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

[sweetpickle2]

New thread!

We finally viewed the house yesterday where we had struggled to book a viewing. Was nice but has so many red flags we are staying out of it after we got screwed over with our last purchase. Seller does not seem motivated at all to sell so I am guessing maybe divorce. Estate agent wouldn't elaborate on situation. So the search continues........

Good luck for tomorrow @UtterlyQuackers. I am sure your buyer will stay, when you look at it logically, you are hours away from exchange, anyone would be mad to pull out only to start this process again due to the time taken...

I have had a great chat with my EA. It is a small new firm with a wealth of experience and I have to say, they have been brilliant. They are so pro-active with the chasing of solicitors and the entire chain, I am not anywhere near as worried as I could be. It looks like the last enquiries were answered yesterday, the solicitor received the enquiries and is reporting back to the buyers once satisfied. Then tomorrow, I should be getting contracts to sign hopefully with exchange imminent once a date is agreed. She reassured me this is the usual time scale. My seller is frantic and messaging me regularly asking why it hasn't happened yet, so I have updated her with what my EA said and she seems a bit more chilled. My EA thinks exchange could be Friday, but more likely next week being realistic as it is a chain of 5 who need to agree a date and the start of the chain needs to pay their deposit and both me and my buyers haven't signed contracts yet.
Who knows! I just want a date so I can get removals booked and try to visit the schools if possible before we move too.

Anyway fingers crossed it is all coming together at last... I don't think I will be moving again after this!!

Thanks @noodles44 that's what my husband keeps telling me, but their actions are not very logical at the moment! I hope your move proceeds trouble free 😊

The mining report on my house has now been done and EA says it's all ok (I should get a copy tomorrow). She said that my solicitor still has a couple of enquiries to answer and then we should be ready to exchange 🤞

@runningmom

Chain length: three
When you sold yours: just before Christmas
Position in chain: middle
Desperate to complete by: 17th May 😬
Reason: need more space. Currently have three girls (16, 11, 7) in one room.
Biggest frustration: everything being out of my control and the pace that things move at!

I'm also a teacher but unfortunately there's no chance our move will be in the holidays now as I need to complete before my mortgage offer expires again. I can take one day off!

Great to hear others nearing the finish line! We had several updates today and have been told we can possibly exchange next week which will be just over 7 weeks in. News to us as we have had 0 enquiries from our buyer...I am a bit puzzled as I was definitely expecting something! I am not complaining but also not holding my breath either!! Anyone else had 0 enquiries in a sale before?

@noodles44 how long has yours taken so far? Also in a chain of 5/6 so intrigued.

So EA pushed my buyers ((FTB) today to ask why they hadn’t ordered survey (chain closed a few weeks ago but we accepted their offer on Feb) and apparently they weren’t going to get one!! My EA told them to so now they’re looking into that 🤦🏼‍♀️ I mean top of chain only just starting process but I’m a bit annoyed they didn’t have one weeks ago. I guess I’m worried they’ll find a massive issue like my house is subsiding (it isn’t) 🫣

@toni1602 at least you’ll have the summer to get straight? I’m dreading completing in September with one day off to move and a summer wasted really of waiting. Hence why I’m pushing weekly for updates.

@runningmom The summer will be a start at least! The house I'm buying needs a lot of work (liveable though) so it's going to take some time. Full time teacher and single parent of 4.... I think I might be mad!

Chain length: two properties, three couples
When you sold yours: November
Position in chain: middle
Desperate to complete by: end of May
Reason: we bought our current house off my parents, love the house but the area has really gone downhill. Also wanting to move to a cul-de-sac where my son can play out without cars whizzing past.
Biggest frustration: feeling like I have zero control!

I'd be so annoyed with your estate agent @runningmom (unless you have an immaculate house). I hope they don't end up negotiating.

Considering our buyers started this process months ago (they pulled out of the last sale due to the survey results), they are taking their sweet time. I don't think they've applied for their mortgage yet. If they're slow just because they're slow, that's fine, but if they're slow because they are unsure or have issues with their buyer or have overstretched themselves (I get the feeling all three are possibilities), then that is not ideal. I have left some room for negotiation so as long as they communicate, it should be ok, but they are very quiet. I am not going to relax at all until we are passed the survey stage.

@Amarettispaghetti - we raised zero enquiries with our seller. Our solicitor raised them all for us. I can imagine their solicitor did the same and your solicitor answered them all without needing to contact you. Ours managed them all bar one where they had to ask if we had a form which we had already provided to them.

Update for us today. We have finally had the contract pack through along with the solicitors report. All the report and random supporting documents have been read and signed and will be returned tomorrow.

Had a chat with the estate agent today about our upcoming viewing from our buyers and planted the seed that we wont be able to purchase our property if they try and drop the price days away from exchange. Let's see what happens eh!

We asked our solicitor on Friday and they said no enquiries have been raised at all so it's all a bit strange...I am sure it would not be this simple so won't start packing yet!!

That is odd. Don't knock it. More fool them if theres any issues further down the line

@runningmom I went up for sale in Sept, under offer mid Oct (ftb's with inheritance) offered end of Oct on my place. My buyers asked about the lack of dropped kerb when they viewed (they viewed the day after it went up) then in Jan, after surveys etc we weren't sure if they would get permission for the kerb to be dropped and the wait would be 20 weeks and none refundable fees of just over £500 - so they did not proceed. We were just coming up to the point of exchange.
I put my house back on the market at the start of Feb and went under offer again on 29th Feb. I managed to secure the same place as I was buying originally. It has been about 8 weeks since the chain was back in place, I didn't need to do much for my purchase as we were pretty much there, but .y buyers were starting from scratch and my seller ended up with a different property too. It has gone through quite quickly (all being well) from 29th Feb. That said, if I had been starting from scratch my purchase would have taken longer as it is a leasehold property, I am fortunate that I was able to reconnect my chain and my solicitor didn't have to do new/extra work on my purchase really...

Hi all, just finished reading through the last few days worth of updates from you all. It's my therapy at the moment 😌

We issued an ultimatum last week (we wanted a timeline this week and assurances our cash buyer has cash), and it triggered activity from our buyer's solicitor. Yesterday they sent more enquiries to follow up on responses we gave to the first set EIGHT weeks ago. Ahshdjshajd

They want us to pay indemnity policies totalling £400 for all sorts of weird things. Anyway we've said we're not going to commit to taking them out until we get confirmation they are ready to proceed (with their funds in place). And today we were told by our EA that the contract is now with our buyer for signing, and they should have their funds this week. Our solicitor reckons we'll start talking dates next week which feels crazyyyy after the bombshell of yesterday that they were only just coming back to enquiries.

16 weeks and counting so far...

I had my offer accepted on my onward purchase yesterday. The EA says the seller is moving into a bungalow she has inherited. I'm hoping that we will be in a chain of 3 and the chain goes no further.

My buyer offered 10 weeks ago and I know he was hoping to be talking dates soon.

I've instructed my solicitor to start searches asap and I will pay unfrint any costs (going to ring them today to push).

Any other things I can do to get this process moving faster so I don't lose my buyer?

It's only 13 weeks until the 6 week school holidays and we go away that weekend for 2 weeks,which will then mean we're in August.

REALLY need to move before then.

Anybody else stuck waiting for probate? We are a chain of three and our onward purchase is waiting for probate certificate and no one knows when that will arrive so we are just stuck twiddling our thumbs and unable to plan for a specific date. Meanwhile our buyers solicitors are messaging us in a panic saying their client will be homeless shortly and they desperately need to know when we can move. I'd love to know too!

My buyer has been round measuring for carpets this morning. We have started chatting about move dates as it seems half the chain want 17th May due to fitting it in around GCSE exams and half 20th May onwards.
My move is a 2 day move as am relocating across the country, so I called my removers to see what they recommended. They have no availability on 17th as are fully booked already! Hoping their sister company will be able to do the move, otherwise need to get more quotes in.

Has anyone packed the day before completion and then moved the stuff on the day of completion before?

Nothing ever seems to be straightforward.

Hi @noodles44 glad to hear you’re making progress.
in answer to the above this is what we did.
removals couldn’t do the date we wanted so we ended up packing after exchange and 3 days before completion (I kept absolute necessities out so we kind of camped out in the house). We then moved everything on completion day.
somehow it all works out!!

The conveyancers in the chain are taking ages to respond to each other, and that's even with me checking in regularly, and a keen vendor doing the same. It's massively infuriating - are conveyancers genuinely so busy that they can't keep on top of their correspondence, or do they prioritise their communications based on some random alignment of stars and planets?

We have exchanged!!

There was a mistake by our solicitor but after that was corrected (and after I almost cried) we have finally done it!

We move on the agreed day!

Congratulations!!🎉

Hooray!! Congratulations!!

We have finally moved house! Exchanged late Monday afternoon with completion on the Friday, so total logistical nightmare, but we did it!
Good luck to everyone else in the waiting room!

Well done @Bigbangtheory and @UtterlyQuackers hoorah!!!

My seller has been freaking out, complaining my solicitor is doing nothing and generally complaining about the pace this move is taking multiple times a day to me for weeks now. She has been up for sale for over a year and has lost 2 buyers at point of exchange, so I have tried to calm her down.
It turns out today, she isn't as ready as I am!!! Unbelievable after the fuss she has been making! Plus is older, won't use email as doesn't have a printer, so her contracts to sign are somewhere with Royal Mail right now!!!
I got my agent to call her agent, to call her solicitor to get it all sent thru to the agents so they can do the necessary stuff at the estate agents. Her solicitor is not local to her though, so if the won't accept a scanned copy for the exchange, she refuses to drive (2hr drive) so they will go in the post...
I am flabbergasted given the way she has been going on, I thought it was my solicitor holding it all up. I sign my contracts 2mo am at my agents, then off to my solicitors to hand deliver them...

I think we may move on 17th as unlikely the mortgage Co will allow us to stay longer if removals don't fit. However I remember you packed ip early @Jaq27 and am sure we can do something similar if need be. My removals called me back and said they have one slot as there was a provisional booking, it just depends who exchanges first who gets it. Fortunately their sister company has availability and will do a Fri/Sat move if not. If things stay as they are... so I just need to exchange ASAP so I can book them.

I think I have aged about 100 years in this process!! It isn't for the faint hearted is it?

We have exchanged today as well! After a near emotional breakdown this morning when my movers told me they couldn’t do the 2nd proposed date (because everyone took so long the dates agreed) we have done it. I feel a wave of relief and also panic as I have to do all the other things like cancelling current and arranging new broadband etc which is almost as stressful as the rest of the process 😂

congratulations to everyone else who has moved/exchanged.