Sellers/Buyers Roll Call 7

[MrBobLobLaw]

Stressed vendors and buyers alike: assemble here to moan about bloody solicitors!

Feel free to join at any point

Just got off the phone with our solicitors who I thought were really good but they just talk in circles! I’m not from the UK and honestly, the whole house buying process here is insanely archaic. We accepted an offer in November and got that moving, then found somewhere to buy which is also moving ahead however the solicitor keeps asking for more money for bloody surveys which is annoying. Half of them can be carried out by the average person just been savvy on a Council website..

Also really annoyed that the buyers solicitor has apparently been feeding the buyer piecemeal information, resulting in some confusion on their end and asking the same questions again and again even though the information has been provided. God help me I just want a date for exchange... We have a great estate agent so just going to keep her as fully informed as I can but realistic that we might need to take a few £££ off our asking price just to get this finished with.

Full survey was done today and the surveyor called us. Got some work that has to be done now (flat roof replacement on extension and the garage, guttering). Now begins the joy of getting quotes and seeing if the vendor will reduce the cost a bit to help us

Just to add, not expecting the vendor to drop as we got 5k off to start with. Just something we wasn't expecting so if they did consider it would be a bonus. If they say no we shall buy anyway but means other things don't get done

@TulipsfromAmsterdam wow you’ve had a long long journey. I hope it comes together for you soon.

I can’t believe I’m saying thus but after 6 long months since our offer accepted, we exchanged today!!! Moving end of next week!

Coming out of hiding to join you all with my tale of woe, wondering if anyone had any advice.

Sold our house end of Oct and offer accepted on a house we love very early November. Our buyers are very keen and we are now at the point of being ready to exchange on our sale... dates being discussed today

Had a call from vendors EA today to say that the vendors who had been planning to go into rented all along have had an offer accepted on a house today so that's why they have not answered any of our solicitors enquiries since they were sent 2nd dec

Feeling like we don't trust them as far as we can throw them and would pull out if there was anything at all suitable on the market at the moment- there isn't.

Wine helps.

Rejoining if that's ok. I think I posted on the prev thread anyway!
We accepted an offer end of November and offered on our (hopefully) new house a week before Christmas. Mortgage application in progress and survey should be next week. Surveyors confirmed the date in writing to us but apparently the EA know nothing about it. Surveyors insist they spoke to EA, EA claim to have had no contact Anyway that should all be sorted now!
The house we're buying is tenanted with a two month notice period to serve. So far the vendors haven't given notice which is making us twitchy and I think our buyers too as they're FTB and keen to crack on. Only three steps in our chain so hoping really that the tenancy will determine the timeline, but I might be dreaming!!
Good luck to everyone else

@PickledWilly we were told our purchase was no chain which turned out not to be the case. It didn’t make much difference in the end altho I worried it might. I think the vendor prob could’ve vacated if necessary but was buying a chain free house. That progressed fine it was the long chain behind us that was the hold up! Hopefully it won’t be too long for you!

Well we got our mortgage approval yesterday, so yayyy! Survey is already done with no issues as vendor is keep to proceed asap as she has already moved into her boyfriend's house. So all being well and touch wood and praying to all the gods we are hoping to get in first week in Feb! All we've got to do is move (ugh!). And leave our rental as though we haven't actually been living here so we can get our deposit back (Australian letting agents are VERY fussy!), but at this stage I'm so happy I don't care about that!

Can I join? I am a ball of anxiety.

Offer accepted end of Aug. Flat is empty as the vendor lives abroad. We’re FTB. We have three young children and in rental. We have still not exchanged!!

My solicitor has been useless and twice I caught them out in a lie, saying they had done something when they hadn’t. Friday before Christmas I lodged a complaint and a senior solicitor has taken over the case.

We’re now waiting on a licence to assign from vendors solicitor - spoke to my solicitor last Friday who said to give it a week or so. Vendors solicitor is keen to exchange so shouldn’t be dragging his heels.

But we have to leave our rental by Jan 31 and our mortgage offer runs out in Feb. I am so stressed!!!

Welcome @GorgeousLadyofWrestling @PickledWilly and welcome back @clarka
Looks as if the hold-up on our move is the sale of our buyer's flat. Otherwise everything else is ready to go!
@clarka how do you know that they haven't given notice to the tenants? Years ago I lived in a rental that was up for sale and we had to sign a document guaranteeing that we would move out on completion of the sale before formal notice was given so try not to worry.

Thanks @catsndogslife - just wish it was over, I feel like our whole life is on hold. Within three weeks we have to pack, deep clean rental, move, clean and decorate new place - all with three children and full time jobs. Feeing a bit overwhelmed.

I was so geared up for this and so excited and now I just feel stressed. And tired. 😬

Well, we completed on the 7th so have been in new house for a few days. It's perfect and we're so happy! Nearly unpacked now, just a few boxes in the garage.

Good luck to all of you still waiting, I hope everything works out and goes very smoothly for everyone!

Feel like I can join in again, at last. We initially went on market in April, priced too high thanks to estate agent. Between that and Brexit, nothing much happened. Changed EA, dropped price and then election and Christmas. We have now had a second viewing today who said they will be putting an offer in tomorrow. Trying not to be over excited until its agreed, but we can now go and view houses. I have a perfect one I would love, fingers crossed it hasnt been snapped up over the weekend. Glad to finally get to this stage though.

Survey this week, both mortgage valuation and homebuyers (being done by different people)

What is the likeliness mortgage company won't value house at our offer? It is well within market value, not that old, not in too much disrepair etc just bog standard family home needing some decorative TLC!

We accepted an offer this morning, their chain is already complete, so tomorrow I am viewing 7 houses. Solicitors instructed, decision in principle in place. Exciting times!

@PickledWilly are you me?

I posted earlier on the thread on a different name but anyway...

Accepted an offer on our house in early November from a first time buyer in rented.

Put in an offer on another house that was accepted and was told that the vendor was going into rented.

Cue total radio silence from the vendor, not responding to queries from our solicitors etc until this week when it was revealed that they have had an offer accepted on a house this week and are therefore not going into rented after all!

So now we're in a chain and everything is being delayed even further. We think they lied to us to secure a quick sale.

What's worse is that for some reason our buyers gave notice on their rental, before dates were discussed for completion and have to be out by February. So they will not be happy when they hear the news.

I had high hopes of moving into my new home this month and now it's all in the air.

I'm trying to remain positive. We don't have to move, and I'm not emotionally attached to the new house. It's a practical arrangement that would make things easier for us but it's not the end of the world if it doesn't happen. Financially we would be better off staying put as well. Perhaps this is a sign that it's just not meant to be. Incidentally, our sold sign has blown over, so perhaps that's another sign!

@TossACoinToYourWitcher

Go with your gut, may we'll be a sign!

How long did you guys wait from first listing to your first viewing?
24 hours and I’m disappointed already

We are awaiting the fucking land registry it’s taking for ever as part of the land was bought later and though they have all the legal paperwork was completed it was never registered properly.

At risk of running out of time with mortgage.

@TossACoinToYourWitcher how similar! Our estate agent says he sees this sort of scenario all the time..

It's very difficult isn't it. It's the dishonesty that I am annoyed by. I should have known when we received the fixtures and fittings form from the vendor and they were taking literally everything - from dishwasher to blinds even to garden shed! No one going into rented takes a shed with them. Feel a bit of a fool for believing them really!

Can I join?

I've been lurking for a while, trying to ease the stress of this whole process by reading other people's posts and seeing them finally exchange and complete, but ours just keeps delaying and it feels harder to remain sane.

FTB with offer accepted end of September. No chain as property had a tenant who had already vacated by the time the surveyor visited the property. First enquiries sent by our solicitors mid-November and a few are still pending. According to our solicitors the replies received generated more enquiries which is fair enough but the last were requested 2 weeks ago and so far no answer.

We are in a rental property and we had to give notice or extend for another 6 months. We are now running out of time and nothing is happening. Our solicitors and the EA solicitors have been chasing the seller's solicitors and their only reply is that they will review the enquiries soon.

@GorgeousLadyofWrestling I feel your pain. We are also moving out in two weeks and we've got no clue when we are going to exchange. I've already arranged for a removals company which will store our belongings if we don't complete in time. I've also bookmarked a few airbnbs as its more and more likely that's where we will spend at least part, if not all, of February.

I am now ardently hoping for some miracle which will allow us to exchange and complete before the end of the month.

I honestly don't know how can anyone go through this more than once!

We signed our contract last night, and also got our settlement/moving in date - January 30th! Considering we only had our offer accepted on December 7th then promptly went on holiday delaying things by a week AND then it was Xmas when nothing got done, its all happening a bit bloody fast! Not that I'm complaining mind, not at all! But if they can do it that quickly here, why is it so tortuously slow in the UK? I've bought in both places, there is just no comparison!

@TossACoinToYourWitcher could you try pass the cost back up the chain to your vendors? The won’t want to lose a buyer and it’s extra rental and storage costs for your buyers. Could be worth checking.

We’ve taken £3,500 off our agreed price because our managing agent can’t tell anyone if any work will ever be carried out and how much it might cost. We thought we were on track until just now when our solicitor called to say it’s been referred to the lenders solicitor? Basically they need to say okay to giving a mortgage to our buyers when there might be some major works on our block of flats. Does anyone have experience of this? Please tell me it’ll be okay.

Great news @alwayscrashinginthesamecar1!

It is unbelievable the differences between buying/selling here vs other countries. Having bought and sold in a different European country, it was a shock to learn all the hoops we have to go throught in the UK. Bought a flat in 2 weeks (from offer to completion), sold it in a month, which would have also been faster if I did not have to fly back to give the keys/sign contracts. No solicitors involved, only intermediary was the EA, who organised everything.

On the other hand, there are no surveys, no searches, which is why it was so fast. Having read our survey here, I am not sure I would purchase blindly again. It's just too much of a gamble. So, whilst frustrated by the delays, I do understand the value of all the burocracy.

Thanks Bluebells, its all very exciting! I had a full survey and termite inspection done in that time too, and from what I can see there is just as much bureaucracy here in Oz, they are just bloody fast about it! We had 21 days to arrange the mortgage which was a bit of a push because of Xmas, and once that is done we have 21 days for the settlement agent to do their thing, complete all searches etc. If there is a cock-up that pushes it out beyond 21 days there is a three day grace period. After that whoever is holding things up can be hit with the penalty clause. So once the offer is in, everything is under tight time constraints so there is no time to fuck around! From what I see there aren't such long chains here, a lot of people move into their new house and then sell the old one, we viewed a lot of empty houses, maybe because of the turnaround times!

Anyway, we found the process much more efficient and stress free, mainly because we didn't have to deal with any solicitors, who in my experience are always deathly slow and maddening to work with!