Buyers Sellers Roll Call 16

[Househunting21]

Because the last thread is nearly full and I for one very much appreciate the space to vent

Good luck to everyone hoping to exchange and/or complete this week!

I'm new - may I join?

We've just found out, after thinking we were completing next week, that our vendor's onward property has title issues. They're awaiting clear title from the land registry. They had their searches back weeks ago, so I don't know if this means there's a serious issue? I'd welcome anyone with knowledge!

Isn't this all terribly stressful.

@boxesboxes we're having the same issue - top of chain has suddenly discovered title issues despite telling everyone they were ready to exchange. They've now gone quiet on us, which is really not good.

@Ohhgreat omg but what does this mean? What are you doing or just sitting tight? I'm going out of my mind trying to work out if this could be the end or if there's indemnity available?

Eeek we've proposed a date of entry for the start of October, just waiting on confirmation from other parties. Much sooner than I expected it would be as it will only be 6 weeks since offering. Best get on with sorting our junk out. Mortgage application has been referred to underwriters which is a bit worrying. Hoping it's due to my maternity leave and will be easily and quickly sorted.

@boxesboxes A clear title usually means that there's no debts or agreements associated with the house. I don't believe you can indemnify against that. Do you know what's caused the concern? Is it something like an old mortgage that there's no proof has been settled, or someone else who might have a valid ownership claim? Those two things could have drastically different timelines.

@shineysides How exciting!

@blacklilypad How are you doing? Did you decide how to proceed? We're on our fourth solicitor in six weeks...

Quick update from us...

Monday was great, our estate agent seemed to realise she'd messed up and scared the chain, and so all day was spent on calls and emails but we managed to get updates. Our buyer apologised for being MIA, and his valuation was carried out last Tuesday, so hopefully he'll get his mortgage offer any day. He then wants a valuation here. Our searches were fully back on Monday. His solicitor also sent our estate agent the outstanding enquiries - not including the form that the estate agent had worried everyone about - and we sent all the responses to those to our solicitor on Monday night ready to go over yesterday morning...

But our solicitor didn't send them over yesterday. He's new, and promised to review them and get back to me same day, but he hasn't made contact yet. I'll chase him soon. No news from our estate agent on the offer yesterday either, so I'm guessing there wasn't an update.

The chain is nervous that he has no mortgage offer, and so our sellers' estate agent is being chased daily. She thinks we have a chance of it all being okay if we can suggest exchange dates soon, as long as it's all done within September... if it can't be done this month, fourth in the chain will pull out and stay put, which means the whole thing is likely to collapse. Our seller isn't sure if he'd still sell then, but we'd need to wait for him to find somewhere else to go, and I'm due in a couple of months...

I hate chasing people and feeling like a pain, but I'm feeling a bit more positive than I was on Friday!

@boxesboxes the scenario for us (as far as we've been told) is that there is a restriction on the title deed that shouldn't be there. Apparently the land registry have confirmed it is an error and now need to do the correction, but I'm not convinced. As its the top of the chain with the issue we're reliant on third hand information. Our solicitor said if thats the scenario it should be resolved in 2 weeks, that time is up at the end of this week so we've said we'll make a decision then about what we do.
Its so frustrating!!

@Ohhgreat that really sucks. It's so hard when you're having to rely on second (third! fourth!) hand information. Do you think it's just a case of when, or is the whole chain in jeopardy? Where are you in the chain?

We're one link in the chain removed from the title issue, so can't really find out the full picture.

@boxesboxes the chain is our buyer, us, our seller, their purchase. I suspect our buyer may pull out if we aren't completed by the end of September, and to be honest we're tempted to pull out then too. If we had a clear understanding of what the issue was I think it would be different, but we don't.
What's your chain like?

We're actually in exactly the same position @Ohhgreat
I've been trying to work out what the buyer must be thinking - you think yours will pull out? But surely at this point they've sunk so much in conveyancing costs, and there's no way they'll get the £2500 SDLT relief if they start again?
As you can tell, I'm worried about them pulling out, I'm worried about the vendor pulling out due to title issues.

Will your vendor consider breaking the chain?

@boxesboxes I can't believe you're in the same position!
We've asked if our seller will break the chain - its been over a week and no word either way. We can't break the chain as we're porting our mortgage.
Have you been told anything about what the title issue is in your chain?

@Ohhgreat I'll PM you

@TakeYourFinalPosition that's sounding positive. Fingers crossed for you. It definitely sounds possible to get there by the end of September.

We haven't managed to get hold of our solicitor this week yet. I'm hoping that means she is dodging us as she is doing our work and she wants to call her with a proper update. But I think that is me being over optimistic.

TakeYourFinalPosition why did you change solicitors? Did it help or do you just have a different person to be annoyed at? haha

Thanks @blacklilypad, I hope so! The constant chasing is driving me insane, I can't concentrate on anything. Being so pregnant in the heat probably isn't helping...

None of the changes were our choice, sadly! Our original solicitor went on holiday, so we had a stand-in, who then became permanent when our original had a personal matter that meant she wouldn't return. The stand-in was then replaced by a director, who looked after our case for a week and a half, and then passed it off on Monday to a new person...

I wouldn't mind, but the new person seems to disagree with everything the original person has done, so we're now going back over old ground with everyone... while the chain gets more and more annoyed.

I really hope that your solicitor contacts you soon, that must be beyond frustrating

Thank you @TakeYourFinalPosition apparently it's a divorce, and they're trying to remove a charge from the title. They have asked to expedite the application. I've no idea how serious this is?

Our vendor has threatened to pull out as our conveyancer has been so slow which means I got a call yesterday to come in for signing today and we will complete next week.

So fingers crossed I'm out of here soon!

Good news @PlanarJaner!

We got our contract for our sale through yesterday. A step in the right direction. No update on sellers mortgage offer for their onward purchase. Was applied for last Tuesday. Should I be chasing yet?!

Thank you @Getyourarseofffthequattro!

I have never been in a chain. I have no idea when to chase what!

Ah congratulations @PlanarJaner, that sounds positive!

@boxesboxes Well divorces are fairly standard at least - if everyone is clear on who owns what, it shouldn't take too long to get that sorted. It'll be messier if the divorce isn't finalised.

@Getyourarseofffthequattro Glad you've got your contract!

We got an update on our buyer's mortgage today - valuation did take place but has been referred to the underwriters and they expect to hear back on Monday at the latest.

But it then says that they'll prepare for the "lenders side" here, which I don't quite understand... If this isn't the full mortgage application, we're never going to get it over the line in September. It's so unclear and stressful!

@Getyourarseofffthequattro I would chase and see where they are in the application process. Sometimes new mortgage offers only take days and sometimes they take weeks so it's better to know sooner rather than later.

@TakeYourFinalPosition that sounds good and bad. I don't know what they mean either. Hopefully it will just be a full offer by Monday.

We have finally gotten hold of our solicitor. Well, her assistant anyway. They only have the environmental searches back so far. I'm annoyed by this as online the council has a current turnaround time of 5 working days. It's been 4 weeks so when exactly did they apply for them?!

They are going to email us the sellers' information pack this afternoon. I'll believe it when I see it. We really want the fixture and fittings document as we want to buy some of the garden equipment but they may be including it. So we need to know where we stand so we can work out an offer if they aren't throwing it in.

@blacklilypad Eurgh that sounds frustrating!

We got our searches back quite quickly but our new solicitor decided yesterday that one is missing. God knows how they missed it... It makes you wonder, doesn't it?!

My fingers are very much crossed that you get the sellers pack later, with everything included. I can't believe how much they've messed you around.

Thanks all I am going to chase! Fingers crossed it's soon.

@TakeYourFinalPosition I'm really not sure what they mean by that?! I thought the underwriters were the last step?!

@Getyourarseofffthequattro Good luck! I'd chase too.

I have zero idea what's happening... Google suggests that perhaps he's remortgaged the first place to get the deposit for here, which I guess would mean that he's had his place valued to work out his equity... but does that mean he has to apply again for here?

I really wish the estate agent knew, or at least asked.

Finally had confirmation - very bluntly! - from our estate agent that this is just the buyer's remortgage to get the deposit, which they're hoping will be confirmed on Monday, and then they'll sort the mortgage to buy here.

I don't think there's any way that the rest of the chain will wait for this, I'm fuming to be honest, he was supposed to be a cash buyer initially...

I'm fully expecting the rest of the chain to collapse, but our seller has moved out already and might still sell to us, so we're waiting for someone to make the first move there. I don't really want to poke the bear.

We’ve finally exchanged and will complete at the end of the month!

In the meantime, we’ve decided it is unlikely that e house we agreed to buy will ever be ready (they’ve been looking for their onward house for 2 years now), and so we went to see an alternative and very different house on Tuesday. Our offer on it was accepted today.

There’s no chain, so hopefully we can move fast.

Feel a bit guilty though, because although I did love the other one (300 year old house) and DH really loved it, there were various things it needed. The new house, though smaller and needing building work, will (I think) suit us and the kids better at this time of life...