positive. It's nice to meet the 'real people' behind such a complex process.

I'm just about to become known as the neighbourhood CF/crazy lady, leafleting any and all the houses in the area that I might be able to afford in the hope that someone might want to sell. My buyers' survey is booked and I'm just a bit frantic.