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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:
CheltenhamLady · 03/03/2022 16:07

We are exchanging tomorrow.....

Completion is not till the end of April though, as someone in the chain is in rented and has to give notice. We are fine with that.

@J417 Please don't be hard on yourself, you acted in good faith on the information given, no one can do more than that.

Starseeking · 03/03/2022 16:10

@Doubleraspberry

Astonishingly we now have 12 viewings booked in for Saturday. Even the agents seem slightly surprised. I worry that we'll end up with no offers at all, and I'll feel like we defrauded people into viewing. There are no details yet - this is just from agent ring rounds.

It sounds like you have a popular house if so many are booked in, I wouldn't worry about potentially defrauding people! I'm sure you'll get a good set of offers to choose from.

The stage I am at now, I would go and view a house based on the location and EAs description, without having received any floor plans or pictures, and have done so previously. Over the past few months I've built up a good rapport with 4 different EAs in particular, and they know what I am looking for, so they haven't bothered wasting my time with properties they know I would discount (main road, no off-street parking etc etc).

Starseeking · 03/03/2022 16:19

Eastie I've not received anything from anyone other than the one lady who emailed to say she wasn't interested in selling.

I haven't had the energy to trawl Streetview or go physically round looking roads to see who else I could send letters too on top of my full-time day job, and sorting out my 2 DC; this whole process is just so draining.

I did secretly* email my old vendors solicitor at the beginning of this week to ask if she'd be interested in moving if I increased my original offer by £10k, paid the vendors moving costs by up to £1.5k and paid the vendors moving costs by up to £1.5k. Caveat was that exchange needed to happen in 3 weeks and completion by 1 April. I didn't hear back, and the clock is ticking down, so I presume it's a no, though it was definitely worth a go.

*secretly as in I haven't told a soul except you lovely support group on here just now.

J417 · 03/03/2022 16:23

[quote ToodlesMcGee]@J417 so you're waiting for your vendor to find an onward purchase? That's not so bad. Do you have a deadline?[/quote]
I have moved on to house # 2, what I called my panic buy; It is in the area but I have to compromise a lot and paid 100k+, luckily our mortgage adviser said we could get a larger mortgage. I keep having doubt about the house ......

I am very sad that I am putting my family thru this

Time line:
House 1
1 and 2 Viewings : 1/6/2021, 15/6/2021
Offer accepted : 1/7/2021
15/8/2021: they said they have made a couple of offers and had other viewings and more houses are coming on the market
Hubby wanted to offer on 1 chain-free house, I didn't offer on any of the available 3 REAL chain-free properties. The 3 all completed.

15/9/2021: All houses are sold in my area, vendor's EA went radio silence after repeated attempt to contact. When I managed to get thru to him, he said he will get back to me but never did.

House 2:
Offer accepted but after survey is done, I was told I am suddenly in a chain, vendor said it is a chain-free probate, we shall see. the waiting game begins...
I felt so stupid not buying the chain-free vacant property....

J417 · 03/03/2022 18:00

@Siouxtse1, @EmmaH2022, @ToodlesMcGee, @Starseeking, @Eastie77Returns, @cheltenhamLady, @Doubleraspberry

Thank you everyone again for your kind words. I have copied it out and read it out aloud to help me cope with this.

I am very sorry if I released too much negative energy. I felt I was sucked into a black hole, keep circulating the thoughts of what-if
GP referred psychologist and hopefully it will get me out of it.

Sometimes I felt I am so weak, but I have to face my feelings of regrets, sadness, and disappointment in myself.

It's just a house, but emotionally it is also a permanent home for me that I am hoping to build my life in it. I am so sad.

I have "handed over" the house hunting to dear husband and called it a pause now. Though I did go to RM every now and then.

Alrightqueenie · 04/03/2022 14:26

Just had estate agent calling to say we're ready to go live next wk after the photos are taken on Mon Shock
It feels a bit too real now and I'm panicking like you all because I can't find anything! There's hardly anything in our price range in the area we want.

Doubleraspberry · 04/03/2022 14:50

@Alrightqueenie good luck!

We've got 13 people viewing our place tomorrow, and it'll go on RM (probably with a price reduction) on Monday if no one wants it! Just had an email from the agents managing the rental of it offering to sell it for 0.5% but as they failed to get in touch with us for several weeks after we mentioned putting it on the market, they have lost their chance.

We viewed a couple of houses this morning. Second viewing on the house round the corner and it's just not right I don't think. Viewed another house which was amazing, but not in the right place. We've decided not to look to buy until we've sold and can be chain-free flexible buyers as anything we really love is likely to be competitive. Obviously that means we'll start looking when there's nothing on the market later in the year!

dubyalass · 04/03/2022 17:09

More coming on in my area, but I still don't want to view any of it! Too many compromises. An absolutely beautiful house came on but it's at the top of my budget and will likely go for well over that, so I haven't even booked a viewing. It seems to be mostly large three beds coming on, which are too big for me, so I'm hoping all the families will go for those and leave me with the less suitable smaller three beds.

RidingMyBike · 04/03/2022 17:23

What a week. Yesterday we viewed a house that appeared on RM on Mon - it's very extended, has terrifying 'paddle steps' up to loft conversion but we can't really better the location so we made an offer this morning and it's been accepted.

Had scanned ID and proof of funding ready to go so it's been taken off the market and tomorrow's viewings cancelled. Trying to do everything to avoid being gazumped!

Hard to believe a week ago we were in despair that nothing would ever appear on RM and now suddenly offer accepted and scrabbling around to organise a surveyor.

It's chain-free as vendor has a place to move into a retirement complex so fingers crossed this goes smoothly...

RidingMyBike · 04/03/2022 17:29

In case it's useful to anyone - they had 3 viewings on first day, none today and some booked for tomorrow. We offered 0.9% over asking price just in case anyone else offered asking price and also asked for it to be removed from market. TBH I half expected vendor to still want to go ahead with tomorrow's viewings whilst they 'considered' offer.

We did emphasise our chain-free position and that we worked locally and wanted a family home so maybe that helped? Vendor elderly and has disabled son so possibly just wanted everything as straightforward as possible?

EmmaH2022 · 04/03/2022 17:33

Congratulations Riding

It's a weird sensation isn't it. Showing the bank statements etc.

I had to google paddle steps. I'm think I'm too dyspraxic to use those!

dubyalass · 04/03/2022 18:07

Congratulations Riding! Hope it all goes smoothly for you.

RidingMyBike · 04/03/2022 20:06

Thank you! I think it helped we had all the ID, mortgage etc documents scanned and ready to upload plus solicitor lined up.

I'd never seen anything like paddle steps before so it was a bit of a shock! Couldn't believe they are legal for fire regs etc as it looked like climbing a cliff face. We don't need to use the loft conversion though so just planning to use it as a glorified boarded loft with slightly more than a ladder (TBH a ladder might be easier to climb!)

EmmaH2022 · 04/03/2022 20:20

Riding I did that too. Tbh I don't see how anyone can not, even outside this fast moving market.

Re the stairs, that's interesting, I was imagining someone would be living in the loft and dealing with those stairs a few times a day, carrying bed linen etc.

RidingMyBike · 04/03/2022 20:34

It's a bit bizarre as two of the three people who live in the house are disabled so there are ground floor/wet room/wheelchair accessible rooms on ground floor. The third was v elderly and died a while ago. So who would have used the paddle stairs?!

EmmaH2022 · 04/03/2022 20:39

Riding is it a bedroom up there? I guess whoever put the stairs in had someone in the family who used it.

I have only seen the pictures I found online but I can't figure out how it is considered space saving.

Doubleraspberry · 04/03/2022 20:43

So excited for you @RidingMyBike! Good tip to get things scanned.

RidingMyBike · 04/03/2022 21:00

@EmmaH2022 the stair treads are closer together as they only come halfway across the width, so they climb higher in a shorter length.

It had a double bed up there. I have no idea how they got the mattress up (unless it was one of those ones that roll up?!).

newnameforthehousehunt · 04/03/2022 21:05

@RidingMyBike congratulations! This has given me hope that this could one day be us, after weeks of barely anything even coming onto rightmove…. How exciting for youSmile

Eastie77Returns · 04/03/2022 21:14

Congrats Riding :) Hoping this all goes smoothly from hereon in. The loft staircase sounds perplexing to say the least!

The bank texted to say they will release funds early next week so hopefully I complete without any issues. Although the EA informs me that the vendor “anticipates some difficulty” leaving the property exactly at the required time (noon) due to some issue with removals and she is rallying her neighbours to helpHmm. I just nodded and said fine as long as we get the keys at some point in the afternoon since are not planning to move in straightaway. I’m honestly not surprised and I have no more fight left in me at this point!

Eastie77Returns · 04/03/2022 21:22

@CheltenhamLady

We are exchanging tomorrow.....

Completion is not till the end of April though, as someone in the chain is in rented and has to give notice. We are fine with that.

@J417 Please don't be hard on yourself, you acted in good faith on the information given, no one can do more than that.

@CheltenhamLady - hopefully Exchange took place today?
J417 · 05/03/2022 03:49

Sorry, I have to vent it out, hopefully the last time ...

3am in the morning, this has been happening for a month already

I am woken up, by my dream, where I time travelled back to 16/8/2021

2 emails appeared in my inbox:

  1. From EA-K, on a house that I recently viewed : The vendor is buying a new built, are you interested in making an offer?
  2. From EA-B, from the vendor's EA who has my accepted offer: The vendor has made a couple of offers but not accepted, they have 2 viewings booked this week and more houses are coming to market end of the month

After reading the emails, I suddenly gave up replying to EA-K with my offer. That house exchanged last Oct and just completed. I saw the old owner moving out.

RidingMyBike · 05/03/2022 07:24

Hope you got some more sleep after that @J417!

Did you get to exchange @CheltenhamLady?

Good grief, what does 'anticipates some difficulty' mean in the context of moving out for a certain time @Eastie77Returns?! I could understand if it was last August and the removal companies and man n vans were booked solid but now?!

Thank you @newnameforthehousehunt we were a bit worried that pouncing on the first one that was a possibility would mean missing something that comes on later. In earlier markets we'd probably have waited before making an offer but it's all going so fast we decided against. No guarantees that something suitable would come on later! I would have preferred a house that looked nicer from the outside (but then who stands outside looking at their own house?!) and this one is rather sad, tired and dog-smelling inside. But that means we can turn it into what we want. I hope!

Eastie77Returns · 05/03/2022 09:09

Riding I have no idea what it means! In fairness, having met the vendor the week she comes across as very nice albeit slightly chaotic and I think she has been really struggling. She said her family let her down and she has been moving and decluttering all their stuff on her own for 6 weeks. Whilst we were there DP went into the loft to move the last of her boxes for her.

Doubleraspberry · 05/03/2022 10:43

I assume it just means she reckons she can’t get organised enough to be out by midday. @Eastie77Returns sorry, I should remember, but she’s not in a chain, is she? At least she’s being upfront about it. My friend has had to get a house clearance firm in to get rid of all the stuff the previous owner left behind.

Halfway through the block viewings this morning a call from the agents saying everyone is asking about converting the loft. You can’t really, so this is the reason no one will buy our house. Gloom.