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!

I see theres not much positive news at the mo here.

Too many comments to reply individually. Everyone is having such a tough time. Just want to say I hope that this week is your week Toyko. The garage fiasco has gone on far too long.

Its so hard to know what to do for the best & it largely depends on where you live & what the market is like there. I do believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Its not always a bloody great train lol.

I think reducing the price just before Christmas with a view to possibly doing an open day or back to back viewings in the new year is a good idea. I'm not keen on multiple EA personally as I feel it screams desperation & invites low offers. I can understand the attraction though.

With pricing its important not to be hung up on actual figures & to remember that any reductions you accept on your house can then be passed on the chain. When instructing a solicitor & arranging a mortgage it pays to go with a solicitor who doesn't charge for aborted transactions. And not to pay for mortgage products upfront. Have the product fee added to your loan. (You only pay for the one you use) Many lenders don't charge for one survey too. All these sums of money add up. We are onto our 2nd transaction & 3rd mortgage product. Had 2 free surveys (different lenders) & no charge for aborted sale which was at point of exchange. We even got our searches for free this time as we'd already paid for the first lot on the aborted sale. Saved ourselves a packet over all!

@MovingNextYearHopefully The multiple agency part doesnt work for everyone; i just needed to change agent because current wasnt working, but felt that since id paid an up front fixed fee i shouldnt waste it so kept it up with original agent too. I have also seen a lot of houses in area stay on market for months, instruct a new agent (2nd) and sell quite quickly. Problem is all agents say they are great and many reviews say so too but its so easy to pick the wrong one.

We also could not choose lender without hefty early repayment charge (£6k) so no option to get one with no survey fee etc; ideally adding product charge to loan would be a no brainer, however we could not because we have borrowed the max for our wages and having to actually top that up with cash in bank to afford our house.

We had a small pool of solicitors too because most didnt understand our type of property, plus we were naive and didnt realise you could get charged for aborting sale/ purchase until a bill landed 3 weeks after we lost our buyer - so big learning curve here!

Thanks @MovingNextYearHopefully still no joy on the garage front although I have found the Land Registry live chat forum thingy this week, it's amazing, they answer your questions almost instantly so I've provided loads more information to our solicitor.

The solicitor is back from holiday tomorrow, I've sent a very desperate and detailed email to await her arrival. I bet/hope she's at home tonight thinking 'God I've got to back to work tomorrow and I know what'll be waiting for me, Tokyo going mad about her garage!'

It's all just such a nightmare because we've put so much money into it now at the front end that we hardly have anything for Christmas, but if it works out we be debt free (except for the mortgage) and have about £8K spare and it'll be a very lovely Christmas indeed. People (solicitors etc) don't understand that it's not just a house, it's a whole financial situation!

Week 17 and currently no money for Christmas, bad times indeed!

It seems the less options you have the more you get stitched up Ramsey. Its not on really. Hard to know who to trust too because all the EA give you a load of old flannel & your head is spinning. I hope your next viewing is the right person.

OMG Toyko. Makes you wonder what you're paying the solicitor for when you found out more info on a forum than they did in weeks. Hopefully your email puts a rocket up her arse to get her job done.

I forgot to mention. I got turned down flat for a life insurance policy yesterday. I think because I have Fibromyalgia, which is unpleasant, but not life-threatening. I'm stunned. My husband, who weighs over 20 stone, has type 2 diabetes & hypothyroid was accepted & is having medical records requested, no trouble. Anyone else had this issue?

@MovingNextYearHopefully Thats annoying regarding the life insurance; hadnt come across the scenario before, seems insane that you were declined :( hope you find another policy that accepts you!

@TokyoSushi I really hope the garage problem is sorted this week!

I have found through the hell of selling/ buying these forums are keeping me sane; plus i wish id found them earlier then maybe i wouldnt have been such a greenhorn and made so many mistakes, it is nice that i can offer some helpful information to others occasionally though!

@MovingNextYearHopefully I was treated rather snottily when applying for life insurance and was told I’d ‘been referred as they will need to review my case, which I’m not surprised about considering what you’ve told me’
The reason? I suffer from severe migraines and take daily medication. I knew there would be questions as I was hospitalised last year and am under a consultant at the hospital, but I didn’t think it would be to this extent! Yes they’re not pleasant but certainly not life threatening!

We are still locked in a battle with NatWest about our valuation. I’m not hopeful but Barratts seem unphased, despite the fact the expected completion date is Friday! It’s the waiting I can’t take. I just want to know either way. Mortgage broker is under strict instructions to keep me updated as he went AWOL for nearly a week and then announced we’d run into problems!

Thanks Ramsey. I hope so. I want my kids covered in case anything happens to me.

I couldn't believe they turned me down. I wasn't even referred on to review Winter, I was turned down flat as soon as they saw my application. I also take lots of medication every day, but they didn't even get to the stage of asking about that, so as far as they're concerned I may be taking none. This was Legal & General.

How far off is the valuation from the price of the house Winter? I am also a little concerned that this may be an issue to us, as we are likely to need to get another valuation if we don't complete before the current one expires. Our new build isn't due to be ready until Feb/March & we had the valuation done in August. Our broker isn't too concerned because out LTV is good. Hopefully you get some news soon.

I never really understood when people said they were offended by very low offers. Well, I do now. It’s actually more disheartening than no offer at all. Thankfully we have a few more viewings booked.

Fingers crossed to everyone in similar situations.

@SparklingSaskia - oh no! How much under did they offer? Don't take it personally - it's the market not you. My philosophy is if we have to accept a low price we'll pass it on. I'm sure someone else offered those words of wisdom a few posts ago.

We have a viewing at 6.45 tonight. DC and Ddog are not impressed at having to vacate the house. 2 more viewings booked for Sunday....

@sandy, more than 15% under.
Good luck with your viewer, our next is at 19:00.

@SparklingSaskia - I'm sat in the car outside the house with DS2 and Ddog. Too cold and wet to go for a walk.

I'm afraid we did put in a cheeky offer of 12% under on a property we like. 15% even more cheeky! We will revise if/when we get an offer on ours.,,,

Offer is in for a nice mid terrace. There are already asking price offers so we have gone slightly higher, but I'm expecting a bidding war may ensue. Fingers crossed we get it.
Solicitor sent draft contract to our new buyer today so I'm glad that's moving forward.

@MovingNextYearHopefully the valuation came in 5.5k under. Everybody seems totally shocked. The same type of property sold for 2k more than I’m buying mine and that completed in September no problems. What annoys me is the lack of communication. Nobody seems to be able to tell me anything and I just spend the day watching the phone. I even went to do a new home tour yesterday because Barratts are so blasé about the whole thing and assured me there was no need to postpone!

Thank you for replies @Ramsey and @Mildura.
I think you’re right. Already paid for survey and valuation so may as well not sink any more money until they show some commitment.
Ugh.
Sorry it’s mostly doom and gloom round here! Here’s hoping next week brings better news for us all

Hope all tonights viewings went well.

Usually price reductions & if they are cheeky or not depends on how realistic the asking price is. While this is still frequently the case, at the moment there are plenty of buyers who see a fairly/lowish priced house & still try & slaughter you. We reduced when our chain broke by about 5%, but then had offers of another 5% off. Because we priced realistically to start with we couldn't reduce that much. On the other side, as buyers we have seen houses incredibly overpriced (semi on for 90k more than detached a few doors away recently sold for). No point even offering there because they're clearly deluded.

Good luck with the offer Tiddle

Not a massive amount then Winter. I am sure its sortable, but I think you need to start nagging people or they will just let you continue to wait. She who shouts loudest gets heard etc! We have the first tour of our new home next week. Can't wait.

Definitely wait for them to show some commitment before shelling out anymore money Fleabag. Get your EA to nag them to set the ball rolling or explain the hold-up!

@Fleabag definitely hold off until you see some commitment

Feeling nervous about our offer. Couldn't get through to the agent on the phone so just emailed it in. Set a time limit of end of the day tomorrow to accept.
Will be away from my phone today so can't keep obsessively checking as
I'm fed up of this and just want it to be over!

Morning all, we have just accepted an offer on ours from a ftb. Not counting my chickens yet as know nothing is guaranteed to go through until exchange , but is a start!

Just booked a viewing for Saturday, but there doesn't seem much to choose from now ...typical

@tiddletattletat good luck with your offer!

@TiddleTaddleTat and @alifelessordinary - delighted to hear your good news! So pleased to hear things are happening out there.

So a big fat 'no' from the 2 viewings yesterday. One 'didn't like the area' and one was 'too small bedrooms'. The EA was bemused by the bedrooms comment as the couple in question are adamant they want a Victorian terrace in SW London. Big bedrooms just aren't going to happen.

14 viewings, one price drop and counting. Two viewings on Saturday booked. House we like still on the market after 7 months.

Hopefully you'll know soon Tiddle. Such a nerve wracking time.

Congratulations on your offer alifelessordinary. We found the same problem when we finally got an offer. There was simply nothing available, & we were searching a fairly wide area too. One thing you can do is a leaflet drop around streets you'd consider buying in. I've done this several times & it really does work. On this occasion we've ended up going for a new build, something I'm still pinching myself over. We complete on our house a week today & move into short term let for a few months until our new home is ready. Is this an option for you? We couldn't of done this if the developer hadn't been prepared to be generous with their extras. Don't be afraid to ask the question. We got 3/4 Of our stamp duty paid & free flooring.

Sorry yesterday's viewings were a no go Sandy. The reasons they give are sometimes laughable. Still, it's the EA pushing them for a reason so they have to come up with something. Better luck on Saturday I hope. Glad to hear the house you like is still available.

Congrats on your offer @alifelessordinary That’s great news. It is wonderful to know it can happen!!

Hope the next viewings are more positive @sandybayley I don’t think we even had any feedback after our last viewing- just a no!

Nothing even lined up here. I want to take it off now until the new year but DH wants to keep it on. I can’t keep the place viewing ready over Christmas!

I chased and was told that they are still going back and forth with NatWest. Quite how much they need I don’t know! You’d think I was buying some huge estate. He said he’s expecting a resolution one way or the other by end of the week, but given his past contact I expect not to hear anything until next week minimum!

@sandybayley sorry to hear it wasn't more positive from the viewings. Do people not look at floor plans for room sizing in advance?! Always baffles me! If it's any consolation we've been on 4 months with 2 drops and had had no offers, so there is hope!

@movingnextyearhopefully good idea about leaflet dropping, had wondered if that had ever worked for somebody. Don't think my dh would go into rented as he's said before he's worried about coming off the property ladder, but he is a bit of a worried bless him! I've been following your progress for a while( promise not a stalker!) And so pleased it's all finally coming together for you 😀

@aladyofletters I can totally sympathise with wanting a break over Christmas, I was about to do the same. And tbh if for any reason this sale falls through I don't think I'd put it back on till March/April time.

Keeping fingers crossed for all, and hope weekend viewings are all positive!

@winterberry so frustrating having to chase people all the time. Hope it gets sorted for you soon.

No news on our offer yet, but apparently there are two other buyers in equally good or better positions and both have offered asking price. More viewings over the next few days then it will go to best and final.

It baffles me that this is going on amidst the announcements yesterday about house prices diving in a no deal Brexit scenario!

I am really concerned about overpaying and then prices dropping. Can't see a way round it though unless we stay in rented, bank the proceeds of our sale and wait until we know what's happening in March 2019z