Sellers/Buyers Roll Call No 5...,

[sandybayley]

Starting new thread. Calling all the regulars...
@TiddleTaddleTat
@WBWIFE
@Allhallowseve
@BeauticianNotMagician81
@crispysausagerolls
@dimmu
@Fleabag123
@Farontothemaddingcrowd
@Frogqueen13
@Glitteryfrog
@MrsPatmore
@Smart123

@Smart123 @WBWIFE @ABingThing - group hug for all your frustrations. On this beautiful bank holiday weekend it's rubbish that you're all 'stuck' in various ways.

I do think with all EA and solicitor conversations it's not a bad idea to ring and then send an email straight afterwards confirming what has been said or agreed. I'm sure I'm driving mine mad but at least it means everyone knows what has been said.

I actually work in Comms and am finding it's quite useful in this process. DH thinks it's some kind of sorcery but it's common sense - if everyone communicates things are so much better.

Thanks Smart, part of your story resonated with me but there are obviously a lot of us in a seemingly never ending situation.

Our house has been sold on and off for a year now. Really thought it might happen this time and we were talking completion by Easter. We haven’t even exchanged yet and it’s all down to one person.

I don’t think I have ever been so stressed, and we don’t even have an onward purchase.

Ah I see @tulipvase.
As I said my plan is to my a property to let with my investment..
I've seen a couple I've liked but no point at all as this has been going on since Oct 31st,i ring my solicitor most days, reply to queries on the day, I can't do any more..
I'm in contact with my buyer and she had hoped to exchange this week..
I've messaged her to ask her what went wrong today.
I think we may have to start shouting on Tuesday.
Hope we have more sense next week, bank Holidays are like Christmas, everything comes to a halt

Hard to believe that two days off can cause so many problems! Our issue I think is to do with a divorce and difficulties with the financial split.

Hope Tuesday brings you better news and for everyone else still patiently waiting.

Joined here a few threads back so thought I would update. After 18 months on market we accepted a genuine offer in February. Our buyers were almost at completion on their house sale and hoped we could all complete at the same time within 5 weeks! We found a house and it was looking very slightly a possibility however an issue occurred and we pulled out. Found a new build quickly after this. They are feeling very anxious to get to exchange as staying with family but we feel we need to get to mortgage offer stage on the new place really before committing.
We had a holiday booked for over a year so currently enjoying the Florida sun and forgetting about anything to do with moving until next Tuesday. I recommend a break from it where possible.

Still keeping an eye on you all here, I've now written my letter to our original solicitor when we purchased the house with the infamous garage explaining the trouble that they caused and the money they cost. It was a good letter if I say so myself, it's been acknowledged and I await a response, I will go all the way to the ombudsman if necessary!

Have had 3 Housewarming parties so far, all fabulous and not a hint of noise from any neighbours now we're in our beautiful detached house!

Huge sympathy and unmumsnetty hugs for those hoping for an Easter exchange, if I can do it, you all can, hang in there!

We've got a sold sign on our house!

@Glitteryfrog - yay! Small steps! Have you got the Memorandum of Sale yet and is your house shown as 'under offer' online yet?

@TokyoSushi - glad to hear you've settled in. 3 parties? I'm thinking we'll have one big party and then host loads of family gatherings if/when we move in. We saw the house we're buying just before Christmas and it was beautifully decorated. It has loads more space and the possibility of an extra drinks fridge in the garage for BBQs 😉

Has anyone had an electrical Installation condition report done before?
We've done one on the house we're buying, it's come back unsatisfactory with a few category C2 advices. Waiting til this evening to speak with the electrician about costs.

@sandybayley yep, memo of sale received and its SSTC on right move.
Because we lost our previous buyers we already have the mortgage and survey for new house.

@TiddleTaddleTat how old is the house?

@Glitteryfrog it's a 1930s house and EICR says last rewired in 60s/70s. My biggest concern is that the vendor (a builder) has done bits of electrical work without it being checked by an electrician. No C1s on the report but plenty of C2s that could be potentially dangerous . I guess we might have to budget for a full rewire just to avoid having to do it once we've moved in, redecorates etc - means no cavity wall insulation for some time!

No cavity wall insulation because we can't afford it on top of a rewire, that is.
I guess we could ask the vendor for a contribution towards remedial work on the electrics but we're already getting a pretty good price on the house to be fair.

@TiddleTaddleTat so pleased for you. Congratulations.

@WBWIFE enquiries at this late stage 

@Farontothemaddingcrowd we will miss you too but so pleased it was nice and short for you.

@LeopardPrintKnickers I do hope it speeds up for you now. It's such a stressful thing. I'm never doing it again.

@TiddleToddle I'm hoping things will be faster for us this time around. We were first time buyers last time and due to a delayed new build at the end of the chain our move took 13 weeks.

@Fleabag123 I would ask. Why can you only give notice on your rent payment dates? Usually you can give it any time of the month and you just pay the difference if you roll into the next month but still just 4 weeks. Last time we over ran our rental by 3 weeks as we wanted to do work on the house we bought as it was pretty disgusting.

@dimmu I'm glad you accepted. The way the market is at the moment people are really playing the game with ridiculous offers so if that's the highest you've had after 30 viewings I'd say it's most likely the highest you will get now.

Our sold sign arrived two days ago. We viewed a house today and made an offer. We also viewed a house yesterday and made our third offer both offers accepted.

House one in most desired location, four bed semi, huge garden, needs extending and has a teeny fourth bed, no garage but five minutes walk from desired school. Located in a market town. Offer £15,000 under asking but a more expensive house to start with.

House two 6 bed detached, double garage, medium garden, near where we currently live 10 minutes drive to desired town and school, stuff everywhere as a marriage break down. The vendor will clear the house and it will need decorating and re carpeting. Offer £10,000 under asking.

@BeauticianNotMagician81 i must have missed your good news, congrats on getting a buyer. The 6 bed detached house sounds dreamy!

Sorry to those who didn’t exchange before the Easter weekend. Hoping next week brings you all better news.

@Jem01 thank you yes we sold two weeks ago. We have gone for house two. Do you think we made the right decision? I think if it were 30 minutes to our desired location then I'd go for house 1 but 10 minutes is nothing really.

@BeauticianNotMagician81 yes definitely the right decision. Like you said 10 min drive is nothing and the house is a great size so you don’t have to move again.

Anything that can reduce number of moves to as few as possible has to be a good thing!

Hope you have all enjoyed this wonderfully sunny Easter weekend!

@BeauticianNotMagician81 sounds like you made the right choice - how exciting!

We are now waiting for our buyer to provide proof of ID and name their solicitor, once that's done we will remove our flat from the market and instruct the solicitor. Hopefully can do this tomorrow.

Thank you @dimmu and @Jem01

I contacted our buyer over the weekend and they haven't even made their application for full mortgage yet. Perhaps they were waiting for us to find our onward purchase. I also asked about a potential moving date and she was very vague but we are aiming for 28th June. Is this just maybe first time buyer uncertainty do you think. It made me a little nervous.

Conveyancer wise are you all using someone local. We sold with purple bricks but to pay later had to use their online conveyancer. I looked at some quotes yesterday and our local one is so much cheaper plus I would prefer to be able to go in and speak to someone I think.

@BeauticianNotMagician81 - I don't think you need someone 'local' as you're unlikely to go in and speak to them. Our solicitor is in a different part of London and I've only met him once when I went to take in ID documents. Everything else has been done by phone or email. A good solicitor is worth their weight in gold - that matters much more than their location.

I'd say 28 June is pretty realistic for completion. We're on the same timescale and started a couple of weeks ago. Conveyancing takes time!

BeauticianNotMagician81 I think I'd be tempted by a local surveyor too. We've already had one chat with ours since the survey and will be arranging to meet him on site soon.

Has anyone had a Section 21 interest on the property they're buying/have bought previously? How did you find out the relationship? Did it cause you any difficulties?

My sol seems to have suddenly sprung to life (on a bank holiday?!) and forwarded a million documents that they’ve had for weeks.
All looks in order I think, we were slightly cheekily hoping the vendor might leave a couple of appliances but no such luck. I’m sure it’s better to have our own things but my head is spinning a bit with the cost of it all!!
Hope all you buyers and sellers are enjoying the sunny weekend

@Beautician - I thought I’d read somewhere about rental notice periods being strictly from the rent payment date only, and if you missed that you were liable for the entire next month. I might have got that wrong...

Wishing everyone good luck vibes today. It's been lovely having a few days off not worrying about it every single second but now the solicitors and estate agents are back at work I'm hoping for news...

Good luck all. Keep on top of them!

We are on the sols and estate agents case today, trying to negotiate with our vendors to complete on their sale before their purchase is ready. It's either that or we will ask they drop the price because of the full rewire required.