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.

@tazgirl it’s a stressful time mostly because there is not much you can control. I found and do find myself obsessing over it but then I have to move before September (teacher) and as my house needs loads of work and I’m moving alone with two children I needed the summer hols but know that your timeline and needs are of no interest to anyone else in the chain! I’ve been annoying my EA/solicitor but there’s been a few times where I genuinely feel if I’d not emailed that day something wouldn’t have happened.
We are close to exchange now (or at least 3 of the 5 houses are ready), but whether that will happen in a week, two or three I don’t know: I’m guessing another 3-4 weeks.
Good luck everyone starting or on the cusp of exchange. I’m going to drop things to charity and do some labelling for f boxes to feel I’m in control. Happy weekend all.

We've had our mortgage offer through now and it's still not clear to me whether we'll actually be able to buy the property or not. There's a whole load of legalese and it all sounds very grey - so cue lots of waiting for the conveyancers to do their bit. I emailed my vendors estate agent to tell them that the paperwork is now with my solicitor and the estate agent basically said to have some patience. Sigh. The FTBers at the bottom of our chain are getting very antsy and my purchase is the hold up, so of course I'm feeling a bit impatient!

This has all cost us a load more money so we can no longer afford removals folk, so we will also be hiring a luton van and doing it all ourselves.

I've volunteered for a work trip next week just to get away from it all!

@RichTea90 congratulations and good luck.

That's what we will be doing when we move. All our stuff is in a storage unit. I went yesterday and looked longish at our super king mattress.

How your move goes well and your emptying of boxes is short.

Yesterday was the day we were supposed to move and obviously didn't, so I spent the day gardening and doing odd jobs around the house for the viewings on Monday.
My solicitor emailed me to say they were still waiting on one question for the solicitor of the new build I was supposed to be buying. I'm not entirely sure why they are bothering... had we been able to exchange shortly after he through his toys out of the pram I would have got it, but we are two weeks too late now, and we still can't exchange even if he wanted to - absolutely pointless in my eyes...

I was having a read through our solicitors questions to our sellers solicitor. He mentions the environmental search says it's a surface water flood risk. Anyone have any experience of that? They said they'd let the mortgage provider know.

Thanks @BG2015 . Completing in two weeks so now trying to sort through all my crap, organising deliveries (having to buy most furniture). Got the moving crates and person with a van booked. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks!

@Marshmallowbrain yes. My purchase is high risk surface flood water (suburbs of a large city). I panicked but spoke to house. Insurance who said the quote considers your postcode and will take into account the risk when quoting so it’s a non ish issue as I can still get buildings and contents insurance which is all the mortgage provider will need to know (I had to send my quote over for it to be passed on).

Brilliant! Thank you. We are London suburbs and I did just read it's quite common in those areas.

Glad we don't have to get additional insurance. Thank you

@BG2015 how have you stored your mattress? We have rented a shipping container in a lot for storage and have moved most of the non essential stuff into it to declutter the house for sale but there is likely to be a period (if all goes well) between our house selling and the new build being ready when we need to store the rest of the furniture. I only bought the new mattress in Jan and wondering how we will store it so it doesn’t get damaged?

We've got a shipping container too. Brand new site so all of the containers are immaculate inside. We just bought some removal blankets from Amazon for £20 and wrapped everything in them.

Our whole house is in that storage unit bar our TV unit and TV which is in my parents spare room where we are currently living.

We're away for the weekend so we can sleep in a decent size bed and escape for some peace for 2 days.

Yes we will likely be staying with my parents in the intervening period too, as wonderful as it is that we can do it I won’t say I’m looking forward to it!

@Marshmallowbrain I think pretty much all houses are high risk to surface water, the drainage isn't sufficient.

@tazgirl , I would suggest heavy duty pallet wrap for your mattress. Wrap it in several layers and it will be fine. The film sticks to itself so it's easy to do. It's good for protecting any kind of upholstered furniture too.

Who else has spent the weekend optimistically packing/cleaning?

I've realised that it's going to take way longer than I thought to pack and sort everything @TiredCatLady ! I have slowly been decluttering over the last few months but it's amazing what I've been able to squirrel away in drawers etc. I've packed my winter clothes away and have tackled the storage in my living room. Really trying to not take anything I don't need/use with me!

@TiredCatLady ive been doing a bit every weekend or a night in the week for about 4-6weeks. I started decluttering about 10 months ago! I can’t tell you how many bags have gone to charity and how many things I’ve given away in Face book eg fridge, kids’ sledges, vases etc. I do love organising and I’m not a huge hoarder so I actually quite enjoy it all. I underestimated how much bubble wrap you get through though as well as boxes.
Ive bought some huge laundry cheap bags too for bedding and coats etc.
Just need to get everyone ready to exchange in the next month!!!!! 🤞

On another note, I’ll need to organise nearer the time internet provider and tv packages. I have zero idea how all this works (my ex would do this 😔), so any good deals/companies?? Also, how does your old tv link up to new provider/product in new house?! Does someone have to come out to link it?

@runningmom , regarding internet and TV, I'd say don't necessarily go with the cheapest. I can recommend Sky, and as a new customer, you can probably get a competitive deal. I would avoid BT based on the experience of friends.

For broadband, if you are a new customer, it depends on what the set-up is at your new place. If there isn't a broadband (ideally fibre) connection already, then your chosen provider will arrange for Openreach to come out to set it all up. You can compare deals on a comparison website.

If you go with Sky for TV and want a dish, they will install this and give you a Q box, which links to your TV, and set this up for you. Or they have a new streaming service. Or you can get an Amazon firestick (for example) to stream a wide range of channels. Or if there is a traditional aerial at your new place, you can get basic channels via Freeview. Best thing is to google the options as there are many permutations depending on what you want. Almost all TVs will be compatible with whatever you decide to go with, unless yours is really old. The only exception is Sky Glass (Sky TV via wifi), for which you need to buy a specific TV. The other streaming devices connect to most TVs via an HDMI port.

@ClematisBlue49 thank you. I’m panicking with two teenagers (one very angry we are moving as it’s due to separation), so of all the jobs to do internet and tv is most important! Silly question, can you set the internet up to be ready on move in day?

Here is to a week of movement everyone!!

@runningmom all that stuff bothers me as well. I don't even know what I need Wi-Fi and broadband for and even if that is two different things. STBEH did it all. I'm assuming to watch tv I just plug it in and tell the licensing people I have moved?

As long as you have two weeks between exchange and completion, yes. You'd usually just call your current supplier if you're still in contract and tell them you're moving, where to and when, and they do the rest. If you're out of contract, go onto USwitch or similar and see the best deals.

If you're able to swap, don't forget Top Cashback or Quidco as you can earn money for taking on new broadband.

Our broker has confirmed at 9am that the mortgage offer is now with the solicitor. I followed up with yet another chase on the solicitor to provide us with timelines. I feel like the vendors are going to get very annoyed if we are not able to exchange and complete by the end of the week.

Let's see if we can get a bloody response from the solicitor today.

You can also tether laptops etc to your phone if you have a decent data package. That's probably what I'll do until my broadband is set up.

@sugarbyebye im so rubbish at technical stuff and scared I’ll get massively ripped off. I need to get us a new and second TV for the house but no idea what I need and don’t want to spend more than £500 from my dwindling equity I’ve kept back.

We're with BT and have the EE network backup option - we're using that at the moment until full fibre is installed on Weds. We don't have brilliant connection in every room of the house, but it's fine for the next few days. I mucked about with the installation dates before we exchanged so unfortunately we've had to muddle along without broadband for longer than I'd hoped. It's been ok though.

The house and garden are all tidy for out two viewings this evening - wish me luck - it would be so good if one of them offers something sensible, so that I don't lose my new build :/... fingers crossed everyone!