Spring house selling/buying support thread

[PyjamasForever]

After quite a lengthy time on the market I finally have an offer on my house and have had an offer accepted on a house I want to buy. I’m feeling a bit uncertain it will happen with the current financial situation and wondered if anyone else in a similar position wanted a thread for a bit of moral support?!

We’ve instructed solicitors, filled out our TA6 and TA10 forms, applied for a mortgage and have some documents to send them… I then find the next bit the hardest bit about buying and selling when you have all those uncertain weeks with searches/surveys etc and it could all fall apart at any minute!

Oh no! A month after the survey! It’s such a stressful process isn’t it, I just feel anxious and uptight all the time now.
Really hope your buyers book the extra surveys quickly so that you know where you are. Have a good long weekend x

Ahhh the removals are coming tomorrow to pack up our house…. Then we move on Friday!!!

Well done pink! We STILL haven’t exchanged. Completely fed up!!

Can I tag along this thread, we have been conveyancing since middle of June, our buyers survey is done and they told our EA it was ok phew!, yet its been 2 weeks on since then and not a peep from anyone. Rang my solicitor today, they havent heard from them. There is 3 of us in the chain. Im in no rush mined you as we are going into temp accom. We cant find what we are looking for. Housing stock on the market in our area is thin or ridiculously over priced. We checked out a new build but they wont be complete til Jan so if nothing comes our way we might have to hold out for that. Hate being in limbo. im 90% packed up ready for it all to go into storage. Was hoping to exchange this week but doesnt look hopeful. we have asked for a length of time between exchange and completion inorder to organise storage and temp accom. At this rate we will be out in Nov. eeek!

@2longinthetoothI’m on a similar route to you, going into rented and the areas I want are thin and overpriced. I’m ready to exchange, not sure why the buyer is dragging, survey and those negotiations are done. I’m asking a few weeks before completion as well to sort out a rental and storage etc. I’m not packing, getting rid of furniture or paying for rental until we’ve actually exchanged.

Yes looking at the market at the moment I'm thinking it maybe better for us to go into rental if I can find one that accepts dogs. Ive had several EA ringing me today asking about our property search. This is our 4th move but its been the hardest.
I wasn't going to pack until we were further along but I was called up for my hysterectomy (great timing). So I packed most of it before I went in because I knew i couldnt lift post op. My head is fried. If it all falls through so be it, I will unpack and take it off the market. We are only selling to downsize. Sometimes I wished we never started it.
Tbh im disgusted with how this conveyancing has gone on, zero communication, we moved 15yrs ago and EA kept us up to date as well as the buyer etc .
On this sale nowt, EA just feeds us rubbish, she said she doesnt want to push buyer ffs. Im paying 6k for that cheers. So I cant deal with them anymore they are just stressing me out. Paying good money for nothing. Our solicitor is good but he did warn me conveyancing does usually take 12 to 14 weeks now,not the 8 weeks like yrs ago. Something to do with increased cases each solicitor has to deal with. We have signed the exchange papers so God knows what is happening down the chain. Tbh The 1st rung of the chain is a divorce buy out so that could be the hold up.
Have you spoken to your solicitor to find what the hold up is?

@2longinthetoothdon’t blame you for packing as you have your op coming up, good luck.

My EA has actually been good, my solicitor really bad. Not proactive at all, I’ve asked very few questions (but important ones) and he didn’t reply. I’m not even in a chain, there is just the two parties. I think the buyer is less anxious than me about it going through so are taking longer at each step than me, plus the lag of the solicitors speaking to each other. I only signed and gave my preferred completion day 3 days ago so won’t chase just yet. I just want to get cracking with everything, my head is also fried and I want it done and dusted so I can concentrate on where I am actually going to move to. Though as said, slim pickings, seeing a couple of places at the weekend but they are horribly overpriced so I’d have to wait a few weeks for a drop and then offer beneath that, as currently I’d want about 8% less which they won’t accept at this point as they have only just gone on market.

I had the op being of august so thats out the way and getting back to normal a bit, thanks for wishing me well.
Bummer about your solicitor been there in the past, few yrs ago a solicitor never even told me we had exchanged i heard from the buyer 🤯. First time sold tho and was young/naive.
Same here with properties, but they are not dropping at all. I think if we have a weak sept the penny will drop that the market has slumped. I want to find another house but then I also want to wait til we have at least exchanged to know I can move forward confidently that we have sold. Nothing is guaranteed tho is it. My buyers are super cautious about everything. Stuff that I genuinely wouldn't get in a tizz about but its alot of money so I understand. I'd rather that and get over the line than rash thinkers who backtrack. Like you tho the uncertainty is crippling. Mind you there is always a positive in all this, my house has never looked so tidy. Plus ive got rid of yrs of clutter that I promised I'd get gone but never did. My aim is to go forward with much less "stuff".

Our solicitor is good but he did warn me conveyancing does usually take 12 to 14 weeks now,not the 8 weeks like yrs ago.

Im amazed at that! Surely everything is much more immediate and instant with everything searchable online eg Title, LA searches and solicitors are largely digital not paper anymore. And yet it's almost twice as long. Reminds me of the time it's taken for banks and companies to admit that BACS payments are instantaneous. They've been hoodwinking us for years that it still takes "3 - 5 working day". There's a word for that, starting with b and ending in s,

Im very much with you re the decluttering. It's a game changer. I wish I'd been able to persuade DH years ago, it has only been with the immediacy of this house move that he's reluctantly stopped dragging his heels 😡

1000% bs, all communication could be done online but you have all this money laundering hoops they have to jump through. I got stuff sent to my email, then address so they could 100% prove it was me.
Its the same for the general enquires solicitor sends through, Have you had any subsidence ? Do these solicitors not read. Ive answered the question on ta6 form, our buyers has had a level 3 survey, did it show any? No we have not.
Stupid question after stupid question.
Swear they do this to justify the cost 😂

We're definitely in the wrong job aren't we 😂money for old rope as they say.

My solicitor has been ignoring me for 2 weeks now. Very frustrating as we are chain free on both sides and it looks like there will be a delay despite this

We started the conveyencing process mid June and our solicitors have also been a nightmare with not replying to emails. It’s actually embarrassing the amount of of chasing up I’ve had to do just to get them. Should have known at the the start when it took them 4 weeks to send me the purchase pack 🥴

a completion date for end of September has been floated by our sellers, and the lower end of the chain has also agreed to it, I’ve emailed the solicitors about it 3 times but so far they haven’t even acknowledged the suggestion let alone given a comment on how feasible it is. After nearly 18 months of having a couple of chains collapse and now this stress I’m never moving again!

We’ve had the same issue with the solicitor at the bottom of our chain. Only 3 of us in a short chain. We’ve been ready for at least 5 weeks, our buyers about 4. Our buyers, buyer at the bottom, their solicitor takes two weeks to reply to an email, then it’s incorrect etc and the circus starts again.

We’ve talked about 4 dates now, each potential exchange date comes and goes with no response from below. Now we’ve been told it may be week commencing 14th September. It’s the not knowing that’s the problem. You can’t book removals, start informing utilities etc. all the while yo are living in a half packed up house.

There has to be a better way to do this!

I think the completion date should be set when conveyancing starts and penalties start accumulating on the solicitors fees for every day it gets delayed

Given how crap they have been, our buyer using the same solicitors, although a different office (I think). I am really nervous for completion today…

Surely they can’t mess it up now?!

Honestly its like every aspect of life is broken. What are these solicitors doing ffs. Its been 2weeks for us of silence. No one knows whats going on. EA is useless and again its their job to keep the chain in check. Emails take seconds to keep everyone informed, yet its not happening. Each part wants to do the least amount of work possible. If you were paying these costs in any other service you would now have some cause to complain. Yet in conveyancing its like its the norm. Its mind blowing that yrs ago conveyancing took 8 weeks max.
I think if the chain were informed of what is going on its not only common courtesy but dissolves the anxiety and frustration.
No wonder chains are becoming cautious, even us. No one communicates. I still to this day dont even know if my buyers have their mortgage, ive asked several times, solicitor sent a letter to buyers solicitor and all we had was they are porting their mortgage but its not guaranteed that the lender will agree to it. So how can I confidently start with a forward property. Luckily there is nothing we want to buy. Its highly frustrating and the whole system needs changing. In today's world with apps etc why cant all parties be put on 1 app and each stage be updated so the whole chain can see where they are. Honestly you'd swear my buyer worked for MI5 with how much info they are sharing 😂.

Good luck! Hope it all goes smoothly today

I agree. Things would show as being ticked off for each person in the chain, solicitor found, searches started, forms started, enquiries sent off etc. Would save a lot of second guessing.

@2longinthetooth empathy to you, it's absolutely dreadful. And breathe, this too will pass. Communications in 21st century have never been so instantaneous and yet so ponderously slow.

We are going to move into rented purely to preserve our sanity if only we can get a bloody buyer 🤣 which shows how broken the system is. The farce is that successive govs have been trying to fix the process for decades and all they've come up with is the buyers pack, not enough eyerolls - an utter waste of time. 'Everything online' has not fixed the problem, its made it worse!

We're in the middle of 3. I'm not sure if that counts as a chain but we're being bought by a FTB in rented and buying from a seller who's already bought and moved on so our future house is empty.

The selling bit has gone remarkably smoothly - no issues raised from survey, and other than a minor issue about an indemnity policy for a garden shed which was sensibly put to bed by our EA, no hiccups. Yesterday, we agreed to complete on 23rd Sept so removers booked.

But...our purchase, which initially seemed really straightforward, is still grumbling on. Latest is there's some issues with the deeds which our seller's solicitor needs to get amended/lodged/whatever with Land Registry. No one seems able to explain how serious it is. I'm now imagining us not being able to complete on 23rd and losing our buyer (who's tenancy finishes on 25th) or having to proceed and living in our caravan till the deeds are sorted.

When I asked our solicitor how we can agree a date to complete on our sale without knowing our purchase is going to be ok, i was left with the distinct impression it's a case of 'wing it and pray'.

We're very fortunate to have a caravan and some spare cash so we do have options and could afford storage i guess. We're also not doing this while juggling work and family commitments as we're retired. Even so, it's absolutely terrible and terrifying.

You sound very rational about it all @KrankyKumquat . I am at the point that I will feel relief if my buyer pulls out as I will be out of this everlasting feeling of limbo. I have had any excitement about our new house sucked away as I don’t know if it will be happening.

Does anyone have a good response when people ask you ‘ have you got a date yet?’ As my current response is biting their heads off!

@Sadteacher
I can assure you, I don't feel very rational at the moment! My OH thinks I'm just catastrophising (spelling?). I think i may be going a bit mad.

I too have had moments when I've wished our buyers would pull out and we could just forget about the whole thing...I've never liked our current house as much as i have since it went on the market 😅

When people ask me anything about the move, I just feel overwhelming fatigue/boredom with the whole thing and just reply 'you don't want to know' and move the conversation on. Unfortunately, many people seem to find the whole situation fascinating and are just dying to advise, or sympathise or share their own experiences or just enjoy the feeling of schadenfreude.

new to the thread, ours has been moving along nicely, but our survey has caused us to be cautious…

roof has reached end of shelf life, and if not replaced, it at least needs remedial works. I would much rather the sellers deducted the quote price from the agreed sale price…They just don’t appear to want to negotiate, but now we have to wait for the work to be completed around the availability of their roofers and the rain….

any advice?

You would have thought they would have been happy to renegotiate the price as they’re going to have to pay for the roof repairs anyway and it would have avoided all the hassle for them. If they won’t you can only wait or start looking for somewhere else. If you can give them the impression the sale might fall through it might encourage them to think again?
Just to update it looks as if I might be moving early October although my solicitor is slow. I did reduce my selling price because of issues with the roof. I negotiated a slight reduction on the property I am buying after the survey. My solicitor raised a few issues around the leasehold on the apartment but I am keen to go now and I don’t intend ever moving again so I have said go ahead anyway. I have gone so far with this now that I want it done. I’m quite proud of myself for sorting it all without much help or advice. Loads of tip runs and house clearance booked now to take away my unwanted furniture. Glad I did it now. If I had left it until I was even older I wouldn’t have coped!