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

[MovingToPlan]

The previous thread is almost full! We've had lots of completions, exchanges, offers accepted, maddening conveyancing teams, strange requests, and worries to last a lifetime. Welcome welcome.

Catch up here: The all new buyers/sellers waiting room (continued) thread

My update is that everything seems to be lining up and we're looking at exchange next week. 🤞 Hoping to complete a few weeks after that.

Good luck to you, whatever stage you're at in the process.

Can I ask fellow buyers, are your solicitors fixed quote or have you got an estimate with a clause that it could be more if there’s unexpected or additional work. The estimates I got were MUCH more than my conveyancing selling fee recently, although we did get quotes from more local solicitors than big companies due to previous bad experience. Bit worried how much extra it might be - it’s an old property so I’m expecting the unexpected!

@lingmerth we're North Kent and ours took 5 days. Have a look on the council's website and it gives you their current turnaround, they vary so much by location!

So our searches are done, survey done, enquiries done...... now we're literally just waiting for the couple to divorce and get their money order. Surely there's a way the solicitors or someone can hold the funds for them until they get their financial order but we can still complete?!

Ours is set out but yes, If anything additional crops up we need to pay more.

We're not selling so have nothing to compare to. Attached our quote.

They also aren't based anywhere near to where we are buying btw.

@Sunnyday89 I think selling is always cheaper than buying.

We were quoted £960 for selling and it was spot on.

Buying is £1900 but we're buying a leasehold property so it's more.

The original house we were buying was freehold and we were quoted £1400. We've still got to pay some of that as we withdrew from the sale after the survey picked up rising damp.

I'm thinking the bill will be £3k in total 🥴

We were fixed fee (and paid a bit extra to use this conveyancer, as if it fell through we didn't have to pay their fees, only the disbursements). It was just over £1,800.00 for a leasehold / shared ownership property with gifted partial deposit.

Spoke to my mortgage broker and the EA. Slightly less panicked.

The consensus was that it is “borderline insanity” to have expected everything to get to ex and comp within 4 weeks and that the link in question should have pre empted this and needs to get their mortgage broker to fix the issue even if they lose out on their original rate.

Just waiting to hear back now.

@MovingToPlan any update yet. Has it all gone to plan and you have exchanged?

@AGirlsNameIsAryaStark not sure if this will help but we are divorced, had to live in same house whilst selling, and we had no way of getting a financial order in advance. Our solicitor got us to sign a letter saying what the split would be, so each share will be paid out on completion day but simply split between two accounts. We don't have dependent children though so maybe our arrangement is more simple? Anyway, just a thought.

@GoingDownLikeBHS thank you, our seller is actually the estate agent so you'd think she would know she could do something like that, but she seems to be insisting on getting their financial order, she won't even exchange without it. The husband has already moved out too and they don't have any children either, so hopefully its not going to take that long.

Nope, we've dug our heels in over moving the completion date and others in the chain need to clear it with work etc. We'll find out next week I expect. At this point idgaf, I refuse to be rushed into such a complicated situation. Happy to exchange whenever, but I'm not completing on the 17th. We should have exchanged weeks ago! This wouldn't have been an issue if we had!

@NoWordForFluffy thanks for this.
I did what you said and discovered my potential house is known by a name not a number. Could delay the whole application so have advised my solucitor. Website says searches taking 20 days😭

We've also had a response that our buyer didn't really need to move in 3 weeks, but he just thought he may as well. He had no idea it might be an issue. Anyway, all calm now, back to sorting things out etc.

So new query now - how much "making good" are you expected to do when you leave? Our solicitor suggesting that things should be clean, tidy and in good repair - the issue is that's entirely subjective. I'm seeing houses with a view to buying now that are not clean and tidy to begin with - am I too to suggest that even though they look like a war zone now they be clean, good repair etc by moving day?! What is "reasonable"? Apparently if we remove anything from the wall we have to fill the screw holes etc.

What would your expectations be both as a buyer and seller?

My buyer is refusing to change completion date. FML

@GoingDownLikeBHS, I'd just like reasonably clean, to be honest. I've moved into done filthy places, which is just rude!

I always leave houses clean and tidy. Don't think I've ever filled holes though (other than ones we'd created in rentals). Not spotless, but fine to move straight into without spending time making it clean.

I think clear and reasonably clean is expected. I gave mine a really good clean, even spot vac’d the carpets to remove any stains. I just felt that’s what I’d want! But, I wasn’t also buying so didn’t have the mad rush - if so I don’t know if I’d have put in quite as much effort.

Oh and now my vendor and their vendor.

After everyone messing us about for WEEKS, we are the unreasonable ones in the chain. Of course

Have been keeping up to date since my last post.

So our update is that we thought it was bizarre that we haven't heard anything about our vendors onward purchase so decided to chase. Our vendors had originally stated that they would move as slowly or as quickly as we wanted to. We should have clarified what that meant as we assumed it meant they were willing to go into rented.

Our vendors have now found somewhere. Their vendors have found somewhere, which is a house of a divorcing couple. One of the couple is moving into rented and another is now looking for somewhere, so the chain is not yet complete and we don't know whether there will be a further onward chain. Our buyer is in rented so it's currently an enclosed chain of six.

Our sale is ready to exchange. Our EA are saying it's not really fair on our buyer to have to wait for an indeterminate amount of time when she is ready to exchange, which I completely appreciate. Our EA is saying someone will need to break the chain as it's too long. So she has called our vendors EA to ask if our sellers will go into rented. He said he thinks it's unlikely but he'll ask. We're now waiting for the response.

Any advice on what to do please? We're porting our mortgage so can't really be the ones to break the chain. We really do not want to lose our buyer as the housing market at the minute is obviously awful. I'm just a bit 🙃 even DH is stressed and he rarely gets stressed!

Oh wow ... think you need a glass of wine or big bar of chocolate!

Both. In liberal quantities.

I think we're going to have to complete on the 17th. I don't think we're going to have much choice.

Fuck sake @MovingToPlan its like people don't want you to move. I think id have had a full on meltdown if I was you.

There have been some odd enquiries come through today from my solicitor from our buyers.

One about the velux windows and wanting building reg certificates. An odd question and not sure where it's come from considering all the houses of this design here have them and I have already handed our solicitor a massive pack of paperwork, certificates and stuff from when the house was built which shows the specification of the build.

The other odd one is about the new part of the estate being built about a quarter of a mile away and will it affect the enjoyment of the property for the purchasers. I mean enjoyment is a relative term. I enjoy picking the dead skin on my feet in my house, doesn't mean the new people will want to as well...

We're officially in! It's a massive sigh of relief. We've bought a pretty big renovation project so it's now officially time to start calling the builders for works to be done

To add to that, everyone else on this journey I'm wishing you all so much luck as it's been hell on earth for us and I know many people go through the same things.

Morning all….
Up early as anxiety dreaming and awake early. Was told yesterday I need to move to another site within my job which is a massive difference to the setting I’m in. It’s because I’m good at my job and I’m in to turn the setting around but I’m not overly keen (can’t refuse). This and the fact if we don’t move end of July/august then it will be September which is the new job 😩😩

Honestly, the thought of a house move, divorce, moving alone with kids and new job all in the same month is a lot!!!!

Thats it really.

🥳🥳🥳🥳