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

[JoyfulSpring]

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

Argh! The speed at which you go from "this is never going to happen" to "OMG! I've got the removal men coming in two days and I'm too panicked to even think straight"
Admittedly not helped by moving at the worst possible time for work, but even so this process is just crazy in the way it's always finding new ways to drive you to the brink!

I've got the same thing with work, @tupster.Will be working most of the weekend to try to get as much done now. It's a project that I thankfully can crack on with minimal input from anyone else for now.

Good news--I actually slept until 6.25am this morning! I think my subconscious knows nothing is likely to progress over the weekend, so there's no need to be on maximum alert.

@Abra1t God 6.25 as a good sleep says it all about how stressful this is!

I mean I'm not gonna lie but I'm serious eye twitching it's never gonna happen mode !

Do share any tips you have for the switch. I think I have aged during this process tbh

This made me laugh (as did your post about shitting in the garden). I've been paying to store a nearly brand new range cooker for over two years now for almost the same reasons - the buyers wanted it but were already being tricky by the time the F&F form was finalised, so I kept it as a side transaction and was so pissed off with them by the time we finally did exchange that I refused to leave it. Every time I view a house to buy now I mentally measure up to see if I can fit my range cooker in (no, in most cases). Like a pp upthread's buyers, these were supposedly "cash buyers" who, oh! needed a mortgage on another property to come through before they would have, you know, actual cash, which then turned out to be not quite enough cash because a relative "let them down" on the day of exchange. They all think their lies are so original and clever, don't they! Anyway, suffice to say they didn't get their bottle of bubbly either, though I did refrain from shitting anywhere. I was quite pleased with the state of the wall where the cooker came out though.

In date is crazy! DSs house has an 8 year old electrical certificate plus newer for a change they made. He's happy with that.

He never actually asked for the boiler service as he didn't notice but his solicitor did as she noticed the now 24 month gap. But teh surveyor saw it working and its only 8 years old. I think he will pick his fights and this wont be ine of them although given they want a 31st March move and he's not tried on any funny business despite a falling market it's sad.

I could have written this myself ! I am trying my best not to panic but i don't see how we can pack the house up just this weekend as work is so busy i don't think i will be able to do anything until Friday!!
Does anyone know if you can request to book a cleaner for the new house? Or is it rude 😅?
Tbf the house was filthy both times we saw it i am sure he wont clean anything and i don't think i ll have the energy !

Agreed, I just don't know if 1st time buyers try anything on these days! We were also asked to get quotes for the windows as they are old (!) Electrical cert we have said no as it's not a legal requirement, they are welcome to get the electrics checked themselves if they wish.

Just as a note for the lies that are told, the first time we started the process we were told they were first time buyers - lie, in fact they were selling a flat. Our sellers were also liars as they were listed as "chain free". Got to what we thought was exchange and suddenly they had an onward purchase and the chain was then incomplete for months.
I am one of those people that are straight as they come and transparent, wonder if I'm doing it all wrong!

I think this is why we're all on the thread for stressed folk. Everyone lies, in my experience - buyers, sellers, estate agents, they're all as bad as each other. If you're a basically honest, basically decent person, who cleans the house you are leaving and even considers leaving chocolates or wine for the new people, you are the sucker who will end up absorbing all the stress for everyone else in the chain, who will just go their merry way, telling lies and timewasting and gazumping and gazundering and removing lightbulbs and taking all the toilet paper with them. Buying and selling houses is a microcosmic reimagining of everything that is wrong with the world.

Tbf our sellers when we were ftb were wonderful. They left us a card and instructions, place was spotless, even my mum was impressed (takes a lot!) and could be remembering it wrong but perhaps a bottle of wine. So there are good people out there somewhere..........

@movingtoreading I have just booked cleaners on checkatrade to do a deep clean the day after we move in. Staying in a hotel the first night and moving ourselves so works quite well. They're starting at 8am. The house is also filthy and it's too much for me to do. It's costly though. Just shy of £600.

@JoyfulSpring oh yes i imagine is expensive! Lovely idea to stay at a hotel ! I would rather save the money but as you say is too much to do for me as well he is a retired man in his late 60s living alone in a 4 bed house so as you imagine he does not really keep up with the house work 😅 i was hoping to be able to do it before the removals people put our staff in ! Is it cheeky to ask? I believe he mostly moved out as when we went to see it end of mid feb he was packed up !

Just thought I'd post this link here, as I know a lot of you are hoping to beat the stamp duty increase.

There isn't a link that I can see fyi

I can see the link. Strange.

@hotandpermi I can see the link on the browser but not on the android app. www.theguardian.com/money/2025/mar/06/tell-us-are-you-buying-a-house-ahead-of-the-stamp-duty-deadline

@movingtoreading I expect the removals will not wait around for you to clean, they will be against the clock and want to unload as quick as possible. Especially if you end up getting keys late in the day. You could ask them to put stuff into one or two rooms so you can clean the kitchen and bathroom(s) and then move stuff round yourself when they've gone and you're finished. It's difficult to manage. It's saving us about £1500 by hiring 2 vans and moving ourselves so I'm going to spend some of the saved money on the deep clean.

@movingtoreading I'm so paranoid about the filth in the one I'm buying that I've gone for the nuclear option and I'm putting all my stuff in storage while I rip out the toxic waste and get the basics clean and replaced. I don't want to start my life in my new house with fleas!

@Tupster is nit that bad thankfully 😅!!
@JoyfulSpring i think he has moved out most of his staff already so i was going to ask if the cleaner can go on Thursday ! All i can do is ask i guess 😅

I’ll be interested to read all the responses!

@tupster mine is as bad as you describe. Lots of animals living there and I'm worried there might be fleas. Carpets are being ripped out day 1, they're covered in suspicious stains. Also when we viewed there was a dead mouse in one of the bedrooms (hoarder owns it) that one of the cats had brought in 😵. Once we've changed carpets, bathrooms and redecorated it will be lovely!

Another day lets see what excuses I get this week. Husband swaying towards pulling out and stay where we are for another few years, enjoy our mortgage free life, then maybe consider again ( we are trying to go from house to bungalow).We def don't want to pay more stamp duty.

How long have you been waiting?

This is all so painful, I mean the thread helps, to see everyone is struggling. But it would be so much better if it were just a simple process.

So we have got some more information from our solicitor today, actually giving some explanation about the 30 odd documents sent to us with no clarification as it if they are standard or big red flags. I plan to transfer our deposit today, then hopefully we can get all documents signed and returned tomorrow, for exchange later in the week. (All others in the chain have signed) putting us on track for completion week beginning 24th. I live in in hope.