Sellers/Buyers roll call part 3. Who is still on this treadmill?

[MovingNextYearHopefully]

A slight name change for me, as I'm clearly not moving this year. Well, I am, but not into the house I'm buying.

Went to the development today, had a chat with the girls in the office & updated them. Hopefully we will be exchanging contracts next week should all go to plan. We found a nice house to rent, but its so bloody expensive I'm petrified! As long as we complete within our 6 month rental contract then all will be well, but if we don't then things will get ridiculously expensive!

@Moving - thanks for starting a new thread - I will be here for some time I’m sure!!

@Moving did they give a reason why the completion of your house has been delayed by such a long time?

@Maybenexttime08 same here; first viewing today after our house got put back on the market on October 1st, plus i had to do it because my agent was in appointments all day and i didnt want to delay it.

They seemed a nice couple and i think they like it, lived/ worked in town for last 25 years so no problem there. I wont get my hopes up, the guy did say he would 'go away and do some sums' but whose to say they arent debating over a few places they have seen.

Also should i be worried that they only spent about 10-15 minutes viewing?

I'm here for this thread! Good news about finding a rental, surely you'll complete within 6 months? won't you then have to pay rent and mortgage at the same time, not ideal!!

I am back on the treadmill. Was on the waiting to exchange thread and after a very turbulent 18 months, (3 buyers, 3 fallen through purchases) we finally sold and moved in to a rental.

Now our wounds have been licked we have found somewhere to buy and have started the process again. Had offer accepted, homebuyers report back but with some issues that need investigation. Next task is to go back to the vendors to see how they wish to proceed...

Hey! I'm still here 🙄 starting week 13 of the most hideous conveyancing process ever. A very, very brief version for those unaware, and managed to miss my many 😭😭😭 posts over the last few weeks.

Basically we were there, we'd done it, 100% ready to move, then it turned out that there are 2 titles for our house. One for the house, that we own. One for the house & parking, that is still in the previous owners name and just to top it off, we have a garage, that nobody owns! We accepted our offer on 13th August, and we can't move until we own everything!

After much, MUCH stress, transfers are all underway and after many threats of pulling out from every man & his dog, we are currently at a point where everybody has agreed to wait for 4 weeks.

Please, all of you, cross everything you have that this works out, we are never, ever, moving again!

@2moveornot2move

Oh dear, at least you have seperated the sale from the purchase so its a little easier for everything to fit together but going through 3x sales falling through must have been difficult to say the least.

We have only had 1 sale fall through so far but this is our 1st time selling our 1st home; so we are quite new to it, and when we lost our buyer i sort of tried to be positive but ended up pretty down about the whole scenario.

Any rips on picking yourself back up and stating hopeful another buyer will come along? Still have a smidgen of a chance we get house we had survey/searches on if we get buyer soon but its having more viewings than us (owner put back on market after we lost buyer but said if we found new one he would accept our offer again).

I am in. House on the market from the 11th Oct, had 12 viewings on the first open day (Saturday). 4 offers within the following week, so we accepted the highest offer. Put an offer on the house we like, got rejected, increased 5k still got rejected, but finally got accepted after we increased another 5k (still within our budget, so not too bad). The past week we have appointed a solicitor, had an appointment with the mortgage advisor and they shall send a surveyor to value the property that we are buying. In the meantime, we have heard nothing from our buyer and our house still listed on the market. I am a little concerned so phoned EA, they said they will take the house off the market once the survey has been instructed from the buyer. I am hoping this will happen soon, finger crossed.

@Ramsey1989 honestly my best bit of advice would be to change agent. It is the only way to reach out to new buyers without them thinking there is something wrong with the property.

We accepted an offer that went all the way to the day of exchange before the buyer pulled out. When we went back on the listing looked as if we had been sitting on the market for 13 weeks - there is no way to tell that it had previously been under offer. The only way to rise to the top was to reduce the price. We did this and had an offer within 10 days. These buyers then lost their sale, we gave them a month to find a new buyer but we ended up back on the market.

Again we were stuck down the bottom. After a few weeks with only 1 viewing we changed agents. Someone who had previously viewed with our old agent but still had to sell, had an alert come up and couldn’t believe their luck that it had come back on.

Depending where you are, some areas are really tough. We have just moved from Outer London where the market is dying to South Wales where decent properties are getting full asking price offers on the day of first viewings!

I am a firm believer that when it is meant to be it will fall in to place.

@2moveornot2move

We did instruct another agent almost two weeks ago (agent that sold it to us), however we have got nothing from them so far.

If the house we were going to purchase sells to someone else we will take our house off the market till February (after 14 weeks so its a brand new listing on rightmove).

I wont disinstruct YOPA because a) i already paid for them (up front fixed money was an issue so didnt want to pay another 1-2k for no sale no fee), b) they did get me a buyer originally and have got me a viewing, and c) the advert/photos are perfect (buyers even said today how it was a lovely suprise the place looked exactly like the photos).

Can we join? we have just put our place on sale, listing should be on Rightmove tomorrow. We are using yopa as we wanted to save a bit of money but hopefully we will be able to get a buyer quickly 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

We just looked at a few properties yesterday and we saw one that was an absolute tip, tenanted and has Japanese knotweed (which is being treated). It's in a great location though and if we do it up, it could be fantastic. Just trying to think if we have the appetite for a do-er up-er?

Hi all! We have now completed and moved but im still hanging around to hear about everyone elses situations!!

@happychange

Good luck with viewings, we also instructed YOPA to sell ours to save costs.

The agent is very helpful and has been an estate agent at a few different companies over the past 30 years, so he has good experience and a wealth of knowledge. He also answers my messages any time or day of the week quickly.

@Ramsey1989 good to hear you've got a good agent! Ours seem very confident we would sell, so fingers crossed. Good luck to you too

Hi all - glad I found you!!

It was a no from my second time viewer and no viewings now lined up

HOWEVER, having had a chat with the owners of the place I am buying (which they are flipping so is not occupied) they are keen, in principle, to let me rent there until my house sells, if I don't get an offer before Christmas. So... lots to think about. We'll need to get the lawyers on it!

If that happens, I'll leave my house furnished so it's dressed and maybe air bnb it a bit? Also considering taking it off the market towards the middle of Dec so it resets on rightmove then back on the market in Jan. Might get a landscaper to advise on how to make the garden look less steep too...!

@harriethoyle

We have only had two viewings also; first offered same day and got week away from exchange before pulling out, second loved the house but the outside space wasnt for them.

Dont forget for rightmove relisting as new, you need to be off the market for 14 consecutive weeks unless you go with another agent.

If the house we want sells before we get a new buyer we will take ours off till february.

Its just such a bad time to sell Maybe. Im sure you'll have more luck come spring when your house will show in a better light, than now in the drab winter.

The girls in the developers office couldn't give us any reason for the delay Ramsey, but they have said they will email the site manager. Its not that we're going to pull out, its just we want to know. Our house looks almost complete, so it has to be something else. As for your own viewing. I'd say 10-15 minutes shows interest to me. If they weren't interested they'd be in & out in 5 minutes, so fingers crossed.

That is my main concern twinky. As soon as the developer decides our house is done we will be liable for an awful lot of expenditure in the way of rent, mortgage & 2x council tax, plus standing charges at least on whichever property is empty. I'm petrified! It will be bad enough paying the rent, which will be £1100 higher a month than our current mortgage, but if you then add on the mortgage too it will be £1900 a month more than we are paying now for every month we have both properties!

I hope you have more luck this time 2move. Its about time. Also, agree 100% with your advice to Ramsey.

I'm sure this will work out for you Toyko. The whole chain seems resigned to the wait for the land registry docs to come through. You could now start to discuss tentative completion dates, or at least dates that don't work for either party, so at least when the docs arrive you can exchange asap without further back & forth.

Congratulations wang on your offer. I'd be chasing your EA to find out what the buyers are up to. Have you even had a memorandum of sale yet with solicitors details etc? Perhaps give them a deadline in which to proceed before your EA chases up the other people who offered.

Welcome happy. Online EA don't have the greatest of reputations unless you live in one of the areas where the market is swift. However, if priced correctly & presented for sale with minimal clutter etc then you have done all you can. For us the online EA fell down at the point of negotiation & sales progression. Japanese knotweed is a bit of a no no tbh, & unless you have great all round DIY skills or know people who do, plus are prepared to live in a building site for years months on end while its being done, then I'd steer well clear.

Glad you're hanging around Flamingo

A lot to think about there Harriet. The main stumbling block I can see would be doing viewings alongside AirB&B, which would be a huge PITA unless the new place is very local & you have lots of free time. Plus theres the tax implications. May be better for you if they were to AirB&B the place they're trying to sell to you until you are in a position to move in. Either way there are risks. Definitely check with the lawyers.

Hiya, can I join? Looking for somewhere to rant

Selling 2 properties to buy a house. Put our current house on the market in June, accepted offer in July. The chain collapsed after a few months! so went back to FTBers who offered in July but we were wary of. In September we accepted their offer of 10k less than their original offer because we were desperate to move. They’ve been buyers from hell; asking for ridiculous things like paperwork from 30+years (and 3 owners) ago, wording changes to land reg (no material impact on anything) and indemnity insurance for the most ridiculous of things! All of which we’ve bent over backwards to get done. Then, weeks after their survey they demand another 10k off for some work it highlighted and refused to negotiate. They knew they had us over a barrel so, still desperate, we gave in on condition that we complete by December (we need to for school adminission). Then on Friday evening our solicitor informs us that they’re refusing to complete before mid-Jan! Don’t know whether to cry to rage!

We’re also selling our old flat which got a total of 2 viewings in the month it was on so just changed estate agent. Don’t need this sold to buy the new house though.

We’re buying a house from friends of the family who’ve been very understanding and (we hope!) will wait for us so we’re very lucky there.

Still furious about our buyers though; waiting to hear from EA tomorrow after talking to them.

If anyone had any advice on what we should do it would be very much appreciated! I just want to move into our dream home!

Oh @thought. I feel for you. I'd be inclined to call their bluff... it's so hard when you've found somewhere you've set your heart on though, isn't it?

Hiya ThoughtAboutThisTooMuch. What a nightmare for you! To be honest, a lot of the stuff thats been requested will be the buyers solicitors, or lender rather than the buyers themselves.

The moving goalposts about completion is entirely on them though. I'd be furious & give them an ultimatum of exchange ASAP & agree to complete by the date you need, or there are 2 options, A, the price reverts back up by the 10k you reduced it by because they are going back on what was agreed, or B, you'll pull out & remarket in spring!

Thanks harriet and moving!
I actually hadn’t thought about going back on the price reduction since they had gone back on the completion date, that’s a very good point, thanks!

So I've got a silly dilemma!

We've decided to change the carpet on our stairs as it is really old and doesn't look very nice, as it will look better for potential buyers (and if we've got to carry on living there for a bit!).

We want to go for a trendy stripey carpet - and ofcourse I like the more expensive one, while hubby likes the cheaper one! I understand the logic that if we move we can't take it with us, but I think a cheap carpet will ruin the point we're trying to make which is 'look at how lovely and well kept (and on trend) this house is!', not 'oh what a cheap carpet'.

My heart says yes, but my brain says no... would you even notice as a potential buyer??

I probably wouldn't notice the quality, but I would notice (and not like, and think I'd have to change) the stripes, plain/boring/neutral is probably better for wider appeal

@tokyosushi - it's not a glaring stripe - very subtle!

Oh that's ok then, I had visions of one of those red & grey stripe type of carpets! I'd go with the cheaper one if it's just there to sell.

@tokyosushi - ha ha yes, that wouldn't be good!