chain of 4 - help!

[Thatcrazycatlady]

Hi all,

so we had an offer accepted 19th July, we are FTB, not selling, have mortgage in place, searches all complete etc, we have also signed contracts & sent back to solicitor - we have 3 properties in the chain, us FTB not selling, our sellers, their sellers and then the last is the top of chain

I think for our purchase things have progressed quickly in 5 weeks to have mortgage done searches etc, I called the EA yesterday to ask where everyone else is & she said there are some enquiries at top of chain she is due to chase the top of the chain this week but needs time as it is a short week from Bank Holiday...

I have read so many horror stories people pulling out, things falling through, we was told 8-12 weeks is timescale for things to be done so I know I am a bit impatient being at week 5 etc but just wondered has anyone else been in a chain this size or bigger and had success? I am fearing the worst case scenario, I am also heavily pregnant so in an ideal world wanted to be in before the baby comes :/

at this point do we try and push for some kind of estimate exchange date or would that be further down the line?
Is it just the EA that we chase for updates?

Thanks!

I think you are being impatient.

There maybe issues with surveys, that need checking, there maybe documents to find, searches etc - even some solicitors are slow to process and take too much work.
4 is a small chain - what’s the person at the top doing?

You need to chill. A chain of 4 is the average, maybe less than average!

It'll take around 4-6 months.

Further to my original post I forgot to say the house we are buying originally was sold STC back in March but the buyer had to pull out so went on market again thatts where we came in, so the other parties involved in this chain have already been doing the processes since before March so just not sure why we are being told there are enquires at top of chain, surely these would have been dealt with but then again I guess searches in each borough differ with timescales so maybe the top of the chain searches took longer I dont know

hello @ThisisCollie2022 that's longer than I thought, we are so desperate to get out of our place, we now have pest issue so even more desperate to move. I will just have to hold tight then. Not sure why EA were like, oh you will definitely be in by September... how would they know

Estate agents wouldn't know. The only people who know are the conveyancers involved. And the conveyancers can't read the minds of local authority searches or banks.

Estate agents will only ever tell you what you want to hear to make sure you don't change your mind (they want their commission ASAP!!)

Fingers crossed it moves swiftly on for you.

I've never moved in less than 3 months. You need to relax a bit. The system is rubbish but you can't change it so you just have to go with it.

@ThisisCollie2022 that is very true yes, thank you :)

Ha, you are very impatient. When I was a FTB it took 4 months (chain of 4).
At 5 weeks rest yourself. Just because your searches are completed doesn't mean the top of the chain have plus the very top may still need to find a place to purchase

yes true, I am a control freak so when it comes to something like this that I have no control over drives me a bit mad haha

I'm a control freak too. I totally get it. Good luck op :)

If I were you, I would be hoping to move by Christmas!

The fastest I've ever moved was 3 months from offer to completion and that was with no chain either side.

Welcome to the joys of buying property in the UK, the truth is its now completely out of your hands, anyone can pull out at any time and things do get held up/delayed. I'd say you'd do well to get in by December, maybe have that as your target 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Good luck, try not to stress about it there's literally nothing you can do other than make sure you do all the bits you get sent promptly.