The all new buyers/sellers waiting room (x 6!) thread

[Champere]

Welcome across everyone!

We’ve got six nights until we move and the insomnia has set in!

It’s taken us three threads to move and I hope this thread is the one I graduate on….

Best of luck to everyone! May your agents be truthful, your conveyancers responsive, your lenders generous and your chain reasonable!!

What shed loads of cash? You're getting your knickers in a twist about imaginary faults far beyond anything that's actually likely.
People have surveys to find the faults that cost shed loads of cash. What are you going to find in a final visit - a tile has fallen off a wall? A tap is dripping? What are you going to suddenly find that requires unexpected thousands of pounds that has just emerged?

My knickers in a twist?! I think it's you getting all het up about this. I'm just trying to explain why a pre-exchange viewing isn't unreasonable.

Well, just drop me a line when you have that visit and you find the problem that's genuinely worth making other people's lives hell over.

I'd think that there are a few empty properties going through the sales process with frozen / burst pipes at the moment due to the weather.

Plus there's been a few instances of very strong winds which could've damaged the roof recently.

You certainly wouldn't want to exchange on an empty property at this time of year without checking it's intact!

Refusing to exchange because of a serious issue is sensible, regardless of the effect on others. If you'd exchange on a house where a major defect had arisen, just to save other people's feelings, you're quite mad!

@Tupster "What are you going to find in a final visit"

To be fair I went back a few days before exchange to measure up one of the rooms they had converted into a bedroom (loft conversion) The vendor had completely dismantled the room and removed the stairs leading up to it. Turns as it had a fault when being built (probably one man with a drill) . It came to light later on they removed it as the "room" they had created was completely unsafe the vendor was trying to pull a fast one.

They told one one that they had completely removed the room and stairs. Not even their EA knew (as EA let me in to measure up as vendor wasn't in)

When it was raised to the vendors they shrugged their shoulders and said this is why we were pushing to exchange sooner.

Gobsmacked was an understatement. I was literally there to measure for curtains

Terrible vendors.

@hotandpermi What did you do then?
Didn't your building survey (if you had one) reveal the status of the loft conversion? Or, did your solicitors do searches on building planning applications and found the conversion was unlawful?

@TartTartin pulled out.

Nothing had been flagged in the searches survey. We only had their word that's why they took it down. Whatever the reason was - I didn't trust them at that point so digging deeper into it wasn't something I was interested in.

I did find out that the EA dropped them from their books after it. It can and does happen, it's rare but you never know if you will be dealing with twats - but there will be signs.

I imagine if someone refused me a viewing prior to exchange - it's a rather large red flag 🚩 so best to check in my book.

@hotandpermi I would have pulled out, too.

It is such a dishonest act, they should have let their EA know, then EA to contact you, so that you would not wasted your time. We have to remember that we'll have to choose right kind of vendors, right kind of buyers. An ideal house does not always come with honest vendors, and a purchaser offering the highest amount does not mean a sensible / reasonable buyer.

This whole process is so painful someone needs to do a big reform to the whole buying process in the UK.

I am now waiting on my solicitor to send the property pack over and I've been waiting since before Christmas. I'm so fed up.

I know it horrible but one's buying a property likely well over a quarter million pounds and effectively a 25 year commitment. Its the only thing in our lives that is on such an extreme level. Sadly it imvolves people.too who can be very strange beasts at times! So, it's not surprising that we find it all stressful and complex.

It maybe that changes could.be made to be more like Scotland but the more I hear I'm not sure that's as stress free and straightforward as we are led to believe.

Turns out my DS solicitor is also waiting on some starter pack - that's following a late November offer! Although mortgage agreed and survey report received so the process has made some progress.

I do think if conveyancers started charging more and took less work on that would help the system

I agree conveyancing seems very reasonable in cost.

I always refused to do fixed pricing in my business as I knew a handful of clients would use me as their PA! I agree with your view.

Urgh just been to see a rental. They're all so bloody depressing. This one was actually quite nice but tiny. And nearly £3k a month. Seeing another tomorrow but really wish we hadn't agreed to rent.

Would this ring alarm bells, we're close to completion and are supposed to exchange on Wednesday and I booked to do a pre-exchange viewing and the seller apparently is working back to back and can't accommodate a pre-exchange viewing? I'm not sure how to proceed.

Ask Agent to accompany a viewing? Or delay exchange and see if that puts a firework up their backside?

Depends how desperate you are to exchange I guess.

My mortgage offer expires end of January and they won't extend.
Apparently the agent doesn't have the keys so can't conduct the viewing

Alarm bells would be ringing @MotherOfRatios because the sellers aren’t trying to find a solution. Why didn’t they give their EA a set of keys? Why can’t they now give them a set of keys so they can do a viewing?
I would be saying No viewing No Exchange.

Bearing in mind the thread topic this time yesterday, @MotherOfRatios, yes, I'd be concerned the owner is hiding something.

She should give keys to the agent and let them show you round.

My solicitor has requested a video to be sent

Did you get the video yet? I'm invested now!
We actually completed and moved into our new place a week ago but I'm still following to see how everyone else is getting on.

Some interesting discussion around pre exchange viewings in the last couple of days. Hope there's nothing sinister @MotherOfRatios

Its been helpful for me as my developer (we are buying new build using their assisted move service) called me today to let me know the build programme is delayed, but mentioned the FTBs buying our house want to come and look at the house again. They'd had a survey (home buyer's report) back on 1st December and the surveyor flagged his damp meter had detected damp on our back wall in the dining room. They must have had the report for weeks with no contact so we assumed they weren't going to take any further action.

Now she wants to come and look at the damp but hasn't mentioned instructing a damp survey or similar. Maybe she's bringing someone's dad? You know, just a general useful dad to advise if he thinks it's a problem. When she comes she won't see any issues as we haven't seen any issues, wall is smooth painted plaster, no damp patches, no crumbling, no smells, no condensation in that room.

I will have to do a mad dash to get house photo perfect again (that's a choice, not a requirement). I think we could use the good will since they will effectively have to wait for our house to be ready (new date April). Our buyers only viewed once and their 'memory' of the house will likely be of the photos rather than what they saw in a 10 minute visit 2 months ago.

The developers need us to exchange to secure our build which means our buyers also need to exchange potentially 3 months before completion. I totally get that they would want to check the house out again. The exchange prior to completion did make me think about insurance. We don't need to insure our new build until it's handed over as the builders insure it. But I'm assuming my buyers will need to insure our house as a condition of the exchange.

What happens if the house gets struck by lightning after we exchange? I was planning to keep my combined buildings and contents active until we move. Whose insurance would pay and who would get the money?

We exchange Wednesday so I've asked send it before Wednesday.

We complete on Tuesday, luckily already got our new house mid December (although did have a holiday booked for over Christmas which slowed things down) so have been able to move ourselves rather than get removals company but this weekend has been the last final push of big furniture etc and my body is broken. Top tip if you hire a van get a tail lift. We have not and it is hard work! DS17 enlisted his friend today which only cost me a McDonalds and was incredibly useful even if just to keep everybody on their best behaviour and not snapping at each other when yet another wardrobe was dropped on their foot etc

Does anyone know how much of a problem
Is this and how it can be fixes ?

"High damp readings were recorded to the lounge chimney breast. This is due to trapped hydroscopic salts in the plaster."

How old is the house? I'm pretty sure our 1900s terrace had 'salts' in all the walls and we didn't do anything about it in the 15 years we lived there. Maybe we should have but it didn't seem to cause any issues.