It’s ye olde buyers/sellers waiting room continued thread…

[ibelieveinmirrorballs]

The nail-biting wait continues….

@hopingforthemillion a lot of estate agents will have some contact details with potential buyers. Maybe they got a heads up of your property because it ticked boxes?

Also imagine not buying a house because of a dropped curb after all the faff that goes into forming these chains...the mind boggles. I hope they see sense @noodles44

Still no exchange here either 😩 it's taken so long our 6 month mortgage offer is expiring so we are having to do a full reapplication, as is someone else in the chain. Fingers crossed we can get them sorted before others run out / people get fed up of waiting. Even though we had no issues with approval last time, it's so stressful, more waiting and uncertainty. We should have moved by now 😥

Thanks @ShittyGlitter and @hopingforthemillion

I really hope they see sense after getting to this stage. The thing that is the most annoying is that I accepted their offer in mid October and they had flagged that the kerb had not been dropped then, to which my response was no, but others in the road are done, so didnt envisage any issue, but then nothing further mentioned apart from the offer was fairly low to accommodate lots of the work they felt necessary.

Then, just as I am anticipating us exchanging, after I have done a survey, incurred solicitors fees, got rid of furniture etc that won't fit in the new house and started packing they suddenly decide it is potentially a deal breaker.

They are FTBs who are cash buyers and possibly are being a bit unrealistic to have everything on their wish list in their first home. Apparently they still love the house, so I am hoping that wins. It is a hideous wait though, my nerves are shot. Plus I really don't want to let my seller down, lose the school places I have organised as am relocating completely to be near my parents.

Fingers crossed for some good news today. I also wonder if this is a new angle for them to reduce the price they are paying... I am now trying to clean, rather than pack as that seems pretty pointless at the mo...

Best of luck @noodles44 I really hope they see sense.
after all, they love the house and they’ve gone so far with the process, so hopefully they are committed to buying.
welcome new waiters. Take a seat, the contract documents will be with you shortly (we hope!) xx

That’s all I’d like @AutumnNymph - some certainty on the move happening and some dates to hang my panic on.
glad you slept well :)
just gave 10 boxes of books, games and puzzles to charity so feeling virtuous.

Hi, joining the thread as we keep thinking we are close to the end and then it doesn't happen and infuriatingly it is due to no reason at all.

Our situation:

• Viewed house we loved late June 2023, said we were interested but they (rightly) wouldn't accept offers til we were sold
• Early July 2023 sold ours in 2 days to cash buyer ready to move ASAP, had offer accepted on house
• Late July 2023 seller has offer accepted on house
• We agree to move in with family and break chain to not lose our buyer
• July-September our sellers pull out of 2 purchases and have offer accepted on 3rd, moving date of end of Nov 2023
• Oct 2023 our sale completes and we move into parent's, no drama there
• Nov 2023 constant chasing up estate agent who eventually tells us seller pulled out of 3rd house and taking house off market (lots of detail I've not gone into here but this seller 100% didn't want to sell so we should have seen it coming)
• Late Nov 2023 find better house and offer accepted (same estate agent), said we didn't want a long chain so seller said happy to break and move out when we were ready
• We had everything done and ready in 4 weeks, searches/survey/mortgage etc (our solicitors are amazing), say we're ready and seller says won't break chain now
• Agree to stay put until chain ready as assured it won't be long, estate agent confirms early Feb which we agree to and said weekend of 9th Feb will be the latest

So now we have a date that we know the chain can all complete on but the solicitors for the rest of the chain are refusing to discuss dates or exchanging and estate agent impossible to get hold of or get any info from. Myself and our solicitor are chasing daily and no one will give any answers but the chain is ready to go - the reason for delay is the last in chain is elderly and needs assistance moving and Feb was the earliest for this. Other than that everything is done and ready.

After reading some stories on here ours is far from the worst and I really feel for those of you who have been having issues too, but it's so infuriating that there is no reason for a delay so why can't we exchange - we just want an actual end date so we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Aghhh @Housemove0 that is an epic tale of woe.
our sellers also pulled out days after we’d paid £900 for a survey … i had a gut feeling they might not sell (old people) but they even said they’d move in with family to keep the sale.
Taking the house off the market when you’re so far down the line is incredibly upsetting.
we had to make a quick decision on another house to keep our buyer. I’m still upset they took that house away :/

Ah @Housemove0 that sounds a nightmare. Fingers crossed for Feb.

Thanks @Jaq27 let's hope so!

I have called the local council highways people re the road. It turns out that my buyers would certainly be allowed to have a single width of dropped kerb as surrounding houses all do. They are just unlikely to be allowed to have the entire width of the house dropped... However, they can remove the front wall and access via the dropped section and if 2 cars fit there, no issue as long as the access via the dropped bit.

I am so relieved as it means I will do this should they pull out as in all honesty, hadn't realised I shouldn't just bump up the kerb to park on my drive! Have been doing it for nearly 2 decades too! Also, if the house goes back up for sale, it hopefully wouldn't be an issue for the next buyers. I was thinking I might end up having to drop the price if they approached me to do this. Now I am more feeling like I will stick to the price agreed and not waver.

They are still on their radio silence deciding what to do. They did this at the outset between viewings and offers, so am not as concerned as a result. I think they are being guided by someone re how to play this to get the best deal, but now I know they can get permission for a single kerb being dropped across the entrance to the drive, I am going to stand firm <eek!!>

@Jaq27 it's horrible isn't it, I know it's all legal etc but it's ridiculous that this is the house buying system and people can do this. We should have known the first sellers were going to mess us around as we had issues all the way through and 2 years ago they sold and pulled out, we should have questioned it more. We are lucky in that we actually found a house we prefer and mortgage rates went down so have a better deal but still so frustrating as we had hoped for our baby's 1st Christmas in our "forever" home. Hopefully we'll be moved in by next Christmas, at this rate I'm not holding my breath 🤣 I hope you start getting somewhere with your situation soon 🤞

@noodles44 thank you! Fingers crossed for you too, glad you have had good news and hope your buyers don't keep you waiting much longer 🤞

We still don't have any idea when we'll exchange. It's now been 6 weeks since we were meant to move, then 1 week from the revised date. Last week we were told one document was left, now today the update was just working on the final documents.

I ended up getting very annoyed at the estate agent. They personally know the people at the bottom causing all the issues (investors) and it is getting so frustrating now. The delays and the uncertainty make me feel like they're going to pull out

@Housemove0 my goodness you've been through it! I hope the end is in sight for you.

We have paid for the management pack on our current house today so waiting on that coming through, our buyers already live on our estate and already pay the management fee so parting with £200 for that felt painful but hey ho.

Still waiting to hear on what enquiries our solicitor is raising on our purchase so hopefully that won't flag any issues. Our survey on our purchase didn't flag anything particularly untoward so that's something. First time seller here so not sure how far from exchange we might be. I think we're still waiting on searches for our purchase.

I'm feeling pretty anxious about it all and we've not had any issues really so I think I need to get a grip. I'm a natural worrier unfortunately and do not plan on moving again. I don't think I could handle it.

@MrsCharlieD thank you! 😊

Sounds like everything is going well for you so far, hopefully it stays that way! I'm a worrier too so completely understand how you feel, house buying/selling is such a weird process in this country it's hard not to get stressed about it. Good luck with the rest of the process fingers crossed you're in your new house soon 🤞

Went for a second viewing on the only house I like in the whole of a large town today. EA told me offer had been put in yesterday but wondering if that’s a crock of shit as I was second this year to view house. It’s been vacant for a year (rental) and a sale fell through apparently when it was put back on the market Oct totally overpriced.

Anyway love said house but it has some odd issues that I’ve run past friends/Dad since visit as I am doing this on my own! I’m really struggling with being a grown up here 😫 If offer is accepted I’m going to instruct a full survey.

Still really love it, kids ‘like’ it 🤷‍♀️

Im going to put a reasonable offer in tomorrow am. My house is FTB with mortgage and cash but nervous about survey as listing factored in 10k work needing doing.

But chain of 2 of us so I need to remain optimistic - right?

(sorry v self-indulgent post)

Congrats @Fidgety31

I've been waiting for my new mortgage offer after renegotiating the price on my purchase. Called the bank this morning as it's taken ages and it turns out that they've been waiting on my solicitor to send them the concrete screening report. Emailed my solicitor straight away and she said that she thought they already had it!

My solicitor also said that she was chasing vendors solicitor today as she has not had communication from them for some time. Enquiries were originally raised in September before my first sale fell through and no response to these yet.

First went onto the market last March and feels like it's been forever 😢

@EmilyMay89 so frustrating. I feel for you. 🌷
I hope you get better news soon.

Completion day here. Wish us luck. Packers in and it's mental

Hi everyone.

I'm feeling super anxious at the moment so pleased to join you.

We have sold our house - survey was yesterday morning. The surveyor said the report would be with the buyers before 5pm yesterday.

I'm sort of expecting a call from the estate agent to renegotiate the offer now? Is that the usual next step? I'm scared they'll pull out! It's an old house so there will be some things flagged I'm sure.

Buyer is cash, no chain. We currently can't find our next house and nothing much is coming to market.

Good luck @Deedippy I hope it goes as smoothly as possible!

I fully expected my buyers to try to renegotiate post survey @wereonthemarket but they haven't done (yet) although, from what I read it is a thing at the moment all the way up until exchange potentially.

My buyers have still not made contact, I feel like I will likely hear from them near to the end of the day on Friday as they seem to be playing a bit of a game here. It doesn't take this long to discuss whether to continue or not, especially as they had much of the weekend to formulate a plan depending on what the outcome of their enquiries was too. The longer it goes on, the more cross I am getting with them and am becoming much more likely to just tell them to sod off! I was going to have the oven professionally cleaned pre-move, but that ship has sailed now!

@EmilyMay89 how frustrating. I hope you have some good news soon...

I'm a bit miffed at what to be expecting at the moment. Is there a guide to what should be happening behind the scenes anywhere and the order things should be happening? As far as we knew our sellers wanted to move quick as they were probate but so far they are the ones yet to do anything as far as I know. Our solicitor has yet to hear from them. Meanwhile we've sent initial docs to our buyers, have booked our survey and our buyers have had their survey done (anxiously waiting to hear back from them about any concerns)
I hate not knowing what is going on!
Still it's only been a couple of weeks so no where near the level some people are dealing with!

That would be really useful - like a flowchart of what should be going on! And approx timescales.

Noodles44 how long ago was your survey? Ours was only yesterday.

I've no idea on a timescale or anything - I'm guessing solicitors just start dealing through queries etc now?

Thank you @Housemove0 ... all has gone quiet re: vendors sol and EA (as per usual) but if we don't hear about any progress (THEY JUST LITERALLY NEED TO SEND OUT A DOCUMENT) DH is saying we should seriously consider backing out of the sale. So here's hoping.
@noodles44 that's good news for you! Hopefully now you can kick your buyer's concerns to the kerb (sorry). I also really hate the games people play in this process, but it's the half-truths (lies?) that you get spun that really make me cross.
We've tried to buy 3 properties in our saga over the past 8 months, and each time we've been told stories that made us proceed with the purchase, costing us precious time (and money). Flakey elderly buyers who'd had their home on and off the market for the past year being one of them. We never got a straight answer out of the EA and it cost us over £1,000 to offer and proceed on a house that was never going to be sold.
Sorry. Going on a rant again.
@Deedippy best of luck for today x
@EmilyMay89 any news???
New joiners -- how I wish there was a reliable timeline to tick off stages in the house buying/selling process, but frustratingly things pop up all over the place. So enquiries you thought were answered in the first few weeks crop up again, buyers Qs keep on coming up, solicitor finds issues that need answering after searches, buyer starts haggling on price after the survey, someone in the chain pulls out, family circumstances change, mortgage offers expire etc.
It's a bit wobbly and all over the place until you get to that magic exchange.
At that point it's legally binding to proceed or lose a lot of £££.
Exchange comes with a completion date, so then you can (at last!) begin to believe it's all actually happening and you are moving.
Exchange with an agreed completion date for everyone in the chain is about the only certainty we have ... which is why the long (long!) wait between offer and exchange is so stressful imo.

Hi all

We've had our mortgage report from our solicitors and then a barrage of documents regarding our purchase such as the contract pack, property report details of the title.

We've got to sign and return the property report and that looks like the last thing to do before exchange? I am shitting myself, I was so naive going into this as to what was involved. Feel like I'm signing my life away!

Can anyone with previous experience of buying and selling advise whether this sounds like exchange is on the horizon?

Eek

@noodles44 "I was going to have the oven professionally cleaned pre-move, but that ship has sailed now! "

Hahhahaha!!! This is brilliant, do it!

I wish there was a more straightforward process like in other countries. It's a complete mystery what's going on half the time.

@Jaq27 we nearly tried purchasing from a seller that has history of listing then removing their house from the market, they also listed at an attractive price but wanted several thousand more that the bank had valued it at, and well well above the houses in nicer condition in the same street that has sold previously. Bonkers

Sucks so much that they would let you spend on surveys etc just to do that.

Congratulations to anyone completing today or in the last/next few days 🎉

@EmilyMay89 that all sounds so stressful, I don't blame you for getting annoyed with the estate agent. Hope you get some good news soon 🤞

@IronNeonClasp good luck with your offer, hope you get the house and it all goes smoothy for you! Also struggling being a grown up over here, luckily our solicitor has realised this and gone over and above to help us with what to do/say in certain situations 🤣

@toni1602 hope you manage to make some progress soon, sounds so frustrating! Can't believe they're still waiting for responses from September that's ridiculous!

@wereonthemarket we were lucky in that we didn't need to renegotiate post survey however if we had we would have done so straight away. However our buyer's buyer decided to renegotiate post survey last minute (didn't work) so I think it depends on who the buyer is. Hopefully you have nice buyer's who aren't going to mess around and delay things. Good luck on your house search, hope something comes up soon 🙏

@noodles44 I don't blame you for getting cross with your buyers, I don't understand why people want to delay things like this when it's a straightforward answer! Hopefully they get back to you ASAP 🤞

@Turniptracker totally agree an order would be good so you know where you're up to and what to expect! When we bought our 1st house the solicitor asked to discuss completion dates and I asked if we could complete the next day 🙃 he was like erm no that's not how things work 🤣 the thing that took the longest for us was waiting for replies to solicitor enquiries

@Jaq27 so frustrating when everyone goes quiet on you! Especially when they just need to do something simple! Hope you get a response soon, sounds like you've had a nightmare!

I don't know if it was posting on here that gave us some good luck but we've actually had a call from the solicitor this afternoon with a completion date of 16th Feb and exchange ASAP - it's a week later than we were told 2 weeks ago but an extra week is nothing compared to the months of waiting. Obviously not going to believe it until it happens but nice to finally have some progress! Makes a change from this morning when our solicitor chased up the seller's solicitor for an update and they replied "no idea what's happening" and then refused to take their call 🙃

Not a great start with viewings. Our first one “forgot” (don’t mind me getting the house clean for you) argh!
Im already wondering if we are doing the right thing 🫣