Buyers sellers roll call 12

[Bells3032]

New thread. Hopefully the last one for us!!

Has anyone who is using Santander had an automated virtual valuation instead of an “in person” one?

@DeeplyMovingExperience I'm so sorry to hear that's happened to you, how horrible. What rotten swines they are grrrrrrr

We are hoping that our last minute wrangles over the survey on our house (who waits 3wks after a survey until everyone's ready to exchange THEN brings up their issues? ) have been sorted and are tentatively hoping we might all be on the same page to complete on the 4th December. Our buyer and vendor are keen for that date, we just need the solicitors to agree they can get it over the line! Its all just so nerve wracking isn't it, a horrid feeling until you know it is finalised. Eurgh

Good luck everyone, I hope you all get positive news today.

[quote Lilothblos]@Anawi We're having a very similar issue, so frustrating isn't it! We thought we were ready to exchange after an age waiting for a mortgage offer and a last minute survey from our buyer about 11 weeks into the process. Now our buyer has raised a load more queries which are follow up questions to enquiries we answered in August. Why they couldn't have been sorted weeks ago is beyond me. I despair! And they are all such insignificant points but they are making mountains out of molehills. Certainly is one step forward, three steps back.[/quote]
@Lilothblos Its so frustrating. Have you managed to make any further progress with yours? Our buyer waited about 10 wks to get her survey, seems odd. We wonder if something in the searches prompted it when she wasn't going to bother - its an ex-mining area, possibly the mining search results made her more cautious but hey ho, it's done now. Her issues from it weren't too bad in the end, but the panic was real! She wanted gas safety information, which we had and thought had sent, but hadn't got to her, so that was an easy fix. There was also some repointing she wanted us to get done. We said no as we don't want the delay, didn't want her to have to adjust her mortgage to lower the sale price in case that took ages. So having got a quote its only a few hundred £s so for the sake of £400 we agreed to give her that on completion to get it done and sorted. A bit annoying, but really, whats another £400 when you're buying a £270k house! so we think, hopefully we are back where we thought we were a week or so ago and ready to go! Fingers and toes crossed for 4th December!

[quote DeeplyMovingExperience]@Bells3032 - it's been six months for us too, and that's exactly what they've done.

They could have raised this months ago when they got the survey back, but that was never on their agenda. Their delays already caused the upper chain to collapse once. I feel so stupid. They are both in their sixties and seemed like normal people.[/quote]
You aren't stupid. They are callous and unfair.

@DeeplyMovingExperience

No options unfortunately as we had already exchanged with our lovely vendor for the house we are moving to, so we would lose the deposit, plus all our costs. Our buyers deliberately timed it knowing that we would be totally screwed.

I am astounded that your solicitor 'allowed' you to exchange on your related purchase without the comfort of having already exchanged on your sale (and the knowledge that the property sale is more or less done and dusted at that point).

Did they even try to talk you out of it and were you strongly instructing them to proceed? Did they give you a million warnings?

I'd refuse to act - which is what solicitors can do if a client is giving us instructions we KNOW not to be in their best interests. It's the only superpower we have, and is used by judges all the time "you could have chosen to refuse to act as opposed to accept and act on your client's instructions, which you knew were damaging to them, or potentially so".

This is shocking. I think I'd sell to webuyanyhome.com before I'd sell to these fuckers.

Or ask your seller, if as lovely as you say (and if the true top of the chain) to amend the contract terms and wait until you sell again.

I think we are about 7 weeks in. I'm waiting on one search to come back. Survey being done today. We've been given a date of December 11th providing everything comes back ok with the survey.

We are in limbo just now, both our and our buyers mortgage offers are in, but she is having a homebuyers survey next week for her peace of mind as it’s an older house. Other than that we are waiting for queries to come back from our vendor, it’s been a week since they were sent. Our buyer wants to complete on 17th Dec, really hoping we will be able to exchange after next week.
Congratulations to those who made it over the line!

I feel like such a bad client. We’re being pushed by our buyers (they’re lovely and nurses). And we’re being pushed by our vendors (lovely solicitors who are busy themselves at work).

They all want to complete by Xmas and we’re doing everything we can but they aren’t providing the information / documentation needed.

I feel like it’s on us to keep chasing everyone and I’m worried about pissing people off (estate agents, solicitors, vendor and buyer!)

damned if I do & damned if don’t at the moment

@DeeplyMovingExperience - I'm so sorry, are you still able to buy the new place?

@Badgerbadger22 I feel exactly the same, we are constantly hassling our solicitor as meant to be moving next Friday. She then accuses us of bombarding her. We're just asking for an update to whether we're actually moving house or not!

My buyers solicitor has come back with final queries today and has requested I have my boiler serviced and give them a copy of the report. My house is a 2 year old new build, never had any issues with the boiler and a service will cost me £120!! Is it reasonable for me to say no?

@lollypop345

My buyers solicitor has come back with final queries today and has requested I have my boiler serviced and give them a copy of the report. My house is a 2 year old new build, never had any issues with the boiler and a service will cost me £120!! Is it reasonable for me to say no?

Yes, let them do it if they want (although really, we should be doing this yearly).

[quote Maybenexttime08]@DeeplyMovingExperience - I'm so sorry, are you still able to buy the new place?

@Badgerbadger22 I feel exactly the same, we are constantly hassling our solicitor as meant to be moving next Friday. She then accuses us of bombarding her. We're just asking for an update to whether we're actually moving house or not![/quote]
Did she really say that to you?!

Apparently, we now need a couple more indemnity policies for our purchase, which haven't been mentioned before. This makes me think we are still quite a way from exchange.

@MinecraftMother Yes - The problem is she doesn't give us full answers so if we ask her a question she'll come back with a simple 'no' (literally, just one word). We therefore have to go back and ask what will happen next and then we get accused of overwhelming her. I'm no solicitor, but if I asked a question I would give a response and then let the person know a possible solution or next step, Therefore avoiding the need for the client to come back and ask the obvious. Grr.

@Badgerbadger22 I'm chasing almost daily too. Our buyers applied for searches, had mortgage in place and did their survey back at the beginning of October yet the estimated completion date is in Jan. It's because their solicitor is so slow in raising any enquiries and takes days to actually reply to anyone.

[quote Maybenexttime08]@MinecraftMother Yes - The problem is she doesn't give us full answers so if we ask her a question she'll come back with a simple 'no' (literally, just one word). We therefore have to go back and ask what will happen next and then we get accused of overwhelming her. I'm no solicitor, but if I asked a question I would give a response and then let the person know a possible solution or next step, Therefore avoiding the need for the client to come back and ask the obvious. Grr. [/quote]
I don't quite know what she expects if she's not giving you proper, full replies to your enquiries.

I wish I had the balls to say to my clients that they are overwhelming me.

I have read that we should only be getting 50 emails a day in work (all of us, in any of our jobs) at the most. On Monday I had 329 waiting for me.

@MinecraftMother That's awful, and must be so stressful. Do you have any say on how many cases you take on?

I've just had obstacle after obstacle and now another one today. We were hoping to exchange next week but just been told that we're waiting for probate somewhere in the chain which will probably be another 2 weeks. I know it doesn't seem that long but we've been ready to exchange so many times now to be told that something else has cropped up, I'm just giving up hope.
Our purchase was ready to exchange about 9 weeks ago.

[quote Maybenexttime08]@MinecraftMother That's awful, and must be so stressful. Do you have any say on how many cases you take on?[/quote]
I do, it's my firm - but these are catch ups of pre-lockdown and things coming to a head. The average turnaround in the UK is still about 12 weeks (longer if leasehold) so these are lockdown hangover matters, plus matters taken on 8-10 weeks ago. It is so difficult to manage the workload because it's so cyclical - I am not taking on any more work at the moment - well, vanilla matters that I can do in my sleep and a couple of bits for friends. But the rest have to look elsewhere.

My workload is such that I am now not getting back to clients, which is very VERY unlike me. I am quick and good and keeping in touch.

Here's an example of being bombarded - new matter, sale and purchase. I now have papers in on my purchase so can raise enquiries, but am dealing with getting my completions and exchanges done, they are the most urgent, esp for the lockdown peeps whose mortgages are coming to an end. This client, although his matter is days old, has emailed 18 times already and there have been numerous calls and messages. He doesn't realise that he's being unreasonable, or doesn't care. He doesn't realise that every chaser call or email takes my time away from the legal side of things. If he carries on I'll charge him old-school, every call in, every call out, every email in, every email out.

What makes his matter so much more important than poor Mrs Smith who lost her sale because she was isolating and I'm now trying to get her sorted before the Xmas break?

It is only in his mind where he is the most important man, with the most important matter. There's a self-imposed deadline (for no good reason, that i've been given anyway) and I simply cannot agree to it.

Just because he'd love to be in before Xmas doesn't mean that my other matters slip down my priority list.

I guarantee, even if I do get it done (and I probably will) he'll still not be happy.

It is thoroughly unrelenting. The society of licence conveyancers (not my reporting body but close) has written to the Govt asking them to extend or phase out the Stamp Duty holiday deadline as we are all - ALL - overwhelmed by the work.

I could honestly walk away and stack shelves - it is hard and stressful and actually poorly paid (esp when compared to agents, each matter about £600 and we take all the risk) and we rarely get any joy or thank yous. Although it is beautiful when we do!

Next year should settle and then I'll be sad about the work I turned away but what can I do?

Woe is me lol!

Thank you so much for telling us what it's really like being a solicitor in these current times, sounds far from easy!

I haven't posted before but read this thread every day, I am in the middle of my own sale and the info on here has been invaluable, certainly gives perspective.

I will, for sure, be thanking properly both my solicitor and EAs when the time comes, not that I am not thanking them now in each of my emails with them. They have been amazingly helpful.

So finally exchanged today and completion is tomorrow now sat in a near empty house van already been and loaded up

@MinecraftMother That sounds very crazy - deep breaths!

Now that it is looking unlikely that we will complete next Friday, I've gone back to our developer and asked what happens if we have to complete the following week. All they've done is come back and said we have to complete on Friday. Again, not helpful. They just want it in November to hit their sales target! Anybody know what could actually happen??

@Maybenexttime08

Now that it is looking unlikely that we will complete next Friday, I've gone back to our developer and asked what happens if we have to complete the following week. All they've done is come back and said we have to complete on Friday. Again, not helpful. They just want it in November to hit their sales target! Anybody know what could actually happen??

Stressful! They are unlikely to walk away at this point, aren't they?

Having been downcast last week and ready to give up, today our buyers who pulled out emailed our agent to apologise and ask if we would accept our offer, apparently having compared it with what's else is on the market ours is the one they love. So now we have a buyer again but nothing to move to! And obviously the market is practically dead around here, viewing a couple that are out of budget, hopefully they will have some wiggle room.