The all new buyers/sellers waiting room (9) the one where we start to wonder if we'll move by Christmas..

[NeverGoingToMove]

Huge apologies if I have missed this thread, I have searched high and low but don't think another was started after number 8 ended in May.

After a seriously stressful encounter with building control, I think we are almost ready to exchange. After going on the market last July, I'm hoping we'll move before our year anniversary!

How is everyone else doing?

Its horrible isn't it? Our house is an old house and they told us right at the start that they would definitely be getting a survey and understandably. We keep asking when they are going to book it and just keep getting push back. We have become really frustrated by how much they are holding everything up by not getting that date in the diary. And now we have threats coming at us from everywhere from those that are ready that they will pull out, but its all literally out of our hands and our control. We can't do anything until they do, so all we can do is keep putting the pressure on.

We are pretty sure they will try and renegotiate, its just the feeling and the vibe we are getting from them. But not everyone will want to renegotiate the price. But it does happen more often that I realised.

We didn’t book our survey in for several months but that’s because we were (and still are) being monumentally fucked around by the seller. After having a survey and a structural engineer attend we still have a drain survey to go (with an asbestos survey also needed depending on the drains) we may walk away. If we don’t walk away we will definitely be renegotiating. The fucking us around is costing us £2500 a month in rent fees we weren’t expecting to have to pay when it was claimed they wanted a quick sale despite not even having probate.

Unfortunately not the case here that they’re just not sure how things are done, they aren’t first time buyers. They told the EA last week that they want a survey done and the EA was less than impressed that they haven’t sorted it yet. There’s a 4-6 week lead time here for surveyors so the EA was hoping to talk them into using one of their recommendations so they can try and negotiate a quicker date to get it done. Our survey was done last Monday and I’m still chasing to get the report despite having feedback over the phone last Tuesday and a promise it would be with me in a couple of days.

Finally got a survey booked in by our buyers. It seems the threat of putting it back on the market worked. They’re getting a level 3 and surveyors not available for weeks so another month of nervously waiting and praying no issues as we will be wanting to exchange almost as soon as it’s done! Above us want to plan for a mid to end sept completion.
@ErlingHaalandsManBun have you had any movement from your buyers this week so far?

@moving300m good to hear you finally have a survey booked, great news!

We have had a lengthy list of requests from their solicitor asking us to apply for adverse possession over parts of the very old title deeds that are slightly out of scale and for adverse possession over an unregistered track that runs down the side of the house and round that back that is accessed by ourselves, and also our neighbours. All this is going to be really expensive to do, which we are willing to do, but they have still booked no survey. They seem to want us to pay out all this money to apply for all these pieces of adverse possession but don't seem willing to make a financial commitment themselves by booking a survey. We have even been wondering if they should pay for the adverse possession seeing as though they are the ones that want it. We are waiting to speak to our solicitor to get some advice.

@ErlingHaalandsManBun that sounds very complicated and frustrating. It is such an unfair system. Why would you pay out loads of money for something that you won’t use, and has never assumingly bothered you or caused you any issues. I’d think if it bothered you buy a different house! I hope your solicitor can offer good advice and help get it resolved quickly.

@moving300m we feel the same. They are asking us to make a big financial commitment and its something that is for them, and not for us. To be honest, if the title deeds are incorrect and not to scale, and need altering I think that is one thing. Its something that was not picked up on when we bought the house 13 years ago, and its not something we have ever even noticed from our title deeds. But in all fairness, we can do that and its fair for us to make that right. However, the side access is shared access with our neighbours and is something that they have known about since viewing. Its always been this way since the houses were built in 1860 and we have never had one issue with it in the whole time we have lived here. So we have said that its unreasonable to do this and we are not happy to. But we need to speak with our solicitor first before he relays this information to them. Then, if they don't like it, then they don't have to buy it. The access arrangements, are what they are. But I feel aggrieved that they will not move the sale forward and make a financial commitment to a survey but expect us to. So we are at the point where, we will spend some money, if you will.

@ErlingHaalandsManBun the access issue is definitely speak to your solicitor because if your neighbour uses it too surely they can contest it and it cause more issues than it’s worth 🤷‍♀️
people are annoying! I hope you get it sorted and keep your onward purchase.

@moving300m absolutely. All sets of neighbours who have legal rights over it are good friends of ours. One of the reasons we don't want to entertain this lengthy and expensive process. If they don't want to upset their neighbours and make enemies before they have even moved in then they won't push this. The other things are easy enough as its all stuff we have had sole use of, but the access at the side is complicated, lengthy and will be expensive because of the multiple elements to it, not to mention upsetting friends and neighbours. Then if they pull out, we are left with the aftermath of that and the consequences of applying for it. No thanks. Not happening.
Thanks. I will update on here when we get some news but our solicitor is on a course today so we can't get a call with him until tomorrow.

Looks like I am heading back to square one again after 5 and half months - top of the chain of 3 houses - my purchase will pull the plug and remarket in two days unless the bottom of the chain can resolve their mortgage issues. Very frustrating as so little transparency and the FTB and his EA is ghosting everybody who tries to contact them. The whole process is so frustrating!

We’ve had to pull out of our purchase. After 12 weeks, and endless excuses and issues, the seller hasn’t sent all of the paperwork to the solicitor. I haven’t told our buyers yet. There is just nothing else on the market that we want and can afford. So it looks like we are staying here until next spring and trying again.
I feel gutted for our buyers and incredibly guilty for letting them down. The system we have just sucks.

So sorry to hear this Junobug, you must be heartbroken. The fact that they sent nothing in 3 months is ridiculous! I'm getting antsy because our sellers haven't sent anything but it's only been a month.

Getting really weird vibes from our sellers. It's a probate property that has been for sale with no offers for years, and we're good buyers in that we don't have a chain. But although we have agreed on a price, instructed our respective solicitors, we've commissioned a survey (waiting for it to be written up) and applied for searches, the property isn't showing up as "under offer" online. I asked the estate agent about this and got an answer that it would show as being under offer once the survey report and searches are back. They're saying they're not doing viewings (which was a condition of our offer.) This is not usual, right?!

How’s everyone doing? Ours has stalled again despite being hopeful of a completion in a few weeks. The link that renegotiated at the bottom of the chain is holding things up as there are still outstanding enquiries which were only raised just over a week ago. Everyone is getting fed up now and I’m worried someone is going to pull out at this rate. I’ve gone from feeling quite hopeful, to really not positive at all.

Hope everyone is doing ok on this crazy ride!

@unicornpower we are just waiting for our buyers survey. They’ve finally booked it in but there’s a wait so will be 3-4 weeks before we get any more movement from here. Still hopeful of an October move.
I hope your chain manages to stay in tact and you can exchange here. Realistically what’s the benefit of pulling out at this stage 🤞🤞

Are there many in your chain @unicornpower? Hopefully the enquiries will be sorted quickly. We’ve had some movement but not entirely positive as it turned out our purchase was registered incorrectly with land registry when it was built. So we have to wait for that to be rectified. Our buyers’ solicitor emailed ours today with dates that they aren’t available in August for completion which is quite presumptive when they still haven’t booked their survey in…! I’m not sensing much urgency from them despite it being their buyer who is pushing to complete asap. We’re unable to move the middle 2 weeks of September so it’s either a rush for the 1st week if everything falls into place, or looking more towards October for us. Not sure bottom of the chain will be happy about it but not much we can do.

Things are moving for us, just slowly. Have tentatively booked 3 removal firms for quotes over the next couple of weeks and hoping to book in a viewing of our onward purchase mid month to take our child to see it. I think we’re almost there on the purchase but waiting on sale to catch up. Survey came back as expected, no real issues which is great. No one is talking dates yet - except our mortgage advisor and that’s just because we may need to get extra time - the offer expires at the start of October and at the moment I have no idea if that’s likely or not, we’ll review in a couple of weeks.

Im quietly saying things are moving as somewhat expected for us. Surveys are done on sale and purchase. No real issues. We have a couple of enquiries outstanding for our sale but they should be resolved in a couple of weeks. Our purchase are being a little slow, waiting on response to enquiries which we hope to have this week (and had expected last week)…after that could it be that this move that’s been a year in the making actually happens?!?! I want to manifest it will but know how suddenly it can all go wrong! Just really don’t want to end up at square one again!

summer holiday coming up in a week or so…hopefully a welcomed distraction!

@thismusthappen I feel similar - almost not wanting to tempt fate by saying it seems to be going ok? We have had a lot of ups and downs in the process but I also want to hope and manifest for positive outcomes yet can’t help creeping doubts at times. The emotional rollercoaster is real. Also away next week and different time zone so really going to try and not think about it all.

@Hermioninny there are 5 total with us at the top, the three of us nearer the top are ready, basically what happened was one of the bottom links were a bit shady and got a survey really late and subsequently dropped the offer price, was all sorted and agreed but then the lender asked for a damp surgery and that was due back Fri/mon, the aren’t anticipating any drama apparently but who knows…,.? That’s so annoying for you! It’s like, instead of talking dates, get on with what you need to do. Why are they faffing so much? I said to my husband, I actually don’t mind when we move, I just want some certainty it’s going to happen as we are just in constant limbo.

@thismusthappen we are a year at the end of August as well, second buyer and second nightmare chain lol I feel your pain about being tentatively hopeful but not wanting to tempt fate. Fingers crossed it all carries on moving smoothly for you!

5 months in and other than bad surveys, we still have no idea where we are with our purchase or when probate might be granted.

Going to view another house today.

Just got the drain survey back and it’s as terrible as we’ve come to expect. DP wants to pull out of the purchase.

@kirinm how did the viewing of the other house go? I mean there’s so much wrong with your current purchase, I would agree with your DH? but if it’s a unicorn house I can see why you don’t want to.

we are waiting for a ground rent management pack to be issued to the bottom of the chain…… why has it only just been ordered nearly 5 months in?! Our estate agent has been very grovelling and apologetic this week after I completely went mad at them. Someone from her office emailed us with an update and told me I needed to be patient…… I completely lost my mind!

Well our sale is still painfully slow and not much has happened. STILL waiting on Solicitors to get their act together. We have sent everything they have asked for, answered all their questions, and are now waiting for a reply. We just need to know if everything we have done/answered is okay and do they want us to go ahead and apply for the adverse possession they have asked us to do. STILL no answer, despite chasing. STILL no survey booked from our buyer.

We also found out that our seller has pulled out as they are tired of waiting. Decided not to even move at all. So we have now also lost our onward purchase.

We have told our buyers that we must have some movement and commitment to this sale or we too will be pulling out and that we will NOT be looking at a new onward purchase until the adverse possession applications have been applied for, their searches are back and they have booked a survey appointment. We DO NOT want to be in the same position again a month or two down the line.

So, we frustratingly continue to wait for their Solicitor to advise. 🙄This is honestly the most stressful sale we have ever had and the continued lack of communication and lack of urgency from the buyers solicitor is making me want to chop off my own arm, just so I have something to throw at her!!! 😠

Rant over.

I told the estate agent what we’d consider offering and they put the phone down on me - so not well!

We’ve formally withdrawn our offer.