Buyers/Sellers Exchange waiting room new thread

[thoughtsofmoog3]

I noticed the last one was full, so here we go!

Hello to the newcomers and welcome back to those who are still working their way through the joys of house buying/selling.

Sittingonasale It is a nightmare organising a double move and very expensive with the storage costs and rental.
We live in a holiday area and had to go an hour’s drive away inland to find somewhere affordable, set up for weeks of living (washing machine etc) and would let us bring our elderly cat with us!
I assume you are waiting to move into a new-build too?
We have a provisional Completion date for our purchase for mid-September. Really hope you get a date for yours soon!

Mine is not a new build. I am however, buying with Heylo and buying a share this time instead of getting a mortgage.
The property is empty and has just been refurbished by property developers so can't understand why they are being so slow. All our things are in storage but this chalet is fairly well equipped. We are in a holiday area as well so I kind of turned it into a loooooooooong holiday for the kids' sake. I threatened to pull out yesterday and find somewhere to rent but there's hardly anywhere to rent, all very expensive for what they are and getting references etc will be a nightmare as haven't rented for years.

@Knownoone if I didn't need the garage immediately I'd agree to the £750 and set a date for the garage to be cleared by. It would more than pay for locksmith, a skip and two handymen to clear the garage out if he doesn't meet the deadline. Maybe that's just a sign of my desperation after months of waiting though 🤣

As for private stuff, I wouldn't be so quick to assume it was something dodgy. My garage was full of financial paperwork, family photos, letters, old passports, birth certificates, cards, heirlooms etc from another family member who moved overseas. I'd be a bit worried about letting someone access that unsupervised.

We completed yesterday! Oh my goodness it was stressful. Our movers were two hours late but turned up in a proper truck rather than the Luton van they said we'd have, so we didn't need to do two runs. The sale was completed before they'd finished though. We were lucky our buyers weren't in a rush. When the movers finished, the house was filthy where all the furniture had been so we spent two hours dusting, cleaning cupboards, scrubbing floors and skirting boards.

The sellers of our new house didn't do any cleaning. It looks like they just packed everything as quickly as possible and I can't blame them. They're moving into an air BnB because our buyers were so slow at responding about completion dates. So they've got this move, then a move from air BnB into rented in a few weeks then another move from rented into their final home... all with children and a dog in tow. I don't want to do this again for at least another 20 years.

Anyway, I have two days of cleaning and unpacking. Then the real fun of planning how to decorate begins! It doesn't feel real yet, I've been on this thread since January and it felt like it was never going to end.

Congratulations Responsible enjoy a bit of peace.
Our vendors have gone so quiet, i suspect they are flipping holiday!!!
How can people do that?

Our sale's been going on since we accepted a cash offer mid March. We're going through a divorce too and ex has already moved out. We originally planned for June, then July, now our buyers have gone to Germany for a month. Earlier this week we've given them an ultimatum to exchange by 1st Sept and complete on 8th or we put the house back on the market. I'm living in a house full of boxes with only a bed and a kitchen useable. If they don't come through I'll lose the house I've offered on too. They haven't responded to our ultimatum and they haven't given a proper reason for not being able to exchange as agreed - the total opposite of the decent people they portray themselves as! Its a proper shitshow. I can't fit into words how ridiculously pissed off I am with it all but feels good to write it down. Sorry to vent.

Congrats in your new home @ResponsibleWalrus and thanks for giving me hope! x

Congratulations to those who have completed

I spent Friday calling the estate agent and solicitors trying to get some answers as after 9 weeks my solicitors still don't have the initial contact pack from the sellers. No one seems to know anything and I'm getting so fed up now. First time buyers buying an empty house I thought we'd be close to exchanging by now yet I feel like nothings even started yet.

I’m feeling a bit annoyed with my EA - a few weeks ago a woman came to value the house from a company that’s a RICS surveyor etc., I asked why she needed to come in as I’ve only ever known it to be drive bys or desk research for valuations. I asked about it and they assured me it was just the valuation… except it was the house survey! I know it’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but I do find it odd they’d lie about it 🤦‍♀️ I also only realised by accident it was the survey as I was trying to find out exactly what had been done as I was worried the sale of my house was dragging behind the purchase!
One of the EA workers has consistently been quite condescending to me on the phone as well, whereas the rest have been lovely.🥲

uuurrrrrggghh!! Anyone getting into this and reading this thread to prepare themselves, perhaps naively thinking, perhaps our sale will be straightforward and predictable, NO! Prepare emotionally, financially, and practically for mayhem. We have said since our February offer that we HAVE to move by mid August, we have reiterated this thru estate agents and solicitors at every opportunity. It has been painfully slow, with a 'computer says no' attitude to anything our solicitor has requested or queried. NOW, one day before exchange, the vendors say they can't possibly move until mid september. We have nowhere to live from one week from now and our new jobs/childcare/schools start from beginning of sept. We can stay with family for a bit, but will have to pay for stuff to be in storage, and our family stay is nowhere near new jobs/schools/childcare (4 hours away). So we will probably end up staying in hotels/hostels/air b and b or something nearby new area for a couple of weeks. I am fuming. It seems we have very little capacity to do anything about it, despite making it clear than this completely screws us over and is unreasonable, they don't HAVE to compromise or help cover the extra costs or anything, they know full well we aren't going to pull out over it at this point :( So cross. mostly for the poor kiddos. Most frustrating is it appears they could have predicted this, as the reason they can't move is to do with their personal commitments - presumably they knew these before and we could have planned around it?! A move across the country to new schools etc is hard enough, but having to move into hotels and out again, and us not being able to use our time off in August to move in, it will all add a lot more unsettlement for them. :( grump grump grump.

Poor you. Sounds a nightmare.

I'm getting fed up too and threatened to pull out but there's not even anywhere to rent these days.

I'm in a holiday chalet with 3 kids and no idea when we'll be able to exchange yet.😭

Similar situation. I completed on my sale on 25th July and we don't have anywhere to go.
Start new job and need to get kids into schools in the area. All our stuff is in storage and it's bloody expensive.

My sale went through very smoothly within 11 weeks and that was with a mortgage included.
Our purchase has no chain, no mortgage to arrange and the place is empty.😱

I bloody hate the whole house buying and selling process in the UK. It seriously needs to change.

@mumarooni you have my sympathies. We were similar when we sold last year as we needed to move before school started in September.

16 weeks into our no chain sale the buyer declared they had to give their landlord 2 months notice 😡

We ended up paying her second month so that we could complete and move to the other side of the country!

We’re so close to exchange and still hoping for completion on Friday.

Just waiting on one query from the vendors solicitor (who has been shocking through the whole process) to sort!

🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

I'm in the nightmare phase as well. My solicitor trying to exchange last Friday but our buyer for her house sale has to rush to a solicitors on Monday to sign a legal declaration regarding her unadopted road. Exchange is now meant to be happening today so I'm praying it does with completion next week. I've broke all the rules that they tell you as I have booked removals for next week when I haven't exchanged yet so if it all goes horribly wrong I will lose my deposit but if I don't book them there would be no availability as it seems that every removal firm is completely booked up as August is the busiest month. Oh and DH doesn't know I've booked the removals either. We have until tomorrow midnight to cancel the accomodation so it's going to be a very stressful couple of days.

That sounds stressful - keeping my fingers crossed 🤞 for you!!

Hope it happens for you today. Why is the process so broken?

Oh and add into the mix I have 3 young adult asd kids hence why even though I'm moving literally streets away I've got to book accommodation in peak holiday season so I can keep routines going. Son had expensive braces put on last night and they've already broken so now got that to sort out as well plus my sellers agent being not particularly nice yesterday so a joy to see her stood outside my house last night as her agency is selling the house two doors down I think

I'm wondering if it is OTT to change the locks once I take ownership?

I think it’s always sensible to change the locks.

Fingers crossed for everyone trying to complete/exchange, the wait is horrid!

We had some issues with trying to get hold of our solicitor which has been solved. Found out they hadn’t even started searches when we thought they must be near the end of them, sigh.
The vendors are also showing to be very very tricky and I’m honestly just fed up with them.

Im really hoping we’ll be moved by mid September, I’m getting quotes from moving companies and everything’s sorted except searches. My daughter is starting school in September so we can’t move in the same we she starts as it will be too many big changes at once.

Just very ready for this journey to be complete and be in our amazing house!

We are on week 13 as of today, and our buyers still don't have their mortgage offer. They're FTB with a 10% deposit, but apparently chose not to use a broker and went directly to the lender. So we are wondering if perhaps they've had to apply more than once...

House valuation was last week for the lender, so just waiting waiting waiting.

House we are buying is empty, but their solicitor has gone awol and is not answering emails or calls, to either our solicitor, the vendor EA or thr vendor themselves. So that's great. We've got a query sat about a public right of way which appears to cut right through the garden, bur that was sent about 6 weeks ago and still no response. I honestly, naively thought that with FTB and then no onward chain, we would be moving over the summer and before term starts back in Sept.

It's not helping my very cold feet - I've booked a 3rd viewing under the pretence of taking some measurements, but I actually just really need to remind myself why we are doing this and hope that I fall back in love with the house!

9 and a half weeks in and out seller has only just instructed their solicitor. Getting seriously fed up now.

No exchange today but everyone is ready to do it tomorrow then completion next Thursday so fingers crossed. Walked up to the house we are buying today (it's empty as sellers live in USA) black bin full of rubbish so pulled it out for bin people tomorrow. Green bin for garden waste is completely full of very thick spiders webs so leaving that to dh to deal with.

Argh! My sellers estate agent is getting more and more aggressive. We have finally all agreed a completion date of next Thursday after lots of threats from above in the chain about pulling out (or so that agent said). Failed exchange today as the ftb at the bottom hadn't got their deposit cleared in time but hopefully tomorrow. We too have had to pay a deposit for removals as if we don't all do 17th it'll all fall apart and I already said no to 18th down to not being able to get removals at all!
The most stressful situation I've ever experienced with threats flying everywhere and solicitors not responding.
Wish me luck!

That's crazy
Gemini - I'm not a FTB but buying with no mortgage and no chain plus the house is empty. It's so frustrating. I'm paying out a lot of money for temp accommodation and just wish they'd all just get on with it and stop faffing around.