First-Time-Buyers - Feeling Lost & Stressed

[SocksOnTheLoose]

Hi all,
Just looking for a bit of reassurance and advice from anyone who’s been through the house-buying process in the UK—or is currently going through it. We’re first-time buyers and started our journey on 7th February.

So far we’ve had our mortgage offer, done our Level 2 survey, paid for the searches (currently waiting for the results), and received the pre-contract documents from our solicitors. We’ve also been told the solicitors have raised the initial legal enquiries with the seller’s solicitors and are now waiting for their response.

Our vendors are still looking for a property, but last week we found out they had put an offer in on something.

We’re using mortgage advisors and solicitors, but I keep stressing about what’s going on behind the scenes and whether I’m supposed to be chasing people more. How often did you check in with your mortgage advisor? Do you contact the solicitors directly, or just wait to hear from them? What about the vendors—how often is too often to ask for updates?

Also, from your experience, what steps are likely still ahead of us before we reach exchange and completion?

We don’t have any family who’s been through this recently, so I feel like I’m just winging it. Any advice would be really appreciated—it would honestly help calm my nerves!

Thanks so much!

I would wait and not spend any more money until the vendors have had an offer accepted on a property and we proceeding

Also to add, I think you sound really organised. At this stage you need to check in with the estate agents about how the vendors purchase is going so maybe a bit of a pause while you wait for that and the searches are being done.

you don’t need to do anything . There’s no point chasing when your sellers haven’t had an offer accepted yet. You’re in the waiting game now. Having been there only a few weeks ago your solicitor and estate agent should be in touch when it starts progressing. I also agree do not spend any more money on things until you know more. I only hope you bought the homebuyers insurance too.

Thank you for the advice! We’ve already paid for the searches—hopefully that wasn’t a mistake. Fingers crossed! I was just wondering, how often is too often to check in with the estate agents? Once a week or every two weeks? I really don’t want to annoy the vendors, but I also don’t want to seem like I don’t care either. Sorry—I’m just really nervous about doing things wrong. And thank you, that’s very kind of you to say. I’m trying my best to stay organised!

Sounds like you’ve got a bit too carried away. Wait until the whole chain is complete, and at that point you can start spending money on surveys and chasing up solicitors etc. Otherwise it could be money down the drain if things don’t work out with this house.

If they are still looking for a property then give it a set amount of days and then ask the agent. I was in the same position and I left it 10 days to 2 weeks at a time. Bear in mind mine took 2 months to find something .

We just bought our first house a few weeks ago. After pre-exhange contract was received, and searches came back, we got a report of the searches from our solicitors. They then wrote to the sellers solicitors to address anything off the back of the searches and any amendments to the contract. (Solicitor writing to solicitor generally takes 2 weeks for a reply as standard) Once they were happy with that, we got our mortgage deeds to sign, then our contract and transfer deeds to sign. Once everyone signed those, then came exchange and completion.

Ours happened very quickly because we bought a probate house. But hopefully that gives you a general idea of stages that are left. It might sound like a lot, but all of those things can be done in a matter of weeks (once your seller has sorted their purchase).

I wouldn't be doing any chasing with your solicitor at the moment but definitely chase estate agents to see where your seller is at with their own purchase. There could be more to the chain depending on their situation. Once a week at this stage is enough. It is so frustrating, I know. Its totally unknown and different experience for everyone so you are in that limbo at the moment.

At the time we booked our survey, the vendors had already found a house, but a week or two later, their purchase fell through due to a bad survey report. They let us know, but we decided to go ahead with our survey anyway. Looking back, I can see we might have made a couple of mistakes, especially with paying for the searches too soon. I guess we’ll have to learn the hard way! Thank you for sharing your view. It is really helpful.

Thanks for sharing your timeline—it really helps to hear how it went for others. We’re definitely in that awkward limbo bit right now. The sellers are still looking for a new place after their last one fell through, so I’ll keep checking in with the estate agent once a week like you said. Hopefully things pick up soon!

It’s not just your vendors finding a house. It’s about their vendors finding a house, and so on until the whole chain is complete.

But you live and learn. Hopefully everything will work out for you with this house.