The all new buyers/sellers waiting room (8) lies lies and the stamp duty deadline

[hotandpermi]

Continuing on the convo- title based on the theme of the last thread

Good luck for today to everyone who needs to exchange or complete! I wonder around what time I'll hear that we have completed? We don't get a 'warning' email like for exchange, do we? 😂

@Nextdoor55 to be fair, I think this is common practice and our solicitors did advise for a visit before exchange to make sure the house was still as we first viewed it. That was our intention, but with all the chaos and the rush in the end we dropped it.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about the house being packed and untidy - as a buyer, that's what I would expect the house to be, for imminent completion! But I think if they haven't taken measurements already, it might be just that, really. They might want to start ordering furniture that takes time to arrive, maybe? Regardless, as PP said, I would be suspicious if I was refused the viewing! I hope it goes well and there are no hidden motives to visit.

How much have you paid basic fees for your solicitors so far? I’m looking at £1500 x 2 (buying and selling) plus VAT.

plus all the little additions. Just under 4.5k inc VAT for £450k purchase and sale.

Almost bang on 2k inc VAT. Purchase only with first time buyer nil stamp duty paperwork and all the little bits and pieces.

I feel like the legal side of our buying/selling is basically on hold with the conveyancers until the SDLT deadline is passed. Which is fine, I understand, but I’m just going to remain anxious until our enquiries start… it’s been two + weeks now and we don’t have anything relating to our purchase. Our buyers want to be in in May - surely not?!

In the meantime we’ve received our survey results and it’s been a bit of a reality check. Our purchase house is pretty old and I know surveys are always quite negative, but there’s issues with the roof and the insulation, and concerns that the double glazing in a number of the windows have blown and is causing mould. We didn’t see any of this on our viewing.

Realistically we’re going to have to ask for a reduction on the price so we can fix these issues, but our seller was pretty stubborn in previous negotiations.

I’m really nervous and my feet are getting cold!

@HavenSprings well when we actually exchanged I got a call to say this is defo happening today - money is going up the chain. I didn’t realise the money goes up the chain and then comes back down again.

when we sold our house and that completed I got a congratulations you have completed call the new buyers will collect the keys from the estate agent. We had vacated by 12 but I think they didn’t get the keys until about 3 but that was a 6 people chain !

I don’t know what will happen Friday as technically because we broke the chain yesterday . We are the first part of the chain to complete Friday.

Yes very normal these days. We were advised by our solicitor to arrange a final viewing just before exchange last time we moved house.

@hotandpermi yes, that's why I hoped for a similar email on completion! Like 'Hello, we have now released the funds so as soon as these arrive you will have completed', but nothing of the sort so far. My solicitor has been uncommunicative all the way, so I don't have my hopes up. I'll just chase in the afternoon, if still nothing by then!

Good luck for tomorrow!

When my DD renegotiated she had a builder go in and provide a detailed quote for everything on the survey that wasn't clear on offer.

DD works in an EA so she was pretty ballsy on offer as she knows that market and was again on renegotiation but also fair and had survey and builder evidence.

She was also prepared to walk away as there are 200 homes on her road so the prices are quite standard with a limited range for improvement and thousands of pounds of repair work really wouldn't affect the price at all, so had to be factored in. But she also knew if she pulled out another one would come on the market at some point.

I recall on our first house we picked the keys up just before the EA closed at 5pm.

That was 1991. Eek.

Some of you probably weren't even born then!!

Surveyors always seem to say there are issues with the roof. Or moss.

If the glass being blown had caused that much mould, you'd have surely noticed it? TBH we have a blown pane in a few windows here, which we are replacing, but I haven't noticed it's been causing mould.

Replacing panes in a window isn't always a huge expense and if it is there, mould can be effectively sprayed for the price of a bottle of mould and mildew spray.

Haha well my daughter was born in 1992 and we had bought a property by then but yes... things were very different then.

How does it work if you are a FTB moving into a house that's currently supplied for power by British Gas and you want to use Octopus?

Can you simply sign up from moving in day with Octopus under your own name and that meter reading?

Do you have to get involved at all with the current supplier British Gas?

That’s helpful!

We do have our contractor looking round it next week to try and get an accurate price so we know what we’re negotiating and what we need to budget.

The problem is that, realistically, I really don’t want to walk away. 😢 it’s such a perfect house for our children and for us to grow in!

And thanks also to @Abra1t for your comments on the window - it’s always a scary read though…

Confirmation from the seller's solicitor that he now has explicit instruction from the seller to split the chain so we are looking to complete on the 4th April.

Something the seller's solicitor should've acted upon when the seller first agreed to the date of 28th March.

Good luck to all those looking to exchange/ complete this next few days!!!

That is sooooo frustrating.

A couple of blown windows won’t cost too much to replace, a couple of hundred pounds so I personally wouldn’t bother negotiating price on this.
It’s the roof and insulation that might be an issue , what exactly is your surveyor saying about it?
What’s the EPC rating on the house?

@Feelingstrange2 I know, and I even raised this last Wed as I found out from the EA that the seller was also waiting for information to exchange, but their solicitor said they weren't ready. So I actually asked my solicitor to clarify straightaway. Wish I had pushed it even harder, as if I did and it got clarified, we could've still met tomorrow (given we're now working towards next Friday).

Good advice here:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/energy/energy-supply/moving-home-your-energy-supply/moving-home-dealing-with-your-energy-supply/#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20to%20switch,you%20within%205%20working%20days.

I'm currently dealing with British Gas over a Probate property - and they've been an absolute nightmare to deal with, especially when it comes to actually speaking to someone. Three weeks and still I don't have an answer to my very simple query.🙄🤬 It would be a good idea to familiarise yourself with their website before trying to make contact.

As you're planning to transfer to Octopus, you're probably already a customer of theirs and know how efficient they are - the polar opposite of BG, IMO.

EPC is D. The boiler is 48 years old but we already knew that going in…

So the roof is partly flat. They’re suggesting there’s evidence of previous damage which has been badly fixed and damp in the roof as a result. It basically needs refitting entirely.

The issue with the roof insulation is similar. It’s been poorly fitted and goes too far to the edge apparently. And they’ve retrofitted cavity wall insulation which the surveyor had concerns about.

with the windows, the problem is that the window style means that some of the windows on the front of the house have like 8+ small panes per window. I’m just worried it’s going to rack up quickly…

We had to redo our mortgage offer after changing the property we are buying and it’s been valued at £10k under what we’ve offered! Gone to the agent to work out if they’ll come down, so stressed!

Thanks!

If you don’t mind me asking how long did it take for the lender to come back to you about this? My buyer is waiting for their revised mortgage offer since last Thursday but there is still no update. Fully appreciate it is different for each lender but just wondering what your timeframe was? Our onward purchase is chasing to exchange and this is the only outstanding document otherwise we would be completing tomorrow😭Thank you!

@FolkloreEvermore1989 oh blimey, that does sound expensive. Get a couple of window glaziers and roofers round to inspect and give you a quote so you know what numbers you’re working with. If you really love the house and you can afford to get the works done, I would ask for a reduction but expect it to be declined if they were stubborn with negotiating at the very beginning.
Prepare to walk away if you cannot afford to get the works done. Hope it all goes well for you.

Hey, it’s been about a week since we paid for the valuation!