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Original poster

Thread 2: "Anyone not being picky - and STILL can't find anything?"

998 replies

Momniscient · 10/01/2022 18:38

Just spotted the first one is full Shock so have set up thread two so we can keep talking with minimal delay. Hoping that tagging works regardless ...

RightMove addicts, and serial refreshers of other property websites, share your troubles!

Posters from last two pages in the thread and OP:
@PessimisticOptimist
@Eastie77Returns
@RidingMyBike
@beguilingeyes
@DanisEndo
@EmmaH2022
@dubyalass
@BennyBean
@ByeByeMissAmericanPie
@areyouhavingagiraffe
@CheltenhamLady
@doubleraspberry
@YukoandHiro
@TulipsfromAmsterdam
@MummyJ12
@starseeking
@GoinSouth
@MiracleBaby2022

Original thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/4346330-Anyone-not-being-picky-and-STILL-cant-find-anything

OP posts:
J417 · 05/02/2022 08:38

@Eastie77Returns - hope everything is smooth with your return

@Starseeking

@Siouxtse1 - good to know what's your non-negotiable
As a FTB, in hindsight I should be more clear about my non-negotiable so that I didn't waste time to wait on my dream house never-form-chain and move on quickly to other complete chain properties. I also got carried away by cosmetics rather than my actual needs. Lesson learnt, albeit quite expensive

J417 · 05/02/2022 08:39

@Starseeking

Thanks *@Eastie77Returns and @Siouxtse1*. I think my vendor is again feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing (selling her decades old home and buying a flat). I'm so nervous that she's going to pull out and instead decide to stay put until the end of her days.

I'm really not in a strong position to say I'll pull out if my vendor keeps faffing, though her onward purchase should be able to insist she sticks to 18 February as completion date. Looking round, the new, similar house which has come on the market that I was thinking about viewing (in not as good a location as mine) is priced at £60k more than mine. I can't afford that, so I'll be priced out of this collapses. As we know all too well on this thread, it's slim pickings out there!

Felt the same here, vendor have upper hand now as if the sales collapse we will be priced out ......
J417 · 05/02/2022 08:49

[quote Siouxtse1]**@j417* and @Thethreeofusandpooch*

Well if you can't trust in your vendors and buyers (and you probably can't really, 100% because who ever really knows how someone else will act?) you are just going to have to trust that what you need to happen will happen.

If it's the right place for now, it will happen. And if there's a big nasty problem hiding there waiting to show someone a lesson, it's not a lesson you need to learn yet (or hopefully ever!).Your surveyor and conveyancing team are qualified to sniff out the house issues. If you think of anything that might be relevant, you can get them to check on your behalf. Let them take the slack for those worries- it's what you pay them for!

Every time you buy or sell a house, you are taking a leap of faith. It's a bit scary, but the alternative is staying in the same place forever. There's a world out there and not everyone in in is going to treat you badly. Some people have actually already realised the world doesn't just revolve around them and they aren't the only party in the transaction. Those are the people you want to deal with. Eventually, they will come![/quote]
@Siouxtse1
This morning I felt suffocated wondering why the sales of memo haven't issued yesterday after my offer is accepted.

I tried to read the above and calm me down, well said!

Thethreeofusandpooch · 05/02/2022 09:14

We had our mortgage offer issued on Thursday. Valuation came back fine. Our buyer is meeting with their lender next week to get theirs sorted. Our vendor has found an onwards that could work and has put an offer in. Things seem to be moving…keeping our fingers firmly crossed

Siouxtse1 · 05/02/2022 10:24

@J417
Memo of sale often takes a few days to come through, don't panic. Don't forget late Thursdays and Fridays are often taken up with exchange/ completion work.

My non-negotiable is having private access. No shared driveways or bits of garden and all the potential for neighbour disputes it brings. We had a shared access at our last property. We owned it and we maintained it. We'd tell our neighbours what we planned and if they had any money at the time, they'd give us a contribution/ buy a bag of materials. We didn't really expect it because they didn't have a lot, despite it being written into the covenant. If they didn't contribute, we'd still do the work because it needed doing.

If someone else owns it, you have no control over when trees are cut, how driveways are maintained etc. And while you can ask nicely and offer to help/contribute, many people are living in/going into a period of financial hardship. Corners get cut/ work just doesn't get done because they are prioritising their immediate needs (maybe just heating and eating). It will come back to bite them on the bum if it lasts indefinitely, but they're victims of circumstance, it could happen to any of us.

But, I'd rather go into a situation with my eyes open. And if I can avoid it altogether, I will...

EmmaH2022 · 05/02/2022 11:09

Great to hear people moving forward.

Star what a nightmare, I really feel for you.

Eastie77Returns · 05/02/2022 15:01

So our landlady is visiting next week to carry out a 6 month inspection and oversee some repairs. When we moved in last year she was aware that I had just sold and we were house hunting but I haven’t mentioned anything to her since and I am planning to follow the golden rule of not giving notice until exchange actually happens.

However I’m wondering if I should at least give a hint regarding our planned purchase as she might find it a bit strange if I say absolutely nothing now and then give notice to quit in 3 weeks when we (hopefully) exchange. The issue is she is a family friend otherwise I wouldn’t be too bothered about not being totally transparent. We have a 6 month break clause which means we can now give 2 months notice and leave. She did say at the beginning of our tenancy that 1 month would be ok and as we are in a very popular area I think she’d find new tenants very quickly. I kind of need guidance on the best way to let her know we may be giving notice very soon but without causing a situation where she immediately starts looking for new tenants, just in case the purchase goes tits up!

RidingMyBike · 05/02/2022 15:23

Is she likely to find out anyway if she's a family friend? If it was a strictly professional relationship I'd stick to not saying anything until you've exchanged and then expecting to give two months' notice but I can see it could be awkward if she finds out from someone else!

EmmaH2022 · 05/02/2022 16:33

Eastie I would keep quiet till you give notice. She knows you won't stay forever, it's fine - I think better - to treat it as you would any other rental contract.

Starseeking · 05/02/2022 16:58

@J417 For my last purchase, the memo of sale was provided the next day. For my current purchase, it took 3 weeks. A few days is standard, especially if any of the parties now need to appoint solicitors.

@Thethreeofusandpooch sounds like your purchase is moving along as expected, good to hear it happens smoothly in some cases!

@Siouxtse1 I agree. I don't want shared anything when buying a house.

Thanks @EmmaH2022. I just want the whole thing to be over with now.

@Eastie77Returns I wouldn't give notice until you have exchanged, and have an agreed completion date. From your perspective it'll probably be fine to have a slight overlap, but a nightmare scenario if you ended up with a gap (due to giving notice early and new tenants moving in). Also, at the last place I rented before buying, our landlady sent us a long email ranting about why we hadn't mentioned we were thinking of buying, and we should have discussed our plans with her before offering on our house Confused I'd only mention it at the point you absolutely have to, as people can behave very strangely in these situations.

RidingMyBike · 05/02/2022 19:35

Viewed another one today - 5 bed semi that's been extended up, sideways and backwards! It's in a fantastic location for us but needs a lot more doing to it than was apparent from the pics. We had guessed about the state of the bathrooms (funnily enough the EA hadn't included a pic of the comedy metre square but very deep bath!) but there were signs of leaks around many windows and the kitchen was very worn and falling apart. The garden room that was mentioned as a feature but minus photos (!) turned out to be rammed full of stuff and showing signs of extreme dilapidation so would probably need demolishing.

I liked it, but DH thought bedrooms a bit small!

But it's not like there's anything else on the market...

EA was v vague about the possibility of more coming on after half term but said they'd had a flurry of so much activity in the New Year (I must admit I failed to notice this flurry!).

EmmaH2022 · 05/02/2022 20:41

Riding was it one of those fashionable "short in length but deep" tubs?

RidingMyBike · 05/02/2022 23:00

I'd never seen anything like it! It actually looked quite difficult to climb into

EmmaH2022 · 06/02/2022 01:13

Did it look like this?

tinyurl.com/45mjbk7f

EmmaH2022 · 06/02/2022 01:14

.??

EmmaH2022 · 06/02/2022 01:15

I just tried to post a link to one of those baths and it showed up as hidden

RidingMyBike · 06/02/2022 08:14

From the age of the house/sale circs (yet another downsize as could no longer manage stairs/garden) it's definitely not a modern fashionable bath. Given the sale circs I also doubt it's been used in ages as I'd have struggled to climb into it, so goodness knows about someone infirm?!

I've also made a note about this EA - first time we've viewed one of theirs. Their description of the house didn't match up - none of those phrases about 'putting your stamp on it', 'in need of modernisation' etc which was definitely the case!

Doubleraspberry · 06/02/2022 08:45

Having seen the listing, I totally agree. It looks pretty modern.

RidingMyBike · 06/02/2022 15:42

@Doubleraspberry I was quite surprised to discover it was another elderly person downsizing sale (which was very obvious at the viewing!) as it doesn't look at all like that from the pics online!

Doubleraspberry · 06/02/2022 15:57

No, it really doesn’t. Maybe the odd chair but otherwise quite modern looking.

areyouhavingagiraffe · 07/02/2022 12:09

Had a viewing at 4pm today. But have just cancelled. Drove past a few times at the weekend and on a busy road, with a bus stop right in front of the house. It was traffic jammed up at the weekend.

dubyalass · 07/02/2022 16:51

Bloody estate agents. There are several properties in my search area that have been on for ages. I was in town earlier and happened to walk past said agents, had a quick peer at the houses for sale in the windows. All but one of the properties have SSTC on them, yet are still available on RM. Why is it so hard for them to update RM? I mean, I'm not interested in any of them, but surely they must spend time fielding enquiries about them, why not just spend that time updating RM instead??

I could probably just phrase this question as "Estate agents: why?"

Paddingtonthebear · 07/02/2022 19:38

Those of you still looking, how many properties have you viewed so far? We’ve seen loads now 🙈, but over a 10 month period

RidingMyBike · 07/02/2022 20:14

5 properties viewed in nearly two months of looking. Minus a couple of weeks for Covid isolating.

The house we sold last year is still on RM as 'under offer'!

Eastie77Returns · 08/02/2022 12:39

I'm not exactly still looking since I've had an offer accepted but I'm still keeping an eye on the market in case things go wrong. I viewed about 20 properties across roughly 5 months last year. Mainly in the summer as the market completely dried up by October and has yet to recover.

Giraffe - sorry the latest property was also a right off due to the busy road and bus stop. I think I could potentially deal with a main road outside my house but a bus stop right in front of it would be a no for me. I think it's less of an issue in a quiet area but I'm in a busy part of London and there would be non-stop flow of people congregating.

@Starseeking I saw your update on the buyer's rollcall thread I'm too scared to join. Goodness, I hope your vendor has re-emerged? This is not what you need. Could she have taken a turn for the worse health-wise? Keeping everything crossed for you, I'm completely invested in your move!

I have now returned the signed contract and mortgage deed to my solicitor. We are still down to the last two enquiries which in theory are very straightforward but seem to be taking ages: details of the extension on a neighbouring house (the neighbour gave the vendor written notification and my solicitor has asked for a copy) and a query about a sewer. I drove past the house yesterday and saw her skip is almost full so that is a good sign in terms of her moving....but I'm now worried she is going to just leave the skip there when she goes!

My dad has unexpectedly offered to give me the money to cover Stamp Duty. Does anyone know if this is something I have to mention to my solicitor re source of funds..? I don't want to complicate or add delays but also don't want to run foul of any fund declaration rules etc.