The all new buyers/sellers waiting room (continued x4) thread!

[TheEnglishSystemSucks]

As @fromtheshires is in their new abode, and we've almost filled up the last thread - hope people don't mind me starting a new one.

My situation: waiting on survey reports before enquires/searches can start - so expect i'll be here for all 40 pages.

Hope exchanges and completions come quickly for all and no-one has the christmas 'will we won't we'.

Old thread here: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5105250-the-all-new-buyerssellers-waiting-room-continued-x3-thread?page=40

Hoping to exchange this week and complete on 6th sept. The legal process is all done and there’s 3 of us in the chain.
estate agents have said everyone has agreed the completion date but I feel like I can’t trust them until the solicitor confirms it!

@Yemelade do you mean completion day (the day you move)? Exchange day is when the contracts are exchanged, and usually seperate (after exchange, you can't back out without penalty). For exchange day, a nice bottle of bubbly might be worth it. For completion day, a decent removal company (ideally one who did all the packing the day before), copious cleaning supplies and an idea of which local takeaway is decent might just be a good plan...

The terminology makes no sense, does it?!

To be honest, I have no idea!! Our buyers have been in contact with us directly several times (almost every other day) trying to hurry along the process, and they are desperate to be in before September. My solicitor didn't spell out that exchange or completion meant, but I told them I wanted to be moved out and handing over keys on 30th which they confirmed would be fine though i havent had any documentation to confirm. I'm hoping there won't be more delays! And yes, the terminology is extremely confusing!

We're lucky to have a storage unit so about 75% of our belongings are already gone! Details of takeaways is a really good idea. We're in the city centre and there is copious choice but not necessarily copious nice food!

This is quite a good guide to the terminology: https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/home-buying-and-selling-jargon/

What you need to remember is that noone is committed to anything until you have exchanged, and it is not normally recommended to exchange contracts and complete (move) on the same day (though some people do). Most people have a few weeks between to get things sorted.

@Yemelade its strange the buyers are contacting you to hurry things along, its mostly out of your hands. They need to be hassling their solicitor.

I'd call your solicitor to get a handle on what's happening, to be honest. You may be working towards something which isn't happening on Friday!

Have you at least signed the sale contract?

I missed the 30th August but not sure that will happen! Unless you are going a simultaneous exchange/completion, but you would surely know about that? For exchnage, the solicitors need your consent. I would be calling your solicitor to see exactly which stage you are at, and if you are really moving on Friday.

If your buyers get in touch, refer them to the solicitors and agents asap.

Hi everyone. I'm about to instruct surveyors. Can anyone give me an idea of how much it will cost or is it area and house size dependant?

The one I'm looking at gradually increased costs per size. A L3 survey on a 3 bed Victorian terrace in my part of London is £895 inclusive of VAT

We just paid £350 for a level 2 survey on a 4 bed extended house in the North East

I have had one reply with a quote by email as I requested. £425.
i have had a second firm acknowledge that I wanted an email contact but they like to give the personal touch so can they ring me? I rang them, didn't remember my name to pronounce it properly, the person I needed was on another call so could they ring tomorrow? I said I would ring them as I'm busy tomorrow but I wanted a quote by email and if that wasn't possible I'd go with someone else. I'm minded to go with number one as they have respected my request. My house is in the Pennines. Any guidance, as always, appreciated.

Received a confirmation email today that completion is happening Friday 30th 🙌 thank goodness for that! Though we can't obtain the keys to our rental until 3pm that day apparently!

Could you share details of who you used? We contacted 6 based in newcastle and northumberland ans not one has replied!

Google Alan Potter Surveyor Sunderland I'm not sure how large an area he covers and his website leaves a bit to be desired but he is very responsive to emails.

Feeling so relieved that our buyers survey came back ok. I was irrationally worried there would be major problems with our house that we didn't know about. Like so worried I couldn't sleep last night! But all is fine, they've just had the recommendation of an electrical check, a gas check and a drainage check.
I don't think they even need the first 2 as we have a recent electric safety cert and a boiler gas safe cert so maybe we can even save them some money on those. Obviously happy to let them get the extra surveys if they want.
God I was honestly imagining knotweed / subsidence / new roof needed / whatever.
You name it, I've stressed about it 😂.
Now we need to get our one done for our purchase so I'll be getting myself worked up about all the same things on the other side soon!
I actually think if I make it to completion without having some sort of breakdown it will be a miracle.

We have had / will have had 4 off market viewings by the end of this week and pics were taken yesterday so hoping for some more interest by the weekend.

How many viewings would you expect in the first couple of weeks?

Feel sick with nerves/stress! Still haven't exchanged but completion date still aiming for this Friday so we just had to go ahead and book the removals last week, who are coming to pack tomorrow.
Whole chain seem ready to go just waiting on our buyer, bottom of the chain, to have his funds finally arrive from overseas. His family came to have a final look and ask a few questions last night as the buyers are flying from overseas tonight ready for Friday's completion.

If exchange doesn't happen today then tomorrow is going to feel awful having everything packed up. This is not how I wanted this to happen!

Any other FTB feeling a bit overwhelmed by information overload?

Trying to process the survey and now all the searches.
Things are being pointed out and it is sounding all quite daunting...but also don't think any of it is really serious. More like the surveyor being a bit extra to cover themselves.

Feeling a bit stressed and worried we are going to end up with jobs we can't afford though 😵‍💫

I might be over 40, but I'm really feeling the absence of my dad now.
He was my 'go to' for the 'grown up' stuff.

Do you have any friends who are builders? If so get them to read the survey and they can tell you what is actually an issue and what isn't. In my experience surveys can make it sound like the house is about to disintegrate into a pile of dust when actually its perfectly fine.

@Littletreefrog I don't have any trades people really.
I did pass some parts on to a friend who works in construction and she got a roofer to look at the report. He thought it wasn't an urgent issue at all.

I'm trying to get quotes for a few things, but I'm not getting responses to emails.
Some places won't quote as I don't live there.

I didn't think it would be so hard to just get a rough idea of costs.

My partner is an electrician and a quote can take him anything from an hour to a day.. obviously depends on the job but it is time consuming and expensive to do. I have to say I'm not sure he'd come out to quote for a place that you don't yet own. Appreciate that isn't at all helpful.

We aren't FTB but are first time sellers and I'm feeling overwhelmed. We've planned to sell for years but now that we are in the process I feel anxious.

@kirinm I'm perhaps just being naive about what can and can't be done via email and pictures etc.
I was hoping I could get an approximate idea of works just so we could see if the purchase was viable, then get trades people round to officially quote once we are moved in.

I'm just worried as we have no idea of costs if we commit to a purchase that needs more work than we have budgeted for.

Viewd "plan B" house. Looked ok in pictures but has been left to rack and ruin by current owners and we don't want a project so it's a no from us. Vendor of plan A house no longer picking up the phone. Waiting for damp and timber survey/joist survey but feels less and less likely that we will be able/want to buy it. Looking at getting quotes for loft conversion instead next week....

Have you asked the surveyor? Did you get a detailed survey?

@kirinm it was 'just' a level 2 survey we got.
I've had a couple of people look at it, and they think it's just been worded (and graded) as urgent risks so they cover themselves.
On top of the roof and guttering, they say all windows need to be considered for replacement, internal doors are not safe (glass, original I think from when built so I guess regulations have changed since the late 80's).
Even lack of sealant around the downstairs loo was marked as a medium priority and risk of damage etc. I know I can deal with that one myself!

I don't think the surveyor will give advice on costs.
Every statement was finished with a line about being advised to get quotes before we proceed with the sale.