Buyers/Sellers Exchange waiting room

[spidershavetoomanyknees]

Currently waiting for exchange, stuck in a never-ending loop of "there's been a couple more enquiries higher up the chain" and "we're nearly there now". Wondering if there's anyone else who would like to join me here in the waiting room of doom to vent into the void.

Next train for Exchange (line terminates at Completion) is currently delayed and they'd like to apologise for the delay.

@Allfurcoatandnoknickers i wouldn't worry about a self-employed person waiting for ages for a mortgage... that's fairly typical! Someone else in our chain last year waited I think three months for their mortgage to come through

Hurrah @StillNiceCardigan! I think the buying process that bring out the worst in people - it's such a stressful time. I don't think our EA is getting the best version of me at the moment, but I think we've been exceedingly patient so far so it's justified! 😃

There have been mutterings of completing next Friday but no news on whether enquiries at the bottom of the chain have been answered/satisfied so I won’t hold my breath. We are already a month on from original suggested dates so hopefully it is actually going to happen soon.

Ahh thanks that's really reassuring! It will have been around 3 months so let's hope it won't be too much longer!

Oh no! Are they pulling out or trying to negotiate a lower price? Cheeky f#ckers at this stage!

No idea anymore. I’ve not slept for days

So our shitty buyers have had their bluff called twice trying to wangle thousands off...

They suddenly decided just when we started to talk about exchanging to read the survey and start freaking out about the loft firebreak wall not going all the way up (survey had been done months ago) - so we didn't offer a discount and just got the damned thing fixed (perks of having a builder living next door).

So then they came to do a "quick pre-exchange look around" - were here a full hour and opened every fucking cupboard in the place... and suddenly started flipping about a blown double glazing pane which had been seen by the surveyor and by themselves on the viewing... again requesting a discount and threatening to pull out as the "market is now more favourable" - so we got some quotes - for around £100 (small pane) and sent them off - and all of a sudden when we're talking about a £100 off and not thousands - they've become more cooperative and agreed a completion date. Will believe it when the exchange goes ahead as they have been utter turds going right up to the deadline but bloody hell I'm really fucking ill with it now.

@CoffeeWithCheese sounds stressful. It’s awful that no one is tied in till exchange and you are vulnerable to your buyers whims. We ended up sandwiched between an unreasonable vendor and pushy buyers which was awful.

Our vendor wants to hand the keys over to us personally on Friday and I really don’t want to talk him at all.

Hi again, I left the thread when our chain collapsed but I'm back with a query as I've never had this happen before and hoping someone can help me understand what is going on.

We were in the position of accepting an offer on our house and had an offer accepted on the house we wanted when our buyers buyer pulled out, our vendors had taken their house off the market when they accepted our offer but when the chain broke they put it back on the market. We took this to mean we were no longer buying it so as they had messed us about from the start we were mightily pissed off and fed up with the whole process and decided to take ours off too and do some more renovations with a view to marketing again when the market picked up.

Last week our EA who was selling our house rang me to say that our vendors were asking if we would consider buying their house again, as they had messed us about previously and knowing that our buyers were having trouble selling their house we said no. Today our sellers EA rang us to ask why were had taken our house off the market and our buyers still wanted to buy our house.

Even if we said we still wanted the house we were previously going to buy and our buyers still wanted ours we would be in the same position of waiting for our buyers to sell which is going to be difficult as they are getting no interest.

So my question is this, are the EA's trying to push us back into buying and selling when we have explained the situation and are they both being out of order and should back off and leave us alone.

Sorry this was so long and confusing.

@frustratednomad is there a bit of paperwork missing or does your solicitor from before need to send an official "yup we're out" message? Sounds to me like maybe there's been a communication screw up somewhere.

If your previous buyers managed to sell, would you reaccept their offer on yours and equally would you re-offer on the original house you wanted? I suspect that maybe your original vendors have discovered they won't sell again quickly/have realised it's a faff, and so were hoping your buyers would sell again quickly and it could all return to how things were.

If you're certain you don't want to buy that house again (if everyone below sold) then you'll need to send a definite "sorry not interested, no way, toodloo, good luck".

If that's right and you've explained this very clearly already and the EA is pushing then yes they're out of order. But it sounds like it might be that they're pushing because they think it's a case of waiting for your buyers to sell again and everything can restart.

My thoughts come from being in the position of receiving a phonecall that was essentially "your buyers' buyer has pulled out but they're back on the market and they still want your house. But we don't know how long it'll take so you'd be within your rights to relist and if the original people sell then they have first dibs but if someone else proceedable comes along and offers then they're out". So I wonder if your vendors had a very similar call, and relisted but really want you back.

God it's like teenage relationships. Flashbacks!

@CoffeeWithCheese that's hilarious tbh. Sounds like they're not very handy and the idea of fixing things is not on their radar! Imagine thinking replacing a blown windowpane cost thousands. Blimey. So you're back on track! Hurrah!

@spidershavetoomanyknees our vendors are known for making things difficult and their house has been on and off the market several times, I'm sure it's not always their fault but they haven't made it easy for us at all so we have reservations about continuing especially as our buyers are struggling to get any interest in their house. Having said that if our buyers were able to get another buyer who was ready to go right away (first time buyer for instance) then we would be happy to go ahead with selling to them but I don't think that's likely as their house is beyond the price most FTB's could afford.

Just feel awful for our buyers as none of this is their fault but I feel we are being pushed into a situation of waiting for it all to go wrong again.

Maybe I need to speak to the EA again so she can fully explain where everyone stands, AAARGH!

@frustratednomad I’d speak to the EA so they can set out wants going on. We had quite a few ”wrong” messages passed on to us that had lost the real explanation along the way.

@StillNiceCardigan it doesn't make it easy when we are talking to two different EA's who don't seem to speak to each other.

Just heard we are unlikely to complete this week. Bottom of the chain is difficult to contact apparently and is suddenly saying they never agreed to this Friday. Don't know if that's true having never communicated with them directly. I am trying not to think that the worst is going to happen (they pull out) because I genuinely think I might have a nervous breakdown. Maybe they're just genuinely disorganised? Who knows.

This sucks for everyone.

We were apparently due to exchange today but so far - utter silence apart from a "we'll be in touch when everyone's ready" from our solicitors... so I'm wondering what the buyers from hell found to wibble on about over the weekend. I can't book much into work for fear of having to rearrange my entire bloody diary, so it's crapppy (with three ps)

My pre exchange viewing went ahead and the buyers are happy with everything- phew! My EA has been told that they wish to complete this Friday but as far as I’m aware this hasn’t been confirmed by the solicitor at the bottom of the chain dealing with my buyer’s buyer. Last I heard there were outstanding queries with the management company. So no indication one way or another that it will happen this week. I am so worn down with the waiting!

Still nothing on ours. We have a good line of communication with the buyer and their conveyancer isn't responding to them yet (they've chased for a week already!). I'd imagine the revised mortgage offers will hit later this week so that conveyancer will need to revise the contract figures downward slightly and reissue. They should also then send notices for when the exchanges should occur and facilitate the deposits. That doesn't sound like a ton of work, but this person is only 4 days a week and presumably overloaded. They technically have never confirmed if we satisfied their enquiries, but they've had a month to respond. Will be royally angry if they ask for clarification now!

I know it varies from local authority to local authority but how long are peoples searches taking at the moment?

@TeaChocKitKat

Our buyer's conveyancer ordered their searches right at the end of November and had everything back and in a report the week before Christmas.

@TeaChocKitKat Our searches took 2 weeks from paying money on account to receiving them by email from the solicitor. We're buying in North Northamptonshire.

@TeaChocKitKat our searches took 14 working days last summer, but our buyers' were back in 3 days! The same week! I think the general idea is 2-3 weeks though.

Big relief @Karmatime!

We seem to now be aiming for mid-March for completion, still haven't exchanged and enquiries at the top are still going, but at least now we have a date pencilled in. I don't know if that means people are really going for that or if it's a collective daydream, we'll see!

Still waiting for exchange or the latest bit of ridiculousness from buyers. The clock has switched to annoying and slow mode through the days now.