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!

@aintnuthinbutaSHEthang technically brexit isnt hitting anyone on Mar 29th, since it just starts a further 2 year phase and god knows if thats ONLY going to be 2 years.

So i just wouldn't worry about it, go look for your first home :) enjoy this one as its much more fun than buying and selling at the same time.

Hello
Joining in
Just accepted an offer on our house pretty much at asking price
Was a bit of a nightmare buying this house because of some structural issues which we have resolved and have the building regs sign off for but our buyers may experience similar issues ( Altho luckily they aren’t with HSBC like we are who seem to be very very strict)
Haven’t seen anything we like may have to rent

What are the rules on paying the mortgage back early we set interest rate for 5 years last year do we have fees to pay if within this period ?

Thanks

@Youreadthebabybooks there will be early repayment charges on fixed rate mortgages; the amount depends on how long till end of the fixed term, as this is tiered (check with your mortgage provider or look at mortfage offer as they will be detailed).

The way to get around these early repayment charges is to port your existing mortgage product to being a loan on your new house, then with same provider get added loan amount on top (if your upsizing and need more loan). With this you have to meet the sale up with your purchase, so selling and renting wouldnt be an option.

I would suggest speaking to a mortgage adviser to run through your options. I work for a financial advisory firm so this was quite useful for me.

Hi @Ramsey1989 thanks for that
I don’t know if we will buy a house straight after selling or rent for a bit but I looked and ts and cs and we will have to pay a fee unless we take out a new mortgage with them within 6 months and then it will be refunded
I’m going to call the mortgage people later and see how much it is I think at least £5k eeeekkk

@Youreadthebabybooks yes, ours is about £4 - £5k and our 2 year fixed rate ends January 2020.

@youreadthebabybooks we're paying an ERC to change mortgage providers when we move it's fixed at 2% so just under £3k for us. We're with First Direct

Im so nervous and on tenterhooks... We should be exchanging this week all being well.... We've signed all the paperwork. Jus waiting on a couple of enquiries.. all this waiting around is so stressful

Have you heard back from your viewer @Ramsey1989 ?

Feedback irritating from ours. They looked at another one on the same day - one partner prefers ours and the other likes the other one. The other one is slightly cheaper but in all honesty, is just not as nice as ours at all. I would say that though!

No other viewings lined up. I just want to sack off the whole thing off and hide under a rock.

@ALadyofLetters i totally agree with this:

I just want to sack off the whole thing off and hide under a rock.

I would love to take my place off the market; take a break and enjoy the xmas holidays, and re list in February but as our onward purchase (which we have spent £3k plus on already with solicitor/ survey/ mortgage arrangement fees) is still available we have to still try our best to sell.

The guy looked around again today but decided he loved the location and feel of the place; however now the lounge isnt as spacious as another he has seen, so no offer from him!

@ALadyofLetters @Ramsey1989
Very much echo your sentiments about sacking the whole thing off! I think the only way I ever end up finding a suitable property is by getting to a stage that I just can't take the uncertainty any more.. we have seen about 12 and I am at my wits end!
DH continues to drag his heels and dismiss houses because he is just unwilling to compromise on anything, but we simply have to move. Feeling very frustrated about it all!

@ALadyofLetters you have my sympathy. Feedback from the couple who viewed at the weekend. One loved the garden and downstairs, the other thought the bedrooms are too small. Probably no offer then, unless the first can persuade the other. Onwards!

I enjoy this thread, in early stages of buying my first home and feel like this is steadying me on what could go on before we get to complete, if we do!

We are currently waiting for our seller to find somewhere, hopefully soon - then it can start rolling.

@ladyofletters @sandybayley gloomy fist bump. My weekend viewers went for a doer up in a totally different location but said to the estate agent if they could make the doer upper look like my house, that would be their perfect home. It's not one iota of consolation!!

@harriethoyle - take it as a compliment but I feel your pain. The couple also said they preferred to live in a nearby slightly less desirable area than ours! I do know that after we've viewed some properties our feedback has verged on inane because we just didn't like them.

Having viewed a few properties now I'm getting much pickier about what we view. Part of me wants to not give false hope to other people selling their houses.

Some good news our end, we have accepted an offer from a second buyer marginally below that of our current buyers (who may or may not be proceedable).
EA told me that this investor is already aware about existing sale agreed but may be falling through.
Not sure if accepting the offer was immoral! Existing buyers are waiting to hear back about their mortgage. Have been waiting about a month since the valuation.

@TiddleTaddleTat well i wouldn't worry too much about it being immoral.

To put it in perspective both out mortgafe offers have been back after valuation within a week (one was day after valuation); so if this is a month past valuation, i would say they have problems - whether its affordability/ credit history they are clearly struggling and should be honest with you.

Good luck with new buyers :)

@TiddleTaddleTat my mortgage was approved on the day of my application and would only have taken a week if it had gone to the underwriters, so that definitely suggests they have issues... I think you've been more than fair in giving them a month to get this sorted.

Thanks both. The existing buyers had an issue with credit history, but have insisted that it is a case of mistaken identity (one of the buyers shares a name with a family member). They have been supported by the EA to get an Experian report.
I would prefer them as buyers not only because they were first but also because my solicitor has worked up the paperwork so I wouldn't have to pay a second set of legal fees!

Also because the second buyer is an investor who buys up properties to rent out...

@TiddleTaddleTat Well they should have checked their credit reports before applying; i got three different reports (all free including experian) to ensure all was well, i did this for 1st mortgage too and it counted my credit card balance twice which i sorted with the bank and experian prior to application.

I understand the not wanting it to go to investors over 1st buyer, but i guess you have to just way up pros and cons.

I’m joining the thread in need of some encouragement, sorry for long post.

We try to sell our flat for the third time now. First on the market in June, we got a buyer after a few days, he offered over (!) the asking price, had a survey done in a week, all great. He pulled out a few weeks later, because his house didn’t get any offers. Back on the market, we got another offer very quickly, this time from a FTB. This time the survey came up with damp issues. This needed weeks to sort out back and fro, we lowered the price and offered a retainer for upcoming work, but they got cold feet and pulled out a day before exchange.
By then we had moved out of the flat and relocated to France, where we rent for the time being, but would love to buy as soon as...

We had no other option then getting the damp work done and redecorate. That took a month. Now the flat is back on the market. Two weeks in, and not a single viewing. I am very anxious and this is doing nothing for my mental health. EA say it’s quiet everywhere and nothing gets many views, but they would like us to consider lowering the price.
I think it’s probably too soon, but on the other hand, I want all that to be over. The flat is in good condition in a desireable area, chain free. Any thoughts on the price drop?

@SparklingSaskia you've had a difficult time! Unfortunately it's not unusual. There are definitely benefits to lowering the price to get it shifted quickly - if you can afford the reduction.

SparklingSaskia it is a bad time of year to sell - which is not what you want to hear I know! You could lower price but I think viewings would pick up in the new year. I am a FTB currently and we weren't sure whether to go for it yet or wait until 2019, many are probably thinking the same. Sorry for the situation :(

Welcome to all the newbies.

Congratulations on getting a new buyer Tiddle. Your old buyer sounds like a non-starter tbh. I agree with the others. If they could raise a mortgage it would have been agreed fairly swiftly. Your main problem seems to be your DH. I had this issue with my ex, only in our situation we were moving from a cheaper area to a more expensive one, yet he refused to see it & wouldn't accept less space for more money. The amount of heartache he caused & money wasted to so many people is horrendous! I suggest you write a list of things that you would like in your new house under several headings. Things that are essential, potential deal breakers, things that are desirable but you can do without, etc. For us, our dealbreaker would be no parking whatsoever, with a compromise being parking for one car only. DH would consider a garage to store his pointless white elephant that doesn't get used motorbike in as an essential, yet I would disagree. We have compromised with looking at places with side access where it could be stored around the back.

I am in panic stations here. Less than 2 weeks until we get the keys to our short-term accommodation & we haven't organised removals to our storage unit yet. Don't even know what it looks like. Almost done with our tip runs & we don't have loads to move really, so it shouldn't be a huge issue, its just many things to do & I'm struggling to deal with it. Anxiety through the roof! I'm worried about what will happen to our post when we vacate, seeing as we won't have a stable address to redirect mail to, so hoping the new people will pass anything on to our neighbours for us to collect.

In the same boat as many PPs with not many viewers and no realistic offers on our flat (have had one FTB trying to negotiate but we're not willing to drop by 1/8th of the price at this stage... come back to us in a few months when we're desperate )

If this process has taught me anything Tiddle is that there are no morals when it comes to house selling/buying Seriously though, I wouldn't worry about it... we tried to do the moral thing (went we people who offered first despite better later offers, gave people time etc) and it bit us in the arse. Better to be business-like and emotionless about the whole thing (if that's at all possible!)

Looks like we're going to have to split the exchange of our house sale and purchase by a few days as our buyers are getting anxious. (Bit dicey but people selling to us are friends of the family so really hoping they don't screw us over! ). So looks like we might exchange on our house tomorrow and purchase by the end of the week (everything crossed!)