The all new buyers/sellers waiting room (continued) thread

[sweetpickle2]

New thread!

We've exchanged. 22 weeks for a chain of 2.

Roll on Friday and move date.

Getting to exchange has been so stressful. Moving house now feels like a breeze!!

We've also concluded missives today (scottish equivalent of exchange) and complete on Friday 🙌

Couldn't be happier! I still have absolutely no idea why both solicitors took so bloody long, but I'm just relieved that the date of entry isn't delayed. We're currently renting so have given ourselves 10 days to decorate new house and move in, so hopefully no more stress from this point onwards.

Good luck to everyone who is packing this week! And even more luck to those still waiting on news! When we sold our last house, it took nearly 18m and we lost 3 buyers through no fault of our own, so I totally sympathise and understand the stress involved.

@Edgeofthesea @sweetpickle2 @Usernameisnotavailable0 we’re all completing Friday! 😀

It’s a different stress this week, feeling the pressure to get everything packed/organised. Me and DH are snapping at each other more since exchange than we were during the build up. The stress of moving after 28 years in one house and accumulation of ‘stuff’ and what we get rid off!!

@newbeliever it does not feel real!

Absolutely! I think I’m going to cry on Friday. I’m excited for what’s coming but it’s going to be hard work and I do still love my current house. It’s such a pretty house, so many memories. Gah, I’ll set myself off!! 🤪

Congrats to all exchangers!!

Advice please : the neighbour's fence on the left of our new home is damaged and leaning into our new garden because of a shrub on their side. Our seller (buy to let landlord who rarely visits the now vacant property) says they don't have the details of the neighbour to flag it. This means we'll need to address it when we move in - the fence is on their side, and I reckon it's a rental. Would you go ahead and exchange and just deal with it when you're in?

The fence at the back of the house had blown down too, and that's supposedly being fixed this week 😅

We’ve got a similar situation and have gone ahead. No fence and huge bush along the boundary which has collapsed. The owners have got the property on the market and are living away. We figure we’ll try to make contact once we have moved in and get it sorted.

We are still waiting on our solicitor to tell us what the hold up is. We are ready to exchange and so is the person we are buying from. Assume it's the bottom link of the chain.

Getting a couple more quotes for removals. Though I am limited on what days I can show them around. One quote has come in really cheap but without packing. The other one has come out horribly expensive. Well above what Google had said about the average cost! Have another company coming this week. Just want to know if a packing service is in our budget or not! And whether we need to start packing!

Just joining as I need to offload!

current situation: selling family home due to divorce and I’m buying elsewhere with my two children whilst he takes his hslf of equity. Initially sad but now excited to leave and own something of my own.

House sold to first time buyers within a few days 🎉and I had my offer accepted on perfect house in the small search area I had with small budget 🎉 - all within a week.

A month later my vendor has bid unsuccessfully on two properties and still waiting to see if successful on a third. 😩 so the chain is nowhere near complete.

Ive done all I can paperwork wise etc and holding off survey etc but so worried that my buyers will get bored or that the chain will end up about ten houses!

Im already stressed and it’s taking up so much headspace wondering if vendor has found something etc that I’m on edge. I think because I’m doing this all alone that I’m anxious as I want everything to go smoothly.,…and as I’m aware it’s all out of my control 😩😩😜😜

So everything has gone a bit t*ts up in the last 24 hours for us; our buyers solicitor suddenly said they wanted £6k off asking price due to a ‘vertical crack’ in the render at the back of the house. Instantly knew we were being played as the survey was a Level 2 (so no quotes would’ve been given for work) and of course the buyer has only waited until now to bring it up, after eking out what should have been a very simple transaction for 4 months (survey took place in early December!) Luckily there is literally no crack to speak of (render was done in 2021 and is still in good nick) so the buyer is either confusing the telephone wire as a crack, or lying in the hope that we cave. Our EA is going back to them to fight our corner.

We are literally days off exchange. I’ve heard stories about this kind of thing but it’s not happened to me before..

@runningmom im in the same position as you re divorce and two kids. We are relocating about 30 mins away and need to move schools etc. sad as I thought this house would be my forever home but also excited to have a fresh start.

at what point do you start booking movers? I’ve not even got a proposed date yet so haven’t thought about it but I was wondering if I should be…

@Cocteautwin6 that sounds so stressful! I hope you can stand firm.

We’ve just had a damp survey carried out as our buyers have been scared sh*tless by their survey. Damp surveyor happily told me it was a minor problem and wouldn’t cost much to correct. Just waiting for the attempt at dropping the price.

Absolutely raging on your behalf @Cocteautwin6, CFs!!

I would hope that because it is SO cheeky that if you stand firm they'll back down.

@Cocteautwin6 your buyers are really trying it on there. I hope your EA can put them right re the cable and nip this request in the bud...
An extra stress you don't need just as you should be exchanging.

I have only had one removals quote as this company have moved me a few times already and were reasonable before and really good. Their price was cheaper than I expected, so I haven't bothered looking elsewhere. I am now wondering whether to get another quote incase they get booked up. No idea yet when we will be moving...

All gone quiet with my sale and purchase. It will be 4 weeks tomorrow that things started moving with offers accepted.

Surveys have been done on both my house and onward purchase. My purchase is a 50's semi so it has some minor issues but nothing untoward and expected because of the age of the property.

Searches should be complete in the next 3 weeks or so which fits nicely in with our holiday.

We started a major declutter as we're downsizing. Our loft is now empty.

Not doing anymore packing and sorting until we are back from our holiday and then i expect things will start to move.

Probably looking at a mid May move, only 3 of us in the chain, Im in the middle and the 2 people either side have nothing to sell.

Morning all. Sending positive vibes. I’m waiting on my vendor to have an offer accepted. Apparently he should hear today, but we’ve been here twice and he’s waited about a week and then not had his offer accepted. It’s frustrating as we accepted an offer within a day and mine was sorted over a weekend. Even then we don’t know what’s above him.
I know I’m being impatient btw!
I’m also super scared it will fall through and it’s such high stakes as I’m moving solo with my children after being in the family home for 16 years.

Good luck all today!

Not thought removers yet but I do know I’m going to pay for the service that will dismantle and reassemble furniture as I’m doing it on my own.

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Gosh this house selling/buying business is so stressful!!

5 weeks since offers were accepted and our buyers haven't done a thing it seems except for change solicitors a week after the contract pack was received. 2 weeks since then and their solicitor still hasn't contacted our conveyancer.

Meanwhile, we have our mortgage offer, searches ordered, enquiries underway and survey completed for our onward purchase. All of this seems pointless if our buyer isn't pushing their solicitor.

I have emailed our EA to see if they can push our buyer to light a spark up their solicitors bum! They said they will chase our buyer today and update me by the end of the day. I have a bad feeling that the chain will collapse. Our buyer is a cash buyer so they won't be getting a survey and there is no need for a mortgage, so I was hoping it would move quickly!

Our fixed term mortgage ends on the 31st May so we want to be completed before then, but it seems unlikely at this point.

Sorry, I needed to vent my frustrations!

Tell me about it @MrsB94 !

I said 6 years ago I would never move house again but here i am 😂.

It's annoying when theres a link in the chain thats a bit rubbish.

It's amazing how quickly things can get done when people are on the ball like you seem to be. We are in a similar situation to you and just sitting twiddling our thumbs waiting for the final searches to arrive as everything else is done. Once they are back I'm hoping it will only be a couple of weeks

Its so frustrating isn't it. I definitely won't be moving after this 😂

I just had a call with my EA and she is even frustrated with our buyer! They need their hands to be held all the time, won't talk on the phone but will respond to emails and they need their brother to help with it all despite him not even buying the house!

Our EA thinks we should put a timeline on our buyer to get things moving now, as they haven't even ordered the searches yet! I think I'm in for a long and stressful sale!

Hopefully things turn around quickly for you

Hello all - I actually feel like crying right now. My buyers surveyor is coming tomorrow and they are keen to complete by the end of May due to some tax incentive that'll save them £30k+ as long as they move before 1st June. I can't find anywhere I like and I've nowhere to go.

@startingoveragainagain sorry to hear that. Can they pass you some of those savings to incentivise you to go into rented and storage?

I had some good news in that vendor has had his offer accepted 🎉 and on the voicemail from my EA there are a few above him now but chain ends with empty house. However I don’t know if that means all offers have been accepted or not though he did say chain is complete. I guess I wait now for someone to actually confirm this before I pay for searches etc??
My solicitor for sale has sent stuff to buyers but I hadn’t instructed them (or paid the £450 deposit) to get them to act for me as a purchasers too.

Think we will be a chain of 7 😩😩 but….if everyone is motivated then I guess it might not be horrendous?!

@runningmom , and others in long chains... I think the chain being complete is a big step forward, so well done on that.

I suppose the longer the chain, the more chances there are for something to cause a delay - e.g. issues in surveys - but I've just come to accept that it's a horrendous experience either way. I have no chain at either end, but am still tearing my hair out as the buyer has become slow and unresponsive. My EA has asked them and their solicitor if they will be ready to exchange and complete next month, and there has been no reply at all. How hard can it be to say yes or no to a basic question? If they are considering pulling out I'd rather know now so I can get the house back on the market rather than being stuck in limbo. It doesn't seem fair that people can drag out the process with no time limits.

@ClematisBlue49 Sounds familar! We're in the middle of a chain of three, our seller has a vacant property so can let it go whenever we're ready, but our buyer (a cash buyer) is the weak link. We want to exchange next week to complete the week after, but our buyer's solicitor hasn't responded since last week when the question was asked. We asked the estate agent to prod them, to find out when they can do if they can't do the next couple of weeks, but heard nothing today again. It's been 10 weeks since offers were accepted, so this would still be considered quick, but the gaps between not hearing anything are annoying. Sigh.

It’s the abolition of MDR. We’re in the same boat (stamp duty trebles if we don’t complete by the end of may)

that said, it’s their issue and don’t be pressured into buying somewhere that’s not right just to save them the money

Well we initially had a chain of 3 which we thought was great and what could go wrong. Purchaser dropped out after 6 weeks!

Acceoted new offer at Christmas, chain of 8 complete in new year, were completing this Friday! I have to say, I have been amazed how well everyone pulled together and got on with it, I think we were made up of 3 old chains which had broken so everyone was very motivated to get it sorted.