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Original poster

Chain of 6. So worried and it’s making me ill.

87 replies

Worriedhomemover · 23/11/2020 20:49

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has any advice or positive stories of a longer housing chain.

Our buyer viewed our house in July! We accepted an offer. DH actually showed them around on the second viewing and he said ‘we’re in a really good position and have exchanged’, our estate agent presented the same information to us. All great. We accepted the offer based on that, gave them a few grand off.

We then have an offer accepted on our new place saying we are in a short chain (they are chain free so we are number 5).

We then found out our buyer has 3 people behind her. We were angry and wanted to pull out but decided to keep going as this is our dream house and we don’t want to lose it.

The first purchase in the chain fell through and was re established in early September. We are still waiting and haven’t exchanged. Apparently they are still waiting for a search to come back.

I feel sick. This is a relocation for us and for various reasons we needed the sale to go through quickly.

I’m so worried that something else will go wrong. Our estate agent has been great (feel awful for her as she seems to be organising the whole chain’)

I almost want to pull out, but we’ve come this far and our vendors have been amazing- they have had a sale fall through previously and I don’t want to do it to them again.

Who had actually completely on a bigger chain? Any survival tips? I can’t relax at all. We started packing things into boxes thinking moving was imminent and then all of a sudden they’re saying ‘hopefully before Christmas’. There is just so much uncertainty!

OP posts:
Original poster
Worriedhomemover · 25/11/2020 20:12

@IHeartNiles it’s the first person in the chain’s searches not ours so we won’t be able to find out unless they decide to tell us. Sad. Everyone else is ready. The two middle people have been waiting even longer than us- feel bad for them and concerned they will give up and pull out.

What I don’t get is why isn’t there an ap for this? Like a chain management ap? Why do you have to call everyone’s EA/
Solicitors back and forth to get anything organised! Bizarre.

OP posts:
thelastmullercorner · 28/11/2020 00:18

Thanks @Worriedhomemover

hope everyone's moves are going ok. We got our mortgage offer today, and our survey results Wednesday and (I think) they're not too bad. Still waiting on enquiries from the 4th, which seems like a long time, but not sure if I'm just impatient

DarlingCoffee · 01/12/2020 06:14

We had a long chain, I can’t remember the number but I think it was seven. I don’t remember feeling worried until it had all completed and someone remarked on what a long chain we had Hmm anyway it all went ok so try not to worry. Easier said than done but not much you can do other than keep up the pressure on all sides to commit to the dates - good luck!

Flamingolingo · 01/12/2020 06:31

We had a chain of 8 back in 2019. It was super stressful because it should have been a simple affair - we sold to ‘cash’ buyers and we were buying a deceased estate. Then the vendors of our house decided that they had found a property they would like to buy (complicated situation, they were living with her father in the later years of his life and seem to have sold their private property. Anyway, they found their new house and that eventually landed us in a chain of 8, which dragged on and on. Meanwhile our cash buyers decided to raise a mortgage. It all came to a head with massive tension in our chain and a rush to exchange at which point our vendors broke the chain, magicked £500k from their back pocket and moved. We moved a week later but our ‘cash’ buyer at that point actually tried to tie the sale of their house onto ours. Utter madness. But we got there in the end.

thewinehasgonetomyhead · 01/12/2020 09:41

@Flamingolingo

We had a chain of 8 back in 2019. It was super stressful because it should have been a simple affair - we sold to ‘cash’ buyers and we were buying a deceased estate. Then the vendors of our house decided that they had found a property they would like to buy (complicated situation, they were living with her father in the later years of his life and seem to have sold their private property. Anyway, they found their new house and that eventually landed us in a chain of 8, which dragged on and on. Meanwhile our cash buyers decided to raise a mortgage. It all came to a head with massive tension in our chain and a rush to exchange at which point our vendors broke the chain, magicked £500k from their back pocket and moved. We moved a week later but our ‘cash’ buyer at that point actually tried to tie the sale of their house onto ours. Utter madness. But we got there in the end.
Our cash buyer has also decided to get a mortgage now too!!
Watermelon39 · 01/12/2020 14:52

Hello , hope everyone’s making better progress than us! Mortgages and searches have been in for two weeks for everyone in the chain but nobody is getting back to our solicitor to discuss dates for exchange /completion. So we are in limbo, and with Christmas coming up it just feels really stressful!! Not sure whether I should keep chasing everyone or just give up and accept we are only moving in January.

What I don’t understand is, out of 6 of us, only me and our seller seem motivated. Do people exist that are THIS blasé about moving home?

Moversnotshakers · 01/12/2020 18:07

I really feel for you OP. We are in a similar position after finding out when due to exchange that our FTB was in fact not a FTB.( Well he was. But is relying on a sale of his partners flat for the deposit). Wanted to pull out of our sale but we have our hearts set in our new home and luckily our vendors of that house have said they will wait, it's been almost 5 months now from offers accepted in a chain of 3( now 4) . Why lie tho., It's so stressful . Like u I have also not taken A/L from work but have had to book in 7 days from end of next week or loose it. Hopefully we will move before Xmas when I'm off work but as of yet, no one knows as they are waiting for a land registry reversion..

MollyButton · 02/12/2020 06:20

Well we are now completing in just over a week, after a lot of stress up to exchange. It's funny you do get a sense of who in the chain the EAs and Solicitors feel are a bit of a pain.

Fluffybutter · 02/12/2020 17:46

Chain of 3 here , bottom is a first time buyer and we were so close to exchange but it’s all gone to shit because of the lease length on our buyers flat and the fact the bottom solicitor waited till now to bring it up .
I’ve had migraines , not been able to eat and today my hands have shaken non stop.
The way these solicitors treat people by dragging their heels and using dirty tricks (ours ignore us all day and then wait until just before 5pm to drop any bombs so we then have to wait till the next day and start all over again) is disgusting .
I feel on the verge of a nervous breakdown and I’m doing everything to hold it together .
So sorry for those of you in the same position.

MoirasRoses · 02/12/2020 19:39

A little bit of positivity, we completed on Monday (chain of 5). I haven’t been checking on here so much as it’s been manic but we are finally in. I literally got the keys & burst into tears Blush I think the estate agent thought I was insane 😂 14 weeks from start to finish, which isn’t all that bad time wise but dear god has it been a stressful 3 months. I could not be more grateful to see the back of solicitors! If it’s at all a gleam of hope, moving day itself went incredibly well. It was completely stress free! Emotional saying goodbye to our old home but our new one is better than I remembered, so that’s always nice!

Good luck to everyone still slogging through. It’s so worth it in the end!

Watermelon39 · 02/12/2020 20:08

Congratulations @MoirasRoses gives me hope!! Enjoy your new home Smile
Can I ask how long was it between exchange and completion, and did it give you enough time to change utilities , get internet sorted etc?

Fluffybutter · 07/12/2020 18:01

The house we were buying pulled out today because of the delay we had at the bottom. We were meant to exchange imminently so they’ve fucked us all.
Hope everyone else has better luck .

Watermelon39 · 09/12/2020 14:08

Sorry to hear that @Fluffybutter . Why would they pull out at this late stage? Are they putting their house back on the market? I hate chains :( there’s no communication about anything that’s not directly either side of your own purchase/ sale! Information trickles through so slowly.

Littlepic · 09/12/2020 15:15

Hi everyone,
Can I join in with your pain. We are in a chain of 4 and we were due to sign contracts on Friday, then Monday, then yesterday and now today it looks like it's not going to happen for another possible 7 days!!!! The buyers at the bottom are having trouble with their bank (HSBC) confirming when the funds will be available. Without this their solicitor won't sign. Our bank (Nationwide) have confirmed via email when funds will be released however apparently HSBC won't do this!!!! Aaaaargh feel like I'm going mad!!

Watermelon39 · 09/12/2020 19:03

Hi @Littlepic. Oh no that sounds so frustrating! Does that mean you can’t exchange for another 7 days? Then when would you complete?

I’m stressed that it’s gotten this close to Christmas- we put an offer on our house in July! Never dreamt it would take this long!

mountains76 · 09/12/2020 19:31

@Littlepic

Hi everyone, Can I join in with your pain. We are in a chain of 4 and we were due to sign contracts on Friday, then Monday, then yesterday and now today it looks like it's not going to happen for another possible 7 days!!!! The buyers at the bottom are having trouble with their bank (HSBC) confirming when the funds will be available. Without this their solicitor won't sign. Our bank (Nationwide) have confirmed via email when funds will be released however apparently HSBC won't do this!!!! Aaaaargh feel like I'm going mad!!
Hi there, just wondering, is it normal for solicitors to confirm funds prior to exchange? Not heard of that before. Suppose it makes sense though. Our solicitor hasn't mentioned the mortgage with regards to exchange?
Littlepic · 09/12/2020 19:58

Solicitor appears to be covering their back and wants the money in their account or an absolute guarantee from the bank before signing! This should be in place by Monday and rest of chain pushing for a simultaneous complete/exchange Monday/Tuesday! Our sellers have already booked and paid for removals on Tuesday!! It's very very stressful!

MillieMoodle · 09/12/2020 20:06

@mountains76 at the moment most solicitors are being super cautious about mortgage funds arriving as some of the banks have been less than reliable in recent months. Many banks are short staffed or have people working remotely so whereas they used to confirm a week or so before completion that mortgage funds would be released, many now aren't doing that. Most are only processing the request for mortgage funds (called a certificate of title) the day before or the day that the funds are due to be released. Which means if there's a problem and the bank aren't happy with something, there's no time to sort it out and still get the funds released that day.

If you've exchanged, and your mortgage funds then aren't released on the day, you'll be in breach of contract which could mean you end up being responsible for everyone's costs/expenses due to the delayed completion. If you haven't exchanged, you won't be responsible.

MillieMoodle · 09/12/2020 20:12

@Littlepic

Solicitor appears to be covering their back and wants the money in their account or an absolute guarantee from the bank before signing! This should be in place by Monday and rest of chain pushing for a simultaneous complete/exchange Monday/Tuesday! Our sellers have already booked and paid for removals on Tuesday!! It's very very stressful!
They will be covering their back but also trying to protect you. If you exchange and then for any reason the bank doesn't release the funds on the day of completion, you'd be in breach of contract and you'd be the one liable for the costs of everyone else in the chain due to the delay eg. Extra removal fees, child care, mortgage interest. It's a real pain for you, I know, as well as being extremely stressful. Unfortunately some of the banks aren't being particularly reliable in releasing funds at the moment, or in confirming that they are processing the request.

HSBC have changed their system for requesting mortgage funds recently, it has to be done via an online form and there is no way of knowing if it has been received and is being processed, unless they send an email confirming it (this seems to be quite hit and miss though). It takes at least an hour to get through to them on the phone at the moment so I can understand why your solicitor is being cautious.

It doesn't help your stress levels though. I hope it all goes through successfully next week!

MillieMoodle · 09/12/2020 20:14

@Littlepic sorry just realised it's not you, it's your buyers' solicitor - even so, they will be trying to protect their client, which is their job. It's even more stressful when it's not your solicitor though!

Littlepic · 09/12/2020 20:17

Thanks, that's really helpful info. I'm starting to think we should move completion day and rearrange until we know contracts are signed. This will seriously annoy several others in the chain but it seems very risky to me not to move it.
Advice very welcome

Littlepic · 09/12/2020 20:19

I agree they are protecting their client, which I understand.

M2906 · 13/12/2020 20:00

So glad I found this thread. I’m not a fan of the unknown at the best of times...throw in house buying and I’m a nervous wreck. We’re a chain of 3 houses...everybody is ready except for our buyers who are still awaiting the results of the local search and have hopefully buy now received their survey results (were due in Wednesday and I’m hoping no news is good news on this)...I love my current home, wouldn’t be heart broken if we didn’t move but also really do like the house we are buying and am not a fan of failing something we’ve set out to achieve.

Littlepic · 16/12/2020 18:30

Quick up date from us. We exchange contracts on Monday and completed and moved in yesterday. It was all a bit down to the wire and stressful but we are in! Phew!

Fluffybutter · 16/12/2020 19:25

@Littlepic

Quick up date from us. We exchange contracts on Monday and completed and moved in yesterday. It was all a bit down to the wire and stressful but we are in! Phew!
Congratulations! Good luck in your new home Wine
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