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.

Developer sales individuals tend to be more hard talk, so they can scare people into pushing everything along. Not a bad if there’s no chain but annoying when there is.

Please may I join?

We're selling our 2 bed flat in SE London - selling it at a £50k loss on what we paid in 2016 - but due to circumstances (disabled son, terminally ill mother) - we needed to move quite quickly and the financial pressure of 2 properties, plus rate rises was terrifying me.

Buyer had a wobble 3 weeks ago and we had a few tenses days - but we moved forward, and they want to complete on 22nd September - the stress has been killing me. However, our solicitor just called asking if we could exchange today!! This was a 4.45pm though, so I can't imagine it will happen - but fingers crossed for tomorrow!!

Best of luck for tomorrow!🤞🏼😊

Long time lurker here... can I join?

We've had a tense time with conveyancing - but our buyer has now arranged to go and sign contracts with their solicitor. But we're so new to house selling (and have been burned by this process 4 times already...) we have no idea if this means the end is in sight? Our estate agent told us the buyer has their deposit ready, which we're hoping is a good thing!

I'll be happy when it's done that's for sure!!

I think it means that that purchase will be ready but it depends on how many others you have in the chain.

Our purchase is ready but we won't be signing contracts until our sale is ready. (Using same solicitor for both). Nearly there! But even then, the final house in the chain still has outstanding enquiries..... so tricky to know.

But it's definitely a positive move in the right direction!

@lemonyellows this is then very exciting! We are buying a property with no chain, and are ready to go on our purchase (except signing the contract, our solicitor iss the same as yours with wanting to make sure everything was ready both sides)

Thank you - why does no-one teach you these things!

@movinggirl it's so true !! This is the first time we have sold and there is so much assumed knowledge.

We just got our removal company booked, ready for us to confirm a date with them. Have you sorted removals or are you doing it yourself?

Maybe ask the solicitors for an estimate on an exchange date? Just to test the water.

@lemonyellows Honestly it's completely mad, I thought we'd be ok after buying our flat a few years ago - but buying and selling is a whole new world! Where about are you up to, have you exchanged?

Very exciting about removals - we're planning on using them but don't want to jinx it before exchanging!

That's a good idea, I've emailed them now, lets see what they say

@movinggirl no exchange yet. Still waiting on a few enquiries on onward sale. You hear stories of exchange and completion close together so wanted to make sure we had our moving company sorted at least, as they come round to assess contents. Going for full packing!

Also new here - also buying and selling simultaneously for the first time. Purchase seems to all be going well - survey ok, mortgage offer in, searches ordered and enquiries started (we are buying to top of the chain who will vacate). Our buyers are getting our house surveyed next week (i am anxious about that - it's an older house so won't be perfect!) and we've answered some initial enquiries, but no idea otherwise about the rest of their progress or the chain (there's 2 other purchases below our house). Eager to get moving, I hate the not knowing about the rest of the chain and don't want to pester solicitor as I know it's quite early stages really! Wish there was some kind of online portal where the whole chain has to tick off progress or something. From what I hear 5-6 months for a chain is not unusual, which would take us to Xmas/new year, but feels like we've made quite a lot of progress in the last month!

And breathe.....we've exchanged. After being a bag of nerves for months, it feels strangely ant climactic, but I'm hoping to feel excited soon - now we can start work on our new place and make it a proper safe home for our son. I'm also trying to appreciate the fact that we won't be facing financial ruin when our fixed term was approaching in December!!

Congratulations!! When is completion?

Congratulations on exchanging! I feel like we are never going to get to that point.

I’m so fed up. We are now over 3 months on as buyers and the communication is awful. No updates from the vendors EA and no replies, no word from our solicitor excerpt for the same robotic reply about a query in waiting. No wonder sales fall through.

Anyone else in the same position, how are you moving it along?

Congratulations! 👏🏼😁

@Hairly I’m not in that position now thankfully but have sold twice and bought once in the last year. I had a great solicitor for all the transactions which helps but a rubbish agent for the first sale - it took 3 months to sell but then offer to completion was less than 3 months. Second sale the agent was much better, sold in a day but my buyer was using a terrible online conveyancing firm so it took over 5 months to complete. For my purchase there was no chain either side and both solicitors were great and so was the agent. The whole process took 8 weeks.
Basically things seem to go at the speed of the slowest link in the chain. If neither the agent nor your solicitor are proactive then I’d suggest being more demanding and hassle for regular updates. Call and email at least twice a week. Don’t worry about being perceived as a pain in the neck - once it’s done you won’t have to deal with any of them again!

We are apparently supposed to be completing on the 11th. On Tuesday after much chasing solicitor said they were waiting on some info from sellers (keep saying this but wont say what) but would review and update us and get us signing docs ASAP. Rest of the week passed and nothing. Given up chasing now, informed the (excellent) estate agent who is going to look into it on the sellers side to see if sellers solicitor can start pushing us towards exchange and completion.
And this is our solicitors improved service since I had to complain about the original solicitor so they gave us the head of the team!

Thank you!! The relief is just wonderful, I don't now feel like we're having to watch every penny, and we're going to go for a celebratory lunch post completion - which is scheduled for 22nd September.

I am graduating too. We are in! Well we have to keys and I am so pleased with the house after beginning to feel like I hated it.
So glad not to have to contact the solicitor ever again, they were so crap.

Not got an offer yet (after it falling through so many times), so nowhere near that, but I dream of being in this position! Congrats again!

Am buying a flat in SW London due to looming divorce, offer accepted just under 10% below asking, allegedly no chain above me, have had the sellers property, leasehold and fixtures and fittings forms through on Thurs from my conveyancing solicitor so constructing my queries today. I need to instruct them to start searches but divorce solicitor has raised some questions about settlement so need to juggle those queries. I've asked for completion by Oct half term as that would be 10 weeks offer to completion but reading some of these posts is giving me the fear am going to be here til Christmas and beyond 😬

@Karmatime Thanks for your advice. I have been asking for updates once a week buts it’s either I’ll look into it and then another week with no reply or it’s a query for their solicitor that’s holding it up. I don’t know whether to just ask what the bloody query is at this stage. I’m worried that the vendors estate agent seems very blase when we ring up, it’s been 3 months!!

Tbh - I would keep pushing, they need to earn their money but also.. if there are issues then what’ll happen is you won’t get told until after you’ve wasted months.

After 5 offers that didn’t happen, I’ve tried every which way and the worst was when I didn’t chase, the buyer was raising all sorts of red flag questions about his status as a buyer and I wasted 4 months on him. In the background the EA was trying to push him through without telling me. Had I know I’d have asked for the property to be put back on and viewings to continue until exchange.

Week 18 this week.

No update from our solicitor since Aug 21st when I send a slightly shitty email, so emailing today to ask for an update. Afaik, it's still the vendor solicitor holding things up and there was a query sent to them at the end of June that they hadn't responded to.

We haven't had the vendor list of fixtures & fittings yet either, or anything related to the new place other than the normal.ground surveys etc.

Also need to chase the electrician who was supposedly going last week to do some checks and testing.

Slowly losing the will, I'm worried we will lose our buyers even though it took them 4 bloody months to sort their mortgage.

@Hairly if I want to move something along I chase our solicitor every other day. If they say its the sellers solicitor who is holding it up, I chase the estate agent every other day. I've tried leaving it longer and basically nothing gets done unless I'm chasing constantly. It doesn't feel good but also I get so annoyed being ignored.