The all new buyers/sellers waiting room (x 7!) thread

[JoyfulSpring]

Starting a new thread so we can continue the conversation...

No news at all this week so far. The sellers of our new house were supposed to be having their new build signed off today. That's what I was told last week but no update as of yet. We've had to go buy the kids new uniform as the shop is only open Monday-Friday and this is the only chance we'll get to go. I don't like having to do these things without the certainty of exchange so can only hope that things are still happening.

WE HAVE EXCHANGED!!!

We complete tomorrow and will have our keys mid-morning!

I NEVER want to go through this process ever again.

It has taken 19 weeks for us, we found our house on 8th October and had an offer accepted the same day.

We are FTB, moving from a rental, so no chain for us and the house we have bought is a deceased estate so no onwards chain there either. Our delay has been land registry and a ransom strip of land in the back garden which has never been registered. Land Registry do not do ANYTHING quickly - even expedited, they do not move fast. I firmly believe if I hadn't called them myself last week, we would still be waiting for things to be actioned.

My solicitor has also not been the greatest, she sat on the file for a long time and there were matters she could have been chasing and resolving while we were waiting for Land Registry.

By biggest bit of advice to anyone doing this, make the phone calls and send the emails - you are paying for a service and you are not being a pain in the ass by chasing.

Realistically, ours hasn't taken very long at all - national average thereabouts, but it has felt ridiculously long at times.
We now have the longest wait tonight - but we will busy ourselves with packing the last of our boxes ready for action stations in the morning.

I have done a happy dance, I have cried and I don't know whether I want to get drunk and celebrate or throw up with excitement!!

Good luck to you all following this process - you will get there!!

We've moved to our rental (which I don't think I hate as much as I did a few days ago but still not sure). Completing tomorrow and hoping that the market bloody improves.

To be honest I'll be using it myself, letting my sister and her family borrow it and then just letting it out at other times. We'd want to use it mostly for weekends in the Spring and Autumn because we have a holiday home in France we tend to use in the summer. This one is not in the warmer South it's North East so often a cold wind blowing. Both DH grew up in Bridlington and I grew up in South Devon so both spent a lot of time at the beach as kids and teens. Now we live in one of the most landlocked places in UK so glad to skip off to the coast. We are so glad to escape we don't care if it's cold and windy.

Congrats @Icanflyhigh brilliant news!

Well we are on last two enquiries but my split or is just waiting for paper work as it's just a formality but I should be picking up my contract to read and sign. Thank Christ my solicitor is so on the ball !! Last two enquiries should be in next week and then we will be good to go.

Having had the chain collapse twice (our buyer last lots their buyers and found new ones in record time. Then my onward purchase survey flagged subsidence 🥲 we found an another property and the whole chain has agreed to complete before end march.

Fuck me my buyers have basically been angels since onward purchase has nearly given me a nervous breakdown. I have had several nervous breakdowns starting since listing in July 🙃but so glad we stuck with our buyers and didn't relist and they found buyers for their property so chain was reconnected

Goes to show that it isn't just your onward purchase that can make a break a situation selling to nice people makes a massive difference.

I feel like there's an actual possibility this might happen.

Jealous of everyone one that's exchanged and it completed. Next time we move the only way I'm going out is in a box. I'm so bloody not kidding !!

Excuse the typos - there are many. I blame the stress

@Icanflyhigh congratulations!

Our date has now been pushed back to 14 March now. Our sellers new build has been pushed back to be signed off next week now as it wasn't quite ready for today. It's so frustrating.

Congratulations to all those exchanging and completing, lovely to see 😀
We got through our mortgage offer today, took under a week which is amazing 🤩
Don't want to tempt fate but feel like it might actually happen this time 🙏 This is property 3 and we have been trying since 2021...........

Enquiries have been with vendor’s solicitor two weeks today, I do not know if some or any have been answered. My solicitor is quite good so I’m hoping that he is on it..

I do get direct emails from him but I also have an app with the solicitors firm on which the tick box says ‘we expect replies back in 7-10 days’ to this stage of the process. Presume this is generic.

Im bottom of the chain so how proactive should I be in chasing or should I just let them get on with it? Everyone in the chain wanted to be in and done by the end of March.

My buyer’s equity transfer of his house to his property company has hit a snag because the solicitor on that side isn’t on the lender’s panel. Apparently he has a new lawyer but we don’t know who it is yet.

@Icanflyhigh, congratulations! I had a different experience with the LR and an expedite request in 2023. They actioned it in 48 hours! Clearly it's hit and miss.

I'm waiting for an update on my parents' purchase. Hopefully the searches are back now, and - in conjunction with the contract pack from the vendor's sols - can be reviewed and enquiries raised. Might ask the agent if they've had an update yet.

Always chase esp if in a chain. Although it's good the chain are all aiming for end march or before !!

What a day.

our chain had agreed to complete on the 25th. We have transferred our funds to the solicitor. DH rang them today to confirm for Tuesday and they told him they were just waiting for a form back from us. They had not sent us the ‘form’, which turned out to be the actual fucking contract. We both had to sign in ink, before 5pm, to have any hope of completion on Tuesday, and I was 2 hours away on a training course for work. I had to ditch the course and drive home to sign it…

Whereupon they dropped into the conversation that the buyer’s solicitor had only just sent a form to the bank to request the release of funds yesterday (I think, it all got rather confusing!). This could take up to 5 working days. This should have been done weeks ago.

We phoned everyone we could to ask them to chase the solicitors to expedite it, and in panic we actually went to the buyer’s house (in the next village to us). He was a bit shocked as his solicitor had told him we had already exchanged on the 18th!

I’m so fucking angry and tired and sad. Our two year old is having to stay with my in laws because the flat is full of piles of boxes and just not safe for her and I miss her and just want to get moved!

I finally have a proposed completion date of the 7th, but not exchanged as yet so everything is still feeling very uncertain and I don't think I can give notice on my rental until we have exchanged. I have told the solicitor this but they are not very responsive, and seems as I'm bottom of the (short) chain it doesn't really matter what I want. All very frustrating.
I have started packing though and getting some quotes for removals so it's starting to feel more real.

What a day you had. Unbelievable!

We are stuck in 'waiting to exchange' limbo. All enquiries returned and satisfied. My buyers are still concerned about the completion date. We are moving to new build, on track for completion end of April. The developers give a long stop date of 6m after estimated completion (standard practice to give them time for anything to go wrong).

Buyers' mortgage offer expires end of May, and mine in early June. I can see how December on the paperwork might be alarming for them but surely their solicitor needs to explain how normal that is where the vendors onward purchase is a new build. I see how things could go wrong in an off plan purchase,and in fact houses on my development were delayed because an underground power cable had to be relocated. However my house is coming up nicely, the builders are almost up to roof stage, where the standard time to complete is 8 weeks after.

The risk of my buyers not exchanging is that I could lose my reservation, effectively I only had 6 weeks to exchange, we are now 14 weeks in. I've paid a reservation fee and also 50% of the cost of my flooring and kitchen upgrade. To give some reassurance to our buyers ive offered to complete by end June regardless of whether our house is ready. My solicitor has been really cagey about offering this to the buyers and called me to ask did I appreciate we would be making overselves voluntarily homeless (yes, I did). He's finally put this to the buyers' solicitor who have come back asking to fix the completion to end of May, in line with their mortgage offer expiry.

I feel we are already taking a risk, and am not prepared to do this. I spoke to our assisted move management team yesterday and asked if they can please go back to all concerned and talk some sense. If we lose our reservation, our buyers will either have extreme further delays whilst we find a new house, or will lose our house entirely. I don't think I can go through this again, I'd probably just take the house off the market and call it a loss.

Let's see what today brings.

@The3rdWatermelon that sounds so stressful and frankly unbelievable! Do you think you will complete on 25th?

Of your solicitor is on leave and their emails are being "monitored" is it u likely someone else can pick up exchange ? We were supposed to exchange next week but our
Solicitor is on leave 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Congratulations to those exchanging / completing today or who did so earlier this week.

Our chain has all agreed on a completion date. We are told all enquiries are now satisfied so we are just waiting for the solicitor at the bottom to send the signal that they are happy to exchange.

They should be although possibly being monitored by a secretary rather than another solicitor. Worth calling.

Sorry I'm a day late but congrats @Icanflyhigh !

We have also completed. Not feeling particularly elated sadly!

What's happening @kirinm? Are you searching for a new house?

Yes we moved into a rental only to discover none of the windows downstairs open and it has an unpleasant smell that we can't get rid of because the windows don't open and there's no fresh air. We need to move but having just left our very clean home to pay £££ to live in this has been really depressing. I just hope we can find something to buy soon as the housing market is seriously demoralising!