Complete tomorrow- getting cold feet!

[bananashoes]

Hi all-
Like the title says.
We are leaving London for Surrey-a village setting vs a very busy area just a few minutes walk from the high street. We've got 3 kids and are all about to go through a huge change- on top of me being 30 weeks pregnant
I'm feeling a barrel of nerves bc I haven't seen the house since we first viewed in March- the sellers wouldn't let us come for a measure up viewing. And perhaps that's part of why I'm feeling nervous- we've driven past a few times and they've completely let the garden in the front go, which means the back garden will be a wreck (and the back garden was a huge part of the appeal as it's enormous). It makes me worried for the state of the interior of the house especially as they wouldn't allow us to visit. I'm worried we are about to walk into a bomb site.
Lastly, the change- city to village. This is probably most of it.
Please tell me how you calmed your nerves!

This is completely normal! Wondering if you’ve done the right thing. Just remember what made you choose the new house, you must love it and the new lifestyle you’ll have there.
There'll be a few teething problems in every new house, the garden can get sorted first.

Do you mean exchange or complete? (And assume you mean Monday rather than tomorrow)

If you haven’t exchanged, you could threaten not to exchange unless they let you visit again.

If you have exchanged then - daunting as it is - the costs for not completing will likely be higher then any costs to remedy 2-3 months of neglect

You’re exactly right sorry we complete Monday not tomorrow. I keep thinking today is Sunday. We are going to back out, but I’m feeling very panicky inside about everything.

Thank you- I think you’re right! Just need to know it’s normal!

Ok - breathe!

If it was fine in March, it really won’t be that bad now. If they haven’t mowed the lawn or cut back branches for a few months, it’ll be a few hours over a couple of days to sort.

Inside, unless they have wilfully damaged it, there isn’t a whole lot of bonbsute you can do within an empty house.

Hope it goes ok, it’s probably just nerves. Bit mean of them not to let you around for a second viewing, or keep the garden up, but they’re probably just selfish dicks, there’s a lot of those around when buying/selling houses.

As far as moving to a village goes, it’s in Surrey not rural Wales or Scotland or Northumberland. I use to live in a village on the Surrey/Sussex border and it’s a beautiful area for kids, definitely not remote, lots of big towns in easy reach and still very well connected for London. Just try and relax, being so pregnant probably isn’t helping. Good luck.

Nerves are normal and I’m glad it’s not just me that feels like that!

That seems like a quick completion, think I need your solicitor details 🤣

If you complete on Monday, surely you have already exchanged? If so, the financial penalty to pull out will be massive.

Of course, if you haven't yet exchanged, there is no penalty.

Do the current occupants own it or were they tenants? If the latter, more understandable they didn’t want you to
come round again.

We managed to take a chain of four from start to completion between end of March and end of June…we complete on Monday as well. But as my husband said, all the agents and the solicitors involved owe me a fee for keeping everyone on track by pestering them incessantly 🤣

Ans yes, nerves are so normal…they will pass and OP will have a lovely new life!

You’re backing out of a sale so close to completion because you don’t like how they haven’t maintained the grass?

Utterly lousy thing to do. Really rotten.

If you back out you will forfeit your deposit. Thousands of pounds down the drain for nothing and they will sell it easily in a few weeks.

Also, where will you live? Are you selling your house ? Because that chain will fall through. Or if you're renting, maybe your house has already been let to new tenants.

And the cost of movers. You'll have to pay them back.

Don't back out. If it doesn't work out then sell it.

I think that was a typo and OP meant to write “aren’t backing out”!

At the end of the day whats the worst that can happen?

So you move in and theres weeds in the garden? easy fix, just pull them (first thing I did was weed the garden, took 30 minutes and I probably pulled up 100 weeds).

Or maybe damp? common issue in most houses

Maybe say the carpet has a big stain from the previous owner not being careful? get a rug then replace it when you can etc...

Even if the boilers fucked or the roof has a leak etc... they're jobs that are not THAT expensive to fix.

Owning ANY house comes with issues you just have to bite the bullet if you want a home.

It’s really common to have nerves just before completion.
Like you, we hadn’t seen ours for a similar amount of time. Yes, they hadn’t bothered about the garden since our viewing but it wasn’t difficult to cut back the grass. The hot weather means it won’t have grown that much. Would you be able to afford a gardener for a couple of hours if that’s the case?

Ours had left a load of stuff in the house but our solicitor dealt with that with their solicitor and got money back from them to pay for house clearance. So l, unpleasant at the time and some hassle but ultimately we weren’t out of pocket. Just make sure you check every room, attic etc as soon as you get access!

Good luck! We love the move we made, although it was stressful at the time.

At this time of year it’s not the end of the world of the boiler turns out to be on its last legs either. It’s not like you need the heating on.

It sounds like posters are posting from their own experiences.

Personally, only moved once. Into house where DH was already living. So dont have any more experience of house moving than that.

Personally, there is no way I would want to make such a financial and lifestyle leap, without seeing the inside of the house as it is now.
Ideally, obviously, that should have happened before now.

I haven’t said anything about backing out- stop looking for a fight hot head

I’m not backing out- I’m freaking out.

Haha I’m glad I’m not the only one. I’ve not bought a house in Britain before and the process here is nightmarish compared to the states

To be fair, OP, your 1641 post did say: “We are going to back out, but I’m feeling very panicky inside about everything.” - a typo, I know, but that’s where the PP got it

Yes you’re right- I think in caught up in wanting it to be as we saw it and perfect from the day we move in- it’s been months since the viewing.

You did say you were backing out OP! You said “we are going to back out”

@bananashoes it must have just been a typo but you did say you were backing out if you look

"We are going to back out, but I’m feeling very panicky inside about everything."

I think the confusion has been caused by a typo.