Chain complete conveyancing support thread

[BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw]

My chain completed on Monday. I’ve booked my survey, instructed my solicitor and applied for my mortgage. Now begins the anxious wait to see if we will actually get to complete.

My friend once likened moving house to the first trimester - don’t talk about it to many people until you’re sure it’s happening.

Anyone else in the same boat? We are hoping for an August completion as chain short, and onward chain was already a way through the process before falling through and us joining 🙏🏻🙏🏻

We;ve had all our surveys etc done. Just waiting for searches to come back for other houses in the chain.....we know a number of people on the street that we are moving to and the current owner has been telling people they're moving in 6 weeks! Not sure where they've got that timeline from but it feels like its a very optimistic estimate seeing as some searches are even due back for another two weeks further up the chain!

In the last week I’ve called the solicitors 3 times and emailed them 3 times… still no contact from them to answer me about what we’re still waiting for!

I feel your pain, I've had an update on our sale but not on our purchase, our solicitor literally replied to 3 questions and ignored the other two!!! Even if she doesn't have an answer yet it would be good to be told that!!!

Can I hop on? We are also buying and selling. We thought we'd made it simple by moving into rented while we sold, and then buying once sold (we moved for DD's new school last summer). However, what actually happened was our sale fell through three times (potential stamp duty changes in the budget last autumn that never happened, and then two lots of people further down the chain losing mortgages due to Iran war/interest rates). Now we're with a new buyer who are selling to renters, so a nice short chain below. They've done searches and survey, but now want to do a specialist roof survey and are asking about EICR which our Victorian terrace does not have and I'm sure would fail, as the electrics are at least 15 years old and maybe older. So I'm feeling stressed! They were originally talking about a late June exchange but that's obviously not now on the cards.

Meanwhile we've found somewhere we want to buy, and chain above us is complete, but we've been chasing for the TA6/10 forms for weeks with no progress. Searches are back and good so that's something.

Oh and our landlord is selling the house we are in and has given us notice! Thank goodness for the RRA (he was originally trying to get us to go in July, but under the new rules had to give us until September). I feel a bit aggrieved as we always said we wanted 18 months to 2 years (when we moved in a year ago) and had no idea it was for sale when we agreed to rent it ... but of course legally he's allowed to do it, so we're just muddling through as best we can and hoping we're not living out of suitcases come September!

Anyway, it's very boring if I bang on about this constantly in real life so would be great to have somewhere else to vent!

Luckily our solicitor and both agents seem really responsive and good, so we have that on our side!

Welcome @LightTripper ! What a nightmare for you! Solicitors really are infuriating aren’t they!

My purchase has been progressing well but very little update on my sale. I’ve been told because she is renting she wants two months notice to move. I’ve gone back to the EA and said I am happy to agree provisional dates but under no circumstances will we be agreeing to two months between exchange and completion - that’s just not reasonable!

Anyway I’ve got the sellers to agree to some potential dates in August with a view to doing it first week of September if we can’t get it done before so expectations have at least been set. Had survey back this week and it’s been over a week since the survey on my house was done so I’m hoping no news is good news! Waiting for some more searches back - wondering why there isn’t just some portal they can be instantly downloaded from rather than all this waiting around.

I think with searches it all depends a lot on the local authority/borough. The borough we are selling in had a cyber attack years ago which has completely stuffed everything up. The one we are buying in is less than a week (only a few miles away).

Luckily our solicitors is the one bit that is going well - she's great at explaining things and always seems to turn things we send her within half a day at most. But there are so many moving parts and you can only travel at the speed of the slowest one!

Our chain completed in May and I had hoped for a stress-free end of July completion but our buyers don't seem to share that aim. Their solicitor took 6 weeks to send enquiries and then sent nearly 90 of them which our solicitor (who is quite experienced) has told me is the highest number he has ever received. The first enquiry strongly indicates that the solicitor on the other side can't actually read (as a solicitor myself I'm genuinely appalled - the question asked is stupid on 2 levels), we don't know what the others are like yet. This process is maddening.

We’ve sent all the signed contracts to the solicitors. People buying our house want to be in by the middle of July, so just hoping the people we are buying from feel the same way!

@PyjamasForever I’ve handed my contract in this morning as well! We are aiming for August. Responded to my buyer’s list of “enquiries” on Friday and someone please tell me what is the point of them? Just a load of nonsense that seems to be holding things up for no reason. “Is there any bamboo on the property?”; “did you buy this house on the open market?” “Send your last three boiler services” 🥱

We were the last link in the chain (we are buying a house that is chain free) and were under offer 4 weeks ago. Surveys were last week and now in a limbo period waiting for survey results. Feeling a bit stressed as buyers financing is a little uncertain at present as they are investors and borrowing off of a commercial property they own as well as having sold their house. Estate agent keeps saying it is all fine but are awaiting their valuation results. Everyone is hoping to exchange late July and complete mid August which seems a little optimistic to me.

Suddenly seem to have a lot of activity, searches and enquiries back and starting to chat dates…..advised to have at least a week between exchange and completion due to mortgages to avoid any delays with banks etc, but seems to be that we could be in sooner rather than later! (Cautiously optimistic now, but still not allowing myself to get excited!)

Ahh that’s exciting for you! We are now answering enquiries and my buyer’s solicitor is being funny for some reason about the fact that we acquired our house because we bought my husband’s mum and brother out after an inheritance.

They seem to think we bought it for less than it was worth and that is potentially a problem 🙄🙄 anyway I’m hoping it’s okay as I have managed to dig out a copy of the valuation we had done by a local estate agent to help us agree a price, along with the will that bequeathed a portion to DH and the completion statement from MIL which showed the breakdown of monies owed resulting from the agreed price.

I expect it has been raised because on paper we DID buy it under contemporary value but only because DH already owned 12.5% of it!

@BakedPotatoBeansCheeseColeslaw Sounds like you have all the paperwork you need then so fingers crossed. I knew our situation was too good to be true, just got an update email form our agents and this includes that our buyers want a multitude of extra reports done, based off a survey which they got the results of a month ago…..just as everyone was starting to discuss dates!

I’m not sure how much more I can take of this to be honest, it’s all so stressful, fell through last year because our sellers situation turned into a sh*tshow at the last minute, thought we were back on track and now this added delay!

Just want to sit in a corner and cry, but instead get the joys of swimming lessons when it’s 35 degrees outside!

We’ve just sold a house in Scotland, so simple. Survey is done by the seller before marketing, enquiries form with all relevant info regarding electrics, boilers, plant life and works done to the property with BR references also completed before any offers. Took 10 was in all.

Weeks! Not was

Joining you! We are the last in the chain as we are buying a new build. Think there are 4 below us. Currently buried in a pile of guarantees, building regs and ancient bits of paper we don’t understand!

I’d like to join in!

sale agreed with our seller Friday 5th June, we then accepted offer immediately and received memo of sale Monday 8th June. 3 in a chain; first time buyer - us - seller (moving in with family.) seller said keen for an august completion so all chain working towards that.

Things have been ticking along nicely for us with the conveyancing….my DH is a solicitor (senior partner) in his own firm and so the conveyance solicitor in his firm is prioritising our work. Buyers have had their survey and mortgage offer done, we’ve received our mortgage offer and had our survey done on new property (survey came back quite alarmist but the gist is normal wear and tear for a property of this age and surveyor for our house told me the same.)

Pre-contract enquiries have been completed just waiting on searches returning. Our solicitor said she will have contracts ready to sign in 2 weeks with a view of completing 31st July but in my eyes that is being hopeful and I don’t believe things can be this smooth sailing in a 3 person chain but we will see!

@Nomorenamechangestoday if you manage to do it in that time frame that will be excellent. My friend managed similar in a chain of 3 earlier this year (but had to be quite pushy).

We are hopefully exchanging this week. Just waiting for money to appear for deposit from the first time buyer at the beginning of the chain.

Just entering week 3 of waiting for searches for our purchase. Our buyers are one week behind us for their searches. I'm twiddling my thumbs and watching my inbox like a hawk. Cheering on anyone I see people nearing the end of the process 👯

joining, because i am losing hope, and sleep.

We are not inexperienced. In fact, this is probably the fifth home we've bought in 25 years, across three countries. However, this is the first house that we're buying in England, and it has been hell so far. I feel so stressed that I am feeling constantly sick, run down, and with extremely low mood because I am terrified at every email coming my way from anyone along that chain of hell.

We accepted an offer on our house at the end of May, and our buyers had an offer very shortly after on theirs. The buyers' buyer's finances seem a little shaky, and I am worried that they are not getting their mortgage approved for whatever reason, but I might be paranoid.

In the meantime, we have ordered a survey on the house we would like to buy, and the survey has unearthed issues beyond what I would have anticipated. It is potentially also the surveyor being conservative in this current market in terms of valuation, but still I am feeling very spooked.

i am a total wreck as a result. i don t ever want to do this again in England.

Sorry you’re feeling like this Fromthefireintowhat. Your solicitor should be able to verify the situation regarding the buyers, buyer. Taking on this concern is what you pay them for.
As to surveys, often they do sound alarming and mention stuff that in the long term don’t matter. If there are any serious problems, then perhaps a specific survey would give you leverage to reduce the price.
It is a rubbish system in England and needs reform.

Urgh! I knew it was all going too well. We are now in dispute about a tiny piece of unregistered land that sits inaccessible to anyone between the garage and the garden fence. My solicitor has tried to encourage me to register it but seeing as I’m pregnant and we want to be in sooner rather than later I’ve told her to go for the indemnity policy and I’ll sort it out later. Hoping my lender accepts it 🙏🏻

Urgh thats so annoying, we are still waiting for our buyers contracter to confirm a date to come and do their surveys. Have to agree with you @FromthefireintoWhat I'm a total wreck to, so much so that i've passed all corrospondance to my husband as i'm literally on edge the whole time wondering what awful news is going to come in the next email! HE's so level headed with it all but i just can't be like that with it. He keeps telling me to focus on the next good thing like our upcoming holiday etc but i just can't!

@Namechange13101 it s interesting how they are able to compartmentalise and keep on moving forward...

How’s everyone doing? I’m another one waiting for our lender to approve an indemnity over a tiny piece of land nobody cares about! Oh and our seller’s solicitor went on holiday this week without telling anyone, so our proposed completion by the end of the month is now looking extremely unlikely because they can’t respond to anything until they’re back next week. This whole process is completely insane.