Waiting to Exchange - Part 2, the wait goes on!

[TokyoSushi]

Hello! New thread, I don't think there's another one yet... shall we all give a quick update regarding where we're up to?

We:

• Went on market 12th June
• Sold for full asking 6th July too good to be true
• Had an offer accepted on DH dream home, (I didn't really like it but only suitable thing on the market)
• Our buyer pulled out 6th August
• DH dream home owner wouldn't wait and put straight back on market
• We went back on market on 7th August, reduced by £5K
• 4 viewings and 4 offers in next few days
• Offer accepted on 13th august
• Found both of our actual dream home and had offer accepted on 14th August
• Our buyer seems as firm as they can be
• Mortgage offer approved and searches commissioned on new house
• Our buyers seem very, very keen but I have a slight suspicion about how firm their buyer is
• Everybody hoping to move by half term

And so we wait....

13 Oct - sold our house to FTB
23 Oct - offer accepted on new house
24 Oct - buyer's valuation done
2 Nov - vendor changes solicitor

Target for completion is Feb, but it looks like the top of the chain is going to move slowly.

Any tips for chasing without pissing people off? Our EA is Purple Bricks, they are very, erm, 'hands off' with the post sales stuff.

Woo Pinkbottletop. Are you buying with Crest too? WP seems such a lovely place, just gutted we have to wait so long to move in. I'm so impatient! Plus the financial aspect of having to pay out for 6 months rent in such an expensive area when we will likely have an overlap where we will be paying the mortgage too & council tax on both places is worrying! I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end though.

Its never straightforward Daisy. We accepted offer & had offer accepted on new build in August. Our buyers flat is shared ownership so its been very slow. Our buyer has also been a major PITA. It transpired that they needed to change solicitor about a month ago when we were getting close to exchange. Then it was discovered they had different firms acting for sale & purchase. We finally got to being ready to exchange this week when it became apparent their buyers had sent their deposit by cheque. So now we won't exchange till next week. Our buyer, who has now gone on holiday for 2 weeks without informing the EA even, has lied to everyone that we agreed to complete on 16th, when we told them we need 4 weeks to find somewhere to rent. Chances are we'll now have to wait until these idiots return from holiday to exchange & be moving mid December to god knows where!

I wouldn't worry too much about upsetting people. PB are indeed crap, so you'll have to either do the chasing yourself or get your solicitor on the case. Good luck. You'll get there soon & this will seem like a bad dream.

@movingthisyearhopefully no I bought with Taylor Wimpey. Their customer service is absolutely crap! But I’ve told them I need to be in on the 16th Nov as that’s when I’ve given notice to everything. Now they are putting the responsibility on my solicitors (who are crap too) on making sure they can complete with less than 10 working days notice (ends up being 8 or 9).

Did anyone using Help to Buy manage to give less than 10 working days notice to complete?

As long as the property is ready then I don't see why you can't complete in that timeframe tbh Pink. Just keep badgering your solicitor so they don't forget you. If all else fails I have discovered lots of short-term lets in the area, which you could utilise for a few weeks without worrying about deposits etc. We were going to do that until our timeframe shifted from Dec/Jan to March. We have 2 kids with ASD so need a minimum of 2 beds as they won't share. It was 65-85 a night, so we were looking at about 3k a month including storage but 1-bed places & studios were much cheaper. Theres even Travelodge. If you want to add me on facebook or message me I can link you to the sites I found. I had a quick peek & I'm pretty sure I know who you are too. Nice to meet another future neighbour.

Thanks @movingnextyearhopefully - my solicitors are saying that the help to buy scheme need a minimum of 10 working days notice to get funds ready for completion. But TW are saying they've known instances where they've only had 5 days and still managed to turn it around, depending on solicitor. Ah remind me to never buy a house again.

Wow £3k is a lot of money per month! How many months are you expecting to have to do this?

When our estimated completion was Dec/Jan we were assuming we'd complete on our place early December so it would be a maximum of 2 months Pink. Since they've said March we're looking at a 6 month let instead. The one we're looking at is £1500 a month, (although we're hoping to drop them down a bit on that) plus bills, so will definitely cost us 9k, plus council tax etc every month. We will now be hoping it won't complete any earlier than March lol. Its going to be financially crippling!

13 Oct - sold our house to FTB
23 Oct - offer accepted on new house
24 Oct - buyer's valuation done
2 Nov - vendor changes solicitor
5 Nov - vendor still hasn't found anywhere to live :(

Thanks @movingnextyearhopefully. We have two deadlines at the moment: our buyer needs to move in Feb, and I have a baby due in March. The main concern is that our vendor hasn't found anywhere yet, and I would like to avoid moving into rented just before/after a caesarian; my son also has autism and is likely to be quite confused and disrupted by two moves. I'm not sure how long I should wait until I start panicking about that being a possibility.

OMG Daisy, thats not great. In all honesty I'd be panicking now & looking to finding something to rent in the new year, unless your buyer is prepared to wait a bit longer. If your vendors found a place to buy now then you could complete in February, should all move swiftly, but it rarely seems to work like that unfortunately.

How realistic are your vendors being with their search? Have you asked them if they would be prepared to move into rented, seeing as it is them holding things up? It seems like the best solution to me. Is there anything else you can realistically look at yourselves?

I understand about not wanting to disrupt your autistic child. I have 2 & we will be moving twice within a few months because we're buying a new build. Last time we moved I was petrified about upsetting the younger one, who is more affected than her sister. We didn't even tell her when we were moving & packed up her stuff when she was at their dads, with her sisters help. When it came down to it, it was my eldest having a meltdown & refusing to get out of the car, yet she'd been kept in the loop the whole time! You just never know how they'll react, so all you can do is deal with the fallout if & when it happens. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Prepare for the worst but hope for the best.

You're right @movingnextyearhopefully.

The vendors had two chain free houses in mind. It looks like neither worked out. They are still actively viewing, but seemingly without much haste. We are going to give them 2-3 more weeks before we start pushing for a plan B.

They did agree to our deadline - not that it means anything legally of course. I fully expect them to refuse to rent if we ask, since they have not given us much slack so far with anything else.

Our buyer will wait until Jan/Feb but cannot wait longer or she'll be homeless; I'm 21 weeks preg and unable to prepare or buy anything and would really prefer not to get to 35+ weeks with no pram or cot.

Hanging in there, anyway, for the time being, and will keep up the weekly chase.

Hello!

FTB here. Feeling like I know nothing about this whole process. Also buying way earlier than planned as the builder offered me a deal I couldn’t really refuse!
Reservation was agreed 16th October. HTB authority to proceed received about a week later. Mortgage application has gone in today (a week late due to the financial advisor farting around for days). Solicitor been in touch this morning to say contracts are in the post and asking for proof of funds, estimated completion November 29th.
I feel like I have no clue what I’m doing! Except for paying out lots of money.

Big problems for our survey. Have made a new post about it. Basically the agents have marketed it as mains drains and it has a cesspool and probably an ancient one at that. And it needs a new roof. I'm in tears right now. I just Want to move so my husband doesn't spend 4 hrs a day commuting and i can look round schools for dd1 who starts 2019.

Really sorry to hear that @rangerlady. What next? What's the time frame to get it sorted?

We're going to get a drainage survey we think but only if the vendor agrees that the price will change. Our offer was not taking into account the maintenance costs of a private drainage system- and one that prob needs replacing at that. We are thinking that we will look at all the local schools and base our decisions on where to rent of it comes to that on them

RangerLady I'm sorry to hear that. I've been avoiding posting because I'm really struggling mentally with our house sale but saw your situation. We've not had the same in terms of drainage but have twice now offered on houses which have turned out to have major issues once the survey was back. On both occasions they needed further investigation, obviously at further cost, and we've gone back and said we are still interested in proceeding but would need to substantially reduce price etc and want a commitment on that before we get another professional in. First lot said ok, we went ahead, they refused the revised price and a year later it finally sold at auction for less than our revised price. Other one has not sold yet but I suspect will be similar. Just go carefully, even if they say they will consider a lower offer.

Newbie joining in here!

Sale agreed on our house August 26th. Offer accepted on our forever home a few days later.

Everything seems to be going smoothly, our fingers are crossed for exchange soon and completion on 30th Nov.

I'm just so bored of all this now and want to move!!

@tentative3 I feel for you. It just doesn't seem fair to have so many issues does it? This is our "second" house too after the vendors of house 1 pulled out. It's been going on since may and the stress is getting to me badly now. I just feel like we're chucking money down the drain.
Can't see much to rent locally. And almost nothing that will allow my cat!

It's an awful system. We used to live overseas and would not be in this situation there, our buyer would not have been able to do what she did to us! But hey ho. It is what it is. The stress is starting to impact me at work so I'm trying very hard not to get too worked up about it!

I'm so sorry it's been going on for so long and I totally empathise about the feeling that you're just throwing money away. I don't know what the solution is, especially if there's nothing to rent. In terms of the cat we rented when we moved back to the UK and stopped filtering on 'pets allowed', just asked the question if we saw somewhere we liked. We had no problems getting somewhere that allowed our cat, I think often no pets is a default setting or designed to rule out dogs and/or multiple other animals.

Anyone had any good news this week? We had some. The "cesspool" is a 30 yr old septic tank but its apparently sound. Then we had some very bad news. The new roof will cost 20k.

Good news about the cesspool RangerLady. Does the roof actually need replacing now, or did they say within the next 5-10 years or something? Surveys often say that but the roof limps on. As long as its not leaking then all is good. Is it a thatched roof or something at that price?

Its all been a bit nuts here. If anyone reads my thread I explain it all there. Basically our chain are a bunch of arseholes trying to force us to complete earlier than we can, even though they know we have nowhere to go & always said we need 4 weeks between exchange & complete. Anyway, it got to 430pm on Friday when finally they saw our way of thinking, but it was too late to exchange, so we'll be doing it tomorrow, unless somebody changes their minds again!

All quiet here. Still waiting on a mortgage decision from NatWest. Had an arsey email from Barratt asking why had I not signed and returned my contract to the solicitor yet - I hadn’t received them! They were also moaning that the surveyor hadn’t been out yet. Not sure what they want me to do there seen as they are instructed by NatWest. Still going with a date of the 29th for now.

Really waiting to exchange now. Given authorisation to solicitor & they are waiting to hear from buyers solicitors. I'm anxious beyond belief!

13 Oct - sold house
23 Oct - vendor accepted our offer
24 Oct - buyer's valuation done
2 Nov - vendor changed solicitor
6 Nov - our homebuyer's inspection done
12 Nov - tumbleweed from our vendor...

Our plan B house just sold to someone else, so we're hanging in there with plan A. I fully expect to spend the next 3 months poking people with an increasingly sharp stick...

Vendor still not found anywhere then Daisy? Its looking increasingly likely that you may have to take on a 6 month tenancy or go into short-term accommodation unfortunately. I'd start to get your head around to that idea & if it happens any sooner then its a bonus. Expect the worst & hope for the best. I know its hard with ASD kids. My kids are constantly asking me if we have exchanged yet & the youngest is incredibly stressed about having a stable internet service so she can get her college work done. She's unbelievably distracted & getting nothing done. Until we have exchanged contracts there is literally nothing we can do with regard to securing accommodation, so I can't tell them anything. Its incredibly scary & I could do without the added stress myself!

Our EA is Purple Bricks, they are very, erm, 'hands off' with the post sales stuff

Unless you get lucky with a good PB rep, then this can frequently be the case. PB are essentially a pay upfront DIY listing service, not a 'proper' estate agent, and the way they receive payment means there is no incentive to progress a sale through to exchange/completion.

Completing on Friday! Have no motivation to pack and am living in chaos right now. My 1yo is having a field day