How long has your house purchase taken [so far]??

[dubyalass]

I had an offer accepted in mid-June; no chain. I've had my mortgage offer through and the survey done. There is an issue with ownership of an outbuilding so the vendors are sorting that out with the Land Registry. Searches not done yet but unlikely to be anything tricky there.

I'm hoping that I might be in by the end of October but realistically who knows. I've no idea how long the LR are taking to process casework at the moment. Once that's sorted it should all be pretty quick.

Well done OP. We managed to exchange as well. I still went to the viewing despite the fact the entire morning I was busy signing contracts, transferring money, etc. The view on the EA’s face when the penny dropped was priceless when he realised who I was. I did say I was in The process of buying and he finished my sentence saying the vendors were taking too long. He then suggested I spoke to my EA so they can put pressure on the vendor. I explained my reasons for starting to look for other properties, and in the end he asked where I was buying, to which I replied” down the road”. The look on his face was absolutely priceless as he may have realised who I was.
if 2 days ago i was so f’ing annoyed with the vendors, now I’m thinking of sending an Xmas card and a bottle of champagne to their door. Amazing how this process can make you feel!

Ah, congratulations MissTangerine! I threatened to start looking at other houses and that seemed to get things moving, albeit briefly until something else went wrong!

Had a text from my lender to say that funds will arrive on 3rd Jan. Also got my completion statement through which wasn't the total horror show I was expecting, partly thanks to the reduction in stamp duty. Almost there.

Congratulations @dubyalass brilliant news you've exchanged!

Thanks! Can't wait to be in now!

Oh wow, amazing news!

I was on the moving threads for so long earlier this year with you, you've had such a horrendous time of it, thank goodness you can see the finish line in sight.

Have a wonderful Christmas and look forward to moving in the first week of the new year

Congratulations @MissTangerine great news

Last day of work today for my solicitor. Will I or won’t I hear anything?!

We could get together a MN Massive and stand outside your solicitors singing Mariah Carey's Christmas song (complete with wailing) which ought to concentrate their minds. Anyone else up for it?

Ha ha ha @FuzzyPuffling brilliant idea but I’m not sure anything is going to work now!!

Well disappointingly but not surprisingly we’ve heard nothing from the solicitor about the outstanding form and when we might be able to complete.
We’ve tried to get hold of the solicitor today but seems she has started her Christmas break without bothering to update us either way as they’ve said she’s out of office.
DH has spoken to receptionist who has said they will get her assistant to call back but not hopeful this will happen or if she will be able to tell us anything.
looks like an uncertain Christmas for us then and no news until 3rd Jan when they open up again.

I just can’t stand the stress and uncertainty and knowing that it’s going to be 11 days before we even hear anything is horrible.

my buyers are starting to get twitchy now as I think they don’t believe this form will ever arrive and they’ve been ready to exchange for weeks now

need to try and feel Christmassy for the sake of my family!

That's so rubbish @RM2013 , I'd be seething. The last time I bought, mine also went off for a fortnight at Christmas without informing me.

I'd also happily join in with the Carey Caterwauling if it gets results.

Thanks @Starseeking - such a relief!

My buyers solicitor left about three quarters of the way through. But actually this was a good thing, as despite having double the workload, her replacement was a lot better.

I hope everyone is having a relaxing Christmas break.

@dubyalass hows the packing going?

im waiting patiently for the solicitors to re open on 3rd Jan to see if the flipping form has arrived. If it has I will be pushing for early exchange and completion week beginning 9th Jan. We’ve had all the moving boxes delivered currently all flat packed in the garage as I am too superstitious to pack yet

I've been away all week so it's exactly as I left it! 😂 I have ordered packing boxes though. Now trying to find someone to actually move my stuff. I've also started transferring deposit money over to the solicitors.

My completion statement wasn't nearly as scary as I'd expected - thought there would be additional costs for all the title shenanigans but no. Could have done without the extra £500 in indemnity policies but hey ho.

Fingers still crossed for you for the 3rd.

I thought it would be good to read this thread but it’s just awful seeing how long it’s taking everyone. Our house move continues. We’ve been in multiple chains that have collapsed and our house move planned for early Dec fell through. We’ve since found our DREAM house that we never thought we’d ever find and can’t quite believe it’ll happen this time. We’d compromised massively on every other house we’ve offered on so if this pulls off, at least it’ll have been worthy it on a way ha! Surveys done, mortgage through. Awaiting enquiries but we’ve done SO many for various buyers that surely this will be quick now??? Who even knows at this point. Fingers crossed we will eventually move.

Fingers crossed for you, LimeSupper! The whole process is atrocious.

@RM2013
Oh god, same situation with us. Still no exchange and solicitors closed for Christmas. A few days before they closed we were told final checks being done of the files but we should be ready to exchange. The day they closed for Christmas, had a call to say our buyers mortgage offer wasn't even in yet?! Literally WTF. At this stage?????

Happy new year all and hope everyone managed to have a relaxing Christmas.

I managed to try and forget about the whole situation for a little while over Christmas but today my anxiety is back with a vengeance. I’ve managed to convince myself that our buyers will pull out. We are so close. Literally just waiting for the dreaded form to arrive and then we are ready to discuss completion dates.

did some half hearted paperwork and drawer sorting today with DH but can’t bring myself to pack anything in case it falls through 😢

We're still waiting!! So fucked off! Our mortgage deal finished on 18th dec so our next payment has increased by £500!!!!!! 😭😭😭😭

@Blueuggboots its such a frustrating process. We aren’t on a fixed deal at the moment and our mortgage payments have increased. Are you close to exchanging?

I just despair of it all. Like you @RM2013 we are so close but feel so far. I'm not terrified our buyers won't get their mortgage offer. It's the last thing we are waiting for

@RM2013, we were expecting to exchange on 16th or 21st dec....still waiting!!! ☹️☹️☹️

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Hopefully 2023 will be the year those of us still waiting (finally) move.

V pleased to hear you’ve exchanged @dubyalass, good luck on Thursday! Hope it all goes smoothly.

@RM2013 it’s awful how slow everything is, there doesn't seem to be any reason for it either and it’s particularly galling when you’re paying for a service. I’m sure your buyers are just as eager to complete so they won’t pull out.

We got confirmation on Thursday that our mortgage offer has been adjusted down to reflect our reduced offer and reissued with six more months at the same rate!! 🥳 the POA is issued bust MIA in the post so we’re going to start getting on everyone’s case again on Tuesday.

The estate agent has marked our house as no longer on the market on Rightmove too (8 months after we had our offer accepted) so I’m taking that as a good sign. I’m currently playing around with designs for our new kitchen because I’m feeling a bit more optimistic about it actually happening.

Thanks @rrrrrreatt - I am a bit concerned that we only have three days to tie everything up when we're back at work but my solicitors said it was fine so I'm trying not to think about it too much! I've had a text from the lender to say the money will be with the solicitors on the 3rd, and I've sent over all my deposit money. I need to print out the SDLT form and sign it. Beyond that there's nothing I can do but wait 😬😬😬

@dubyalass the wait is awful. I’m sure they will tie everything up on time - keeping everything crossed for you

@Blueuggboots yep similar for us solicitor had suggested completion Dec 21st but it never happened due to an outstanding form. I hope the solicitors have all had a long enough break to feel refreshed enough to be on top of all the exchanges and completions waiting to happen

@nellyelloe our buyers are ready to exchange but it’s our purchase that’s holding everything up. Im terrified that they’ve changed their mind over the Christmas holidays. We do communicate directly with our buyers on our online EA portal as the post sales support from the EA is non existent. I messaged them yest to say happy new year and to update that we will be chasing like mad on Tues to exchange if the form has arrived but they’ve not even read the message. Cue anxiety spiral that they’re going to pull out

@rrrrrreatt great news on the mortgage offer being adjusted and the rate extended. Fingers crossed it’s not too long a wait for you

@RM2013 I feel literally exactly the same. Our buyer has my number and he once text me asking something which I replied to. I then text him with an update from my solicitors about a month back and he didn't reply. I was in a state all weekend!