Anyone else struggling with the stress of buying and selling in a chain?

[AlexFurbison]

Not sure what I'm looking for here - somewhere between a rant and a hand-hold I think.

I have found this whole process so stressful and a pointless roadblock thrown in by our buyer today has just about sent me over the edge.

We are so close to completion but still haven't nailed down a date as things keep cropping up. We almost had a date but then our buyers' solicitor needed a week to check something and so proposed a later date which our sellers then couldn't meet etc. etc.

I know a lot of people goes through it, in England at least, but why is it so painful?! Part of my issue is that I've never been in a chain before so it's been a challenge and I'll admit that patience doesn't come naturally to me though I am trying.

Anybody else close to losing it over the house buying/selling process?

Yes, I'm definitely close to the edge.

After accepting an offer from a FTB, everything seemed fine - just paperwork and, presumably, important stuff going on in the background for 8 weeks!

Yesterday, buyer's solicitor requests an EICR and for us to pay. Later same day, buyer's solicitor insists we must take out indemnity insurance for lack of covenant consent. This relates to a bog standard, wood shed which we were happy to leave for our buyer as there's no garage. Said I'd rather set fire to said shed, than pay £200 for a made up non-issue, also known as extortion. B*stards. Can only assume our buyer is using one of these on-line national conveyancing companies so suspect this is just the beginning...Any thing else crops up and I'll be going back on the market.

@KrankyKumquat If you aren’t renting you don’t need an electrical report. They can pay themselves if they want one.

Re the indemnity, have I understood correctly that you added a shed without permission and don’t want the hassle of removing it? The solicitor so right to question this as it will cost the new owner to remove if it’s breaking a covenant and somebody challenges it. Am not sure and indemnity is financially sensible but you should offer something as good will or get rid yourself.

@Tortephant
Yes I get that but with regard to the consent it's a 1970s development of semis. The developer doesn't even exist anymore so there is no one to get consent from or object and, honestly, who gets consent for a bloody garden shed? Removing it is no hassle, we can soon dismantle and sell it, instead of leaving it for nothing for their client, and their client can buy a shed and indemnity insurance when they move in. Everyone's a winner, eh?

FTBs are a complete pain. Scared of their own shadow

@KrankyKumquat I’m glad I’m not alone but sorry you are going through this too! It just seems to be one thing after the other.

I’m fed up but if we go back on the market we’ll lose the house we are buying so we’re trapped.

@AlexFurbison
Yes, I'm actually not sure I'd have the guts to re-market either; we're nearing completion on our house too. Buyers, especially those not in a chain, know they've got you over a barrel, too invested to say 'no'. It's a nightmare. Not helped by scammy conveyancers and survey companies.

I completely agree and ‘over a barrel’ is exactly how we feel.

How long until you complete do you think?

TBH, I've now got no idea as we've batted back the EICR issue, saying 'you want one, you pay'. If the buyer decides to pay themselves, it'll be waiting on that and anything it throws up - the shed is the least of it as we'll just dismantle and sell if they insist on a £200 indemnity but it feels like the last straw and like we've wasted 8 weeks. Our house is vacant as seller bought and moved on so I'm hoping they'll hang on for us.

How about you? What's going on?

Honestly all that fuss over the shed! You'd think the buyers would want it to stay. Good on you to push back on the EICR, we paid for one to be done.

It's looking like we might move in three weeks or so but we haven't been given a completion date. There always seems to be something the buyers' solicitor needs to do and they seem to need an entire week to do each thing. The sellers of the house we are buying have been patient but I am sure they must be keen to get moving too.

The uncertainty is the killer for me, even of the moving date was a long way off I'd be okay of it was just locked in.

I'm sure the buyers do want it. We bought a really good quality one and there's no garage so nowhere else to keep their lawnmower 😅. I'm betting they're oblivious to all this palaver. I agree re the date, I'd be happy with even 1st October if it was firm as life has been on hold for months and I'm dying to start packing but daren't.

Let's hope you're on your way in 3 weeks. I'm sure we'll get there in the end!

Yeah the buyers would be cross with the solicitor if they knew they'd lost them a nice shed.

I have started packing as I need to be doing something proactive. Hopefully it pays off and I'm not unpacking again soon! Fingers crossed for a completion date for both of us soon. 🙏

It is absolutely horrible.😖

The best sale / purchase we had was when we already owned a second property which we moved into for 6-months, this kept us insulated from the daily hassles of the chain and allowed us to play hardball as we were not dependant on things happening in a set sequence on an exact date.

Worst was when our EA turned out to be a lazy, lying git who would not have known the truth if it hit him square in the face.🤬
We had been in the chain for a while, selling to the buyer recommended by the EA and who was a cash, FT buyer. On the day we were expecting to exchange the EA rang up end said "sorry, the sale of their house has just fallen through so they need to find another buyer and start the process again, also their mortgage offer has expired". We were WTAF! You told us he was a cash FTB and now, on the day we were expecting to exchange you tell us he has a house to sell and no finance!!!!!!
It all went through ok a few weeks later but it was a horrible time.☹️

Then the development of semis need to club together and apply to the court to have the covenant retracted.

@Tortephant
Are you always this obtuse? This is a post about the stresses of buying and selling houses.

Clearly, we're not going to be organising all our neighbours to negotiate a Deed of Release or apply to the Upper Tribunal, when we're in the middle of moving house. As I said, it's no hassle, we can easily dismantle the shed and will sell it for £100 or more. The only people who will be disadvantaged as a result will be our buyers who will now need to buy a shed (and indemnity insurance) when they move in.

Agree re EICR - the buyer should pay. However so frustrating to come up late - it should be done early at the time of a survey (if there is one).

I'm so frustrated, nearly 14 weeks after accepting the offer and no exchange or completion. The EA keeps telling me I'm being unrealistic to have expected to sell by now, it's a Leasehold but a FTB so no chain.

Buyers solicitor has raised a query a week, it is painful. The stress is awful.

@KrankyKumquat I agree the uncertainty is the worst. If you knew the date it would go through, it would be OK. But until then you're at the mercy of sols/EA etc.

That's a horrible experience, I can't believe the EA just straight out lied. Well, I can believe it but still - shocking! I think that would tip me over the edge on the day of exchange. 😱

@LoopyRoo the sales progression agent has told me implied that I'm being impatient too but I know these things can happen at pace in other countries so it really is an issue with the system here rather than my impatience.

The query a week thing is torturous. I find our solicitor takes four days to reply, whatever I ask. When I emailed to ask her to suggest a completion date to the chain, she replied four days later saying "I will do that". So we'd already lost another week and she hadn't even proposed the date! I was so annoyed.

"That's a horrible experience, I can't believe the EA just straight out lied. Well, I can believe it but still - shocking! I think that would tip me over the edge on the day of exchange. 😱"

It was not a good time end if we could have done physical damage to the EA I think we would both have been happy to do so.
At the end when the EA rang us to congratulate us on the sale I said that we were not happy with the way things had gone (complete understatement!) but he went into full Donald Trump mode saying what a great job his agency had done.
Tosser.😖

They don't need indemnity insurance! As you are going to do, if it's challenged they simply take it down! Unless there is more to the covenant that we know here.

There is plenty of stress about if you choose to when selling and buying, I'm not dismissing that, but a shed where it shouldn't be is really no big deal and is easy and cheap to sort out.

@AlexFurbison exactly, in most jobs timely action and responses are expected, but some 'professionals' seem to do as they please with house sales.

Thing is, I don't mind if there are decent reasons for something taking time, like search results etc. But a sol or EA just being really slow to action anything is very frustrating.

Do you think the sales progression agent is trying to keep you in your box?! Mine seems quite condescending, almost gas lighting that I'm expecting too much and sols sending a query a week is 'normal'.

The solicitors involved are absolutely shit at this . I had the audacity to contact them directly - I was living in US at the time so thought it was normal . Tried to tell me I was wrong but I said I was paying the bill so why not . Probably dismissed me as an obnoxious Yank but it got done .
In this day and age with online information there is no excuse . Even with lots of clients I can not understand this delay .

It has really put me off buying a house in UK ever again . Probably have to self build with a caravan on site !

@Nourishinghandcream that EA is an absolute tosspot. I can't understand how they can get away with it.

@LoopyRoo I was just saying to my DH that we could never do our jobs as slowly/badly as some of the people we have dealt with in this process. I think the sales progression agent just doesn't want to be chased on anything and wants to give an update once a week while we just sit and wait for crumbs. I am used to being proactive and find all the passive waiting around really difficult.

@Nofeckingway good for you for contacting them directly! I have emailed our solicitor a few times. As you say, we are paying for it and there really is no excuse for these huge delays. I really wish the government would overhaul the house buying/selling process.

@Nofeckingway that is really bad - I contact my solicitor whenever I like, I'm paying them!

@AlexFurbison the sales progression manager has been a hindrance in my case, like you say, they just call or email the parties and send a weekly update with no understanding or involvement. In my last sale it was the agent himself chasing the completion, to get his commission, that seems a better process?

Currently awaiting the latest from the buyers solicitor, who has been breadcrumbing. Thankfully I think the buyer will be chasing them, as they transferred their deposit already, so they are probably getting impatient themselves...

How's everyone else today?

We’ve been trying to move since last May and are now on our third chain 🥴🥴 first time the people above us pulled out as they changed their minds about selling, second time people below us pulled out as they got cold feet about finances/stretching themselves. And in between it’s been a horrible period of frantically rebuilding chains and renegotiating on prices as the housing market is crazy. Hoping third time lucky and we get it over the line this time!

Solicitors are horrendously slow and need prompting to reply to emails, but on the plus side our mortgage has been approved and we are safely on the other side of surveys etc. Almost daren’t breathe in case it all falls apart again!

@LoopyRoo a transferred deposit sounds very positive! It does seem in the EA’s best interests to chase and get their commission sooner.

@HouseMoveRound2 three chains?! Sending support and wine! I feel exactly the same about not breathing until it’s done - I don’t think I’ll believe it’s definitely happening until I’m sat in the new house with the door shut.

Slightly positive update from me, we have cleared the annoying hurdle our buyers threw in last week and should have an agreed completion date early next week. 🙏🏻

@AlexFurbison Good news, let's hope you're on the home straight now.

We've made no progress all week with either the EICR or the infamous shed. Our solicitor, to be fair, is doing all she can to move things forward but buyers solicitors have suddenly gone shy.

But it's Friday so nothing can happen, good or bad, till Monday which, after a week of constantly checking for emails, feels like a proper holiday. Am hitting the wine and will have an early night and a lie-in tomorrow.