How the fuck do you move house? Help me!

[whywhydelilah]

Our buyers have pulled out so the chain has collapsed. The house we wanted that we were buying is now back on the market.

This is the second time things have fallen through. The last time was in December. Our house went on the market and only took two weeks to sell. So how have we ended up still there?

We only have one estate agent marketing our property. There is one particular estate agent who seems to have a strangle hold on the area we want to buy in, they are also marketing the house we were buying. They have very few houses for sale where we live (only a mile away- different estate). I'm considering engaging that estate agent in addition to our original one, in the hope that the fact that they know we are interested in another one of their properties may give them an incentive to shift ours. They've almost been quite rude and unhelpful, so engaging them may force a bit of manners out of them.

I desperately need some advice. Trying to move house has dominated our lives since September and I'm bloody sick of it. We're supposed to be TTC DC2 too, which isn't working.

I'm lost. Seriously considering giving up and just living in a shit house in a shit area.

It's rubbish isn't it. We've lost one buyer and one house and are now proceeding with a new buyer and new house. I live in fear of it collapsing again as we approach exchange.

What was the reason for the buyer pulling out?? Is it just them being indecisive or is there an issue you can resolve?

You just have to lick your wounds and get the house back on the market, Can you get your EA to carefully vet buyers who offer to make sure they stack up?

I know that sense of hopelessness. Allie yourself a day of sadness and then dust yourself off etc

as with sandybayley I lost a buyer and a sale, although for it to happen twice must be horrendous. It took me a year to sell because of that, and I still haven't bought. However I do think there is less on the market now so you may sell very quickly, and still be able to buy the place you want. It will happen eventually but it's awful, you just need to dig deep.

Ty both x

What do people think about engaging that second agent?

this happened to us, honestly made me so numb for a while. Especially the amount of money we lost as the new house went back up.

We engaged a second agent, to be honest, it hasn't helped us in the slightest. Some people think it looks desperate. I'd focus more on getting your listing promoted on rightmove so it always shows at the top!

We have had this happened. In the end we sold, moved into rented and then bought but only considered houses with no chain and buyers with no chain as I couldn't cope with another failed chain. I know this may not be logistically possible for you but it was the only way to save my sanity in the end!

You need an agent that will thoroughly check out the buyer's position. The first agent didn't , lied to me about them selling to a ftb ( was a longer chain below!), backed them at every turn as they pissed around and reduced reduced their offer.

Second agent was absolutely on the case of the new buyers several days a week and got it over the line. Checked out their position really thoroughly and insisted they got on with it. That's what I think you need in this climate.

I'd be tempted to change agents to go with the new one who will be keen to get the double commission? Also makes your property come up as a new listing. But then again if they've been rude and unhelpful - that doesn't fit the criteria above! You need an agent who will be really on it.

I would swap agents rather than having two - multiple agents charge more and looks a bit desperate to buyers.

That sounds very stressful - had similar when sold flat, took 1.5 years in end and this time we have bought first and are selling later though will rent it out if doesn't sell. Probably not the most financially sensible option but a lot less stressful though not tried to sell yet as redecorating old house.

OP you have my deepest sympathies.

We are onto our second set of buyers now. Our flat went on at the beginning of Feb, went under offer with the first folks to see it (FTB's)..we were buying a house through the same agent with no onward chain so all seemed good.

Wrong..they turned out to be the biggest PITA's who dicked us about for months on end whilst our flat was taken off the market for them, then pulled out 2 weeks ago.

Chap we are buying our dream home from was so angry with the estate agents for not being straight with him about what had happened, he ripped up the 'Sale Agreed' board outside the house and chucked it into the front garden!

Now onto a second set of buyers...their Home Buyers survey is actually happening RIGHT NOW..I'm sitting typing this in the kitchen whilst they are taking damp readings/measuring around me!

Vendor of dream house has said we have until the end of this month to exchange or his house is off the market, so we're really under stress and pressure now

Honestly never thought it would be this complicated, and if we lose the house we want then it's game over for us and we are giving up as haven't seen anything else we are remotely interested in.

OP - you have my sympathies - we had our chain fall apart on us twice (literally days from exchange each time) when the buyer at the bottom of the chain pulled out. Its so hard when you know its nothing to do with your property. Each time the property we were buying went back on the market - but as we had the same estate agent on the sale and purchase they were incentivised to try to make it all hang together to get both sets of commission.

Third time round we agreed an offer from a cheeky offer buyer who was paying less but not in a chain - and we specified a date by which it had to all happen or wasnt going to happen at all. The lack of chain meant that we did finally manage to get to exchange and completion by the drop dead date but it was pretty nail biting (particularly as we nearly got gazzumped on the place we were buying). All in it took us nearly 6 and a half months to sell.

It was my third time of selling and buying and I've never had such a stressful experience! I blame bloody Brexit.

In your position, I'd look to change agent - agree appointing more than 1 agent makes you look desperate and its very much a buyer's market out there.

The buying and selling of houses in the Uk is all bollocks. It shouldn’t take so long and also should be better regulated ie; offer once accepted shouldn’t be negotiated back down. The process should be a lot quicker. I don’t like how solicitors drag it out, this shouldn’t be allowed.

The property system here is awful. I wish they would do as in the US where an offer is written and binding and all the dates (for inspection, for mortgage application/acceptance etc) are set out from the get go. No gazumping. The agents get about 5%, there’s a multiple listing service (so any agent can show your property they split the commission). They are far more proactive. They hold your hand through the whole process and will go with you to the closing meeting. The inspectors of your property don’t just walk around but run your appliances, Test the heating, explain to you how the boiler works... I think it’s a much better system.

We had a similar situation several years ago when selling DMs house

Two agents with a stranglehold on the local market and a Sale that fell apart because one of the Agents was not proactive in dealing with the Buyers concerns.

I ended up appointing both agents and then asking them to provide me with weekly stats, detailing the Rightmove searches & click throughs. I also asked them to report in writing how many calls they received about the property, how many they proactively made to their database and full details of the feedback from all viewings.

I was stunned by how different their conversion rates were (probably due to the difference in photography) and how much harder one of the Agents worked in contacting their database.

The house sold within a few weeks (had previously been on the market for months) and the Agent worked hard all the way through to Completion.

My sale fell through at the end of last year, just before Christmas. The buyers to be were lovely and the house was perfect for them. However the estate agent lied to me about having explained to them about the covenants in place and they only found out during the searches. They were obviously surprised and disappointed and, I think, reacted too quickly, and pulled out. The EA were so totally useless that the call with them pulling out was taken by a new and inexperienced young woman who just basically said ‘ oh, OK’ then phoned to tell me as if she was discussing the weather. I was furious and took the house f the market. I still really really want to move but haven’t got the energy to go through it all again

@aprilshowers12 - interesting what you say about covenants putting people off. The house we lost had restrictive covenants in place and we were a bit nervous about but did some research and reassured ourselves.

We lost the house when we lost our first buyer. The vendors dropped us in favour of another buyer and we were fuming but found another house round the corner. House no 2 has similar restrictive covenants in place (dating from 1930s) but we're ok with that as we now understand the implications. However House No 1 has just come back to us as their sale has hit a 'stumbling block'. Part of me wonders if the buyer has been spooked by the restrictive covenants.

I wonder whether sellers of such houses would be advised to declare covenants like these up front? They are quite archaic and sound quite scary until you read up on them.

The buying and selling of houses in the Uk is all bollocks

FYI posters are talking about selling in England and Wales. The system in Scotland under Scots Law is totally different.

You need to get a really good solicitor and explain your concerns at the outset. Almost all sales fall apart due to everything moving too slowly and people getting cold feet or finding another property in the meantime - this tends to be the lawyers’ fault and not the EA (I am ex property solicitor).

I'm in the middle of buying a flat. Survey came back today as 0. WHAT. It's worth 0 due to a crack in the rendering. I am at a loss as to what to do. Already spend over £500 pounds on fees so far.

You need to get a really good solicitor and explain your concerns at the outset. Almost all sales fall apart due to everything moving too slowly and people getting cold feet or finding another property in the meantime - this tends to be the lawyers’ fault and not the EA (I am ex property solicitor)

I would also add, a lot of sales experience problems/fall through due to lack of effective communication, and a lack of understanding of what expectations the other parties in the chain have.

Many sellers could assist in reducing the period of time take for a sale to go through if there were better prepared. Have ALL documentation available at the outset, don't wait to be asked 6 weeks down the line by the solicitor. This includes, but is not limited to: Building regs sign-off, planning consent, Gas Safe certs, Fensa certs.

In my experience (estate agent for 20yrs) there is frequently a mismatch in wishes over how long a transaction should take. Often if you have a motivated buyer who wants to get on with things the seller, will be badly prepared, unmotivated or have a particular reason why it suits them to drag it out. The roles can easily be reversed.

A really good solicitor (won't be the cheapest) and a good EA who is an effective communicator, as well as being organised and prepared as buyer/seller can dramatically reduce the chances of problems/fall throughs.

I'm asking myself the same question. The property market in England is disgusting.

I think
You're right. If people are just presented with the legal wording of a covenant and they're not used to
Seeing the language used they can freak a bit. I'm
Sure that's what happened with my
Buyers and had been assured by the EA that they would discuss fully with them as they made their offer. The covenants on my house are nothing out of the ordinary and really have not impacted on any of us here at all. It's all very silly as I could have so easily talked them through what the day to day reality of the covenants were and I'm
Pretty sure they would
Have bought the house

Oh and I had given a copy of the covenants to EA who
Assured me these would be discussed with any interested buyers. My main mistake was to believe an EA!

Selling a shit house in a shit area. Nice

@aprilshowers12 - the whole area we want to buy in is covered by restrictive covenants as the houses were built by a couple of developers in the 1930s. That means if you want to live there it's just something you have to accept. We are getting our vendors to pay for an indemnity policy for the loft conversion which (strictly speaking) is a breach of the covenant but I actually don't think it's necessary.

An EA (not ours) said that to me that conveyancing takes longer these days because of the large amount of enquiries raised compared to years gone by. FTBs in particular seem to want everything guaranteed.

We last bought and sold 17 years ago and it was very straightforward. A bit of grumbling about fixtures and fittings but not anything too taxing.

A friend of mine lost her sale because the purchaser went completely AWOL on exchange day meaning the whole chain collapsed. When she was later located she said that the proposed completion day 'didn't really suit her'

I hate restrictive covenants, they are ridiculous and cause no end of hold ups and confusion plus the cost of indemnity insurance. I seriously think that they should all be declared null and void 10-15 years after the first sale of the house as they are really only there to protect developers whilst they are building new estates. The idea of me having to ask permission for any extension (and pay for the privilege) from whichever company has taken over the business of the company that built my house over 60 years ago is insane!

Plus they should have abolished the damn chancel repair liability. At least when we bought our current house churches had to have registered which houses were potentially liable so neither our new nor old house needed liability cover. What a stupid system!!