In a chain support thread Sept 2017

[Gizlotsmum]

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

I sometimes think as well that if the seller has a huge amount of equity to play with and a property which they know will be desirable, then they have little incentive to get a move on - literally!

I realise that it's not all about altruism - otherwise we'd be giving our properties away for nowt!! - but at the same time I wish that people would give a bit of consideration to the rest of the chain. Stunts like this are so incredibly stressful for people who have children and school dates, or tight monetary margins, or buyers who need a prompt move and will go elsewhere if it's not forthcoming.

I did moan to my EA today that I felt like I should be presenting someone with a bill for my services at the end of this, because it felt like I was doing 50% of the work. Which is rather galling considering that we are the ones paying for it!

I saw a thread on another forum recently where the seller was complaining about being put under pressure to find somewhere to buy, and that they thought this was unreasonable and that the buyer should be prepared to wait until such time as the seller was ready to go. It made me feel utterly furious - FGS why the fuck are you selling your house then?! I did rather hope that their buyer would run out of patience and bugger off and that the seller be faced with trying to find another taker in a falling market...

lubey How frustrating. Definitely look at other properties. We pulled out of a property as we got the distinct impression that the couple didn't really want to move.

On our front we finally found out the cause of the hold up. One page of the management agreement was missing from the details given to the couple at the bottom of the chain. Apparently their solicitor now has this and our EA is confident that we will still exchange this week.

What utter tossers lubey! I really hope the place you view next weekend is gorgeous and perfect, and you can pull out on these idiots with a smile on your face

Our vendors EAs rang today to ask if we felt an end of the month exchange would be possible 😮 Apparently the vendors of their onward purchase are going away on holiday in November, and by the time they return our vendors mortgage offers will have expired (their sale fell through once before so have been in place a while). Obvs they can extend them, but there's no guarantees I guess... quick exchange would work for us, but our buyers are FTBs in rented with two months notice to give, so not sure if it will work for them. I basically said it works for us, but please liase with my agent because I just had a baby and don't care right now

Oh Ness... how is baby? Definitely let someone else deal with house details for now!

Baby is smashing! She's very chilled out which is lovely.

Perhaps great news that you've got to the bottom of the problem. We had a last minute one crop up on Tuesday which lost my temper about because I was told it had already been dealt with and it's amazing how something so small can cause such a big backlog!

Ness so happy to hear that the baby is doing well Absolutely get your EA on it - it's what they are paid for!! If the FTB need more time and it's your vendors who are pushing for a quick completion, then it might be worth suggesting that they cover the last month of rent for the FTB?

Great to hear that you and baby are doing well Nessa Definitely let your EA handle it! Exchange would be good though, having that certainty in place.

Fingers crossed for a prompt exchange perhaps

Lubey so sorry you're having to deal with those total idiots, loads of for you. Some people are just unbelievable.

Ness yay, well done on baby, congrats

In my news, we are exchanging today, it's like some weird dream, I can't quite believe it after the past 6 months, 5 price drops chasing down the London market, a month dealing with a sewage flooded cellar from afar and a buyer pulling out and breaking us, it's nearly done. The buyers are looking to complete on the 18th Oct. The relief is immense - I just hope it all goes smoothly today, fx's all over the place.

Party congratulations, I'm thrilled for you!

Also huge congrats to Nessa, what lovely news!

Lubey I'm sorry to hear you're having such a dreadful time, I really hope that the other place you've got your eye on turns out to be perfect for you with motivated sellers not the complete time wasters you're currently having to deal with.

I just wanted to add my tuppence to the discussion of the merits of different types of buyer, since a lot have said they'd be wary selling to an investor-type. Our buyer is an investor buying a second home through a company and initially I was really worried that he'd dick us about. In fact, it couldn't have been easier. He chose an awful solicitor which caused real delays, but he himself viewed the property once, made a sensible offer, had basic survey done straight away, mortgage offer came through before ours and he's been responsive to EA calls throughout the process and no pushing for price negotiations. Genuinely couldn't have been easier to deal with.

Morning all,
Just to report that we finally exchanged yesterday - yay! Moving end of October so now manically booking removals / mail redirection / home insurance etc etc.

Apologies I didn't report in yesterday but we had final drain inspection....paperwork mix-ups resulted in me bawling my eyes out on the poor drain guy who turned up to do checks for final paperwork . He wouldn't leave me until he'd sorted everything with his managers, he must've though I was a total fruitloop but, bless him, he sat in my garden and made phone calls until all was sorted. Final FINAL paperwork (with correct wording) being issued today. Phew!

Good luck party and perhaps for imminent exchanges!

Ness hope babe is keeping you nicely occupied and you're letting others deal with house stuff.

Lubey sorry about your situation - the house owners sound like complete prats to deal with. Hopefully you'll get some resolution either way next week.

Keeping everything crossed for everyone still grappling with the wonderfully weird process of house moving

Hi all. Just been reading the updates, congrats to those who've exchanged and good luck to those who are imminently doing so! Finally got confirmation (and saw on Rightmove) that our buyers house has resold to another set of FTB. The bastard estate agents (sorry to any on here!!) wouldn't confirm it until these people had seen their in house mortgage person, even though they'd already got a decision in principle from their own advisor. Grrr just money grabbing basically trying to get the max commission. But it's all sorted now, they've instructed solicitors so we're all busy working towards the 4 week exchange deadline. I'm hoping to be moved by end of November at the latest but sooner the better! Also had my flooring and blind quotes back so getting there with how it's going to look. The developer also called yesterday to say it's build complete now so whenever I'm ready I can move in just keeping everything crossed that the chain holds together this time 🤞🏻 My nerves can't take much more!
Sorry to hear of the vendor issues some of you are having, some people are unbelievable!

Morning! A quick bit of MN wisdom needed before I go back and read recent posts.

Our offer on our purchase was on condition that the sellers paid for and carried out the works to drop the kerb in front of their house, so we could build a drive. The application took ages and they only had a visit from the highways engineer this morning to survey the works. They will get a quote and make payment next week and only then learn the date that the work will be carried out. We don't want completion of the work to hold up our move, or the rest of the chain. So we want to say we'll be happy to proceed with exchange and completion if we get confirmation that the work is scheduled and paid for.

Are there any potential pitfalls to this do you think? Obviously the seller could cancel the work but we don't believe they will do that. I just wonder if we are foolish to be taking responsibility for the work without seeing it completed first.

Please give me your options. WWMND?!

Very quickly (at work) - Ann talk to your solicitor and get it written into the contract. I would also build in a penalty clause if it doesn't go ahead. That way you can proceed but be comfortable that you have protected yourself, if for any reason they mess you about.

Hi ann ask for it to be written into your sale contract if possible. We had thought similar with our drain fiasco - it takes sooooo long for this sort of thing to get done, we worried it would hold up (and potentially break) the entire chain. It didn't come to anything in the end, but I would have thought a clause in the contract that the seller will pay for the work (potentially by reducing the sale price of the house?) should do it. Seems a sensible and reasonable thing to do. It certainly shouldn't be a deal breaker for the purchase. Speak to your EA first (before solicitor) - in my experience, EA's have liaised this sort of thing loads of times before, whereas solicitors just want all boxes ticked.

Thanks both. EA suggested discussing with solicitor.

I've emailed him for advice.

Yay exchanged, excellent news Major and perhaps

Good news for you too yoomoo presumably the chain can go full steam ahead now - good luck

I also agree with Lazy and Major to get the conveyancing solicitors to write the details into the contracts. Good idea about a penalty clause too.

We've heard nothing all week and have no viewings booked in for the weekend. We have a month left on our exclusive contract with our EA and I'm very much thinking that if nothing has happened by then that we'll just take the house off the market and do a small extension (side return only) and partial garage conversion. Frankly it'd be a heal of a lot cheaper and we would probably spend less doing that that we'd have to pay in stamp duty! Spoke to DP about it and spent some time reading the extensions thread on here last night for ideas.

Fab news Major!

I cannot begin to share the hell that has been the last couple of weeks :( however now we have a new buyer at a lower price and the house we want to buy is no longer on the market. Ftb, so hopefully in 4 weeks we should be close to an exchange. That is of course if all doesn't break out like last time :(

Fx knitted

Good luck Knitted, fingers crossed for you.

Interesting lateral thinking there Yoga. It's good to have another option to consider.

FX for you knitted. Sounds like it's been a crap couple of weeks for you.

Well our solicitor called me and basically said no, he couldn't do anything to assure us, there are too many unknowns and his firm don't want responsibility for them. The only thing he can advise is to wait until the work is finished before we complete. If we don't want to wait then it's up to us to obtain whatever assurance we are happy with.

I'm just hoping the date of the works is soon enough that it won't be an issue. Sadly we have to wait until next week to find that out.

Well done everyone exchanging!

Have you found a new house you want to buy knitted?

My offer on house #2 has been accepted 🎉 I’ve informed my solicitor so they’re revising their quote before I instruct them. My buyers are over the moon.

Investor guy wrote to me. The letter arrived this morning, with an even higher offer. I have to admit, I was tempted for a few minutes I’ve told him again that I’m committed to my current buyers but I’ll let him know if anything goes wrong.

Investor guy has now text me, upping his offer another £5k. DP and I are speculating that there’s a cache of priceless artwork hidden in the loft.

Our chain collapsed today, our buyers buyer pulled out. Buyer has five viewings lined up already so not completely dead in the water but crossing everything for this to get back on track, he desperately wants our property still and has lowered the asking on his property by 35k so very committed. Here's to hoping he finds a small/ no chain buyer asap. All this while chasing up mortgage/searches for our purchase, various paediatric appts for our small two and working full time I have not stopped for two weeks and averaging 3-4hrs sleep with a teething baby. Hoping things are going better for others 😁

Not sure if we will exchange this week now. It turns out the missing page is missing from the land registry copy so they are having to get the land registry to find original copy and rescan it. My buyer said her solicitor has told her they should receive it tomorrow. I'm not so sure that they will get hold of it so quickly.