Well, Here goes - a stress and hassle free purchase.......

davilown

Just a quick check in - further details to follow! The move went very well, keys available from 1030! We were in the pub having a relaxing brekkie, wondering what to do for the next two hours then the solicitor's phoned (thanks Richard), said money had been rec'd. Went straight to house to leave the van. Vendor was still there cleaning, unaware that we had completed bless her!
She left us very soon afterwards, with a set of keys and we started the move. 2 hours and 2 more loads later we were in, All furniture in rooms, packing boxes in the garage - this is a very useful idea we've learnt through the last 8 moves.

Last box unpack yesterday and have the logs burning in the living room watching last nights Merlin.

klolav

davilown wrote: »

Just a quick check in - further details to follow! The move went very well, keys available from 1030! We were in the pub having a relaxing brekkie, wondering what to do for the next two hours then the solicitor's phoned (thanks Richard), said money had been rec'd. Went straight to house to leave the van. Vendor was still there cleaning, unaware that we had completed bless her!
She left us very soon afterwards, with a set of keys and we started the move. 2 hours and 2 more loads later we were in, All furniture in rooms, packing boxes in the garage - this is a very useful idea we've learnt through the last 8 moves.

Last box unpack yesterday and have the logs burning in the living room watching last nights Merlin.

Yeh!! Well done. Sounds lovely....blissful even, how nice that it all went to plan, well actually better than you could have planned.
We also intend to put lots of things in garage and unpack from there.
Enjoy your new home!!

Soundgirlrocks

klolav wrote: »

That's a bit of luck for you! It will be nice knowing by the time you complete you will be already settled in your new home!
Very stresful for you no doubt, but you won't be homeless, so silver lining!!
Just for the record, I know people have said you should never give notice before exchange, but it is so hard to know what to do. You didn't want to be paying rent and mortgage so completely understand your decision.
Good luck with the move next week

Thanks Klolav, with hind sight I would never have given notice, I only did it as we were being put under pressure to move in 28 days by the vendor! Lesson learned

Soundgirlrocks

davilown wrote: »

Just a quick check in - further details to follow! The move went very well, keys available from 1030! We were in the pub having a relaxing brekkie, wondering what to do for the next two hours then the solicitor's phoned (thanks Richard), said money had been rec'd. Went straight to house to leave the van. Vendor was still there cleaning, unaware that we had completed bless her!
She left us very soon afterwards, with a set of keys and we started the move. 2 hours and 2 more loads later we were in, All furniture in rooms, packing boxes in the garage - this is a very useful idea we've learnt through the last 8 moves.

Last box unpack yesterday and have the logs burning in the living room watching last nights Merlin.

Thats great news congratulations, I'm glad it went well for you. You must be so pleased to be in:D

Pupnik

Well after signing the contract and sending over the deposit once the solicitor had told us we were good to go we were supposed to exchange today but when my other half called this morning the solicitor said that they have now had a letter from the seller's solicitor saying we need to fill out a form and pay a £500 fee to the freeholder for his permission to sell. Our solicitor has asked several times whether there were any fees that needed paying to the freeholder- I know because I saw the copies of the letters, and since we had been told last week that everything was ok it was all in hand, so needless to say I am !!!!ed off to get this news now on the day we were supposed to exchange. £500 seems very steep to me too when I have no idea what those costs are for. I will need to speak to the solicitors tomorrow and try and get an answer. If they genuinely have legal costs and such and that is what it costs then fair enough but if this is some kind of 'administration fee' then I am going to be fuming. I'm also fully expecting that £500 to not include VAT.

Also I don't know if it is paranoia on my part but it is fishy that the seller's solicitor brings this up now, just when we've paid the deposit and aren't likely to back out, plus it is the freeholder/ management company that has been dragging this sale on so long so they are probably well aware that our mortgage offer will be expiring soon so we don't have time to be challenging any unfair admin costs.

This is such a stressful process, I feel like I have learnt a lot from it so will be less green the next time we buy (and certainly won't bother even viewing leasehold no matter how good value/ nice the house is!) I just can't wait for it to be over, although I still have the fun of buying the freehold in the future, can't wait for that challenge...

klolav

Pupnik wrote: »

Well after signing the contract and sending over the deposit once the solicitor had told us we were good to go we were supposed to exchange today but when my other half called this morning the solicitor said that they have now had a letter from the seller's solicitor saying we need to fill out a form and pay a £500 fee to the freeholder for his permission to sell. Our solicitor has asked several times whether there were any fees that needed paying to the freeholder- I know because I saw the copies of the letters, and since we had been told last week that everything was ok it was all in hand, so needless to say I am !!!!ed off to get this news now on the day we were supposed to exchange. £500 seems very steep to me too when I have no idea what those costs are for. I will need to speak to the solicitors tomorrow and try and get an answer. If they genuinely have legal costs and such and that is what it costs then fair enough but if this is some kind of 'administration fee' then I am going to be fuming. I'm also fully expecting that £500 to not include VAT.

Also I don't know if it is paranoia on my part but it is fishy that the seller's solicitor brings this up now, just when we've paid the deposit and aren't likely to back out, plus it is the freeholder/ management company that has been dragging this sale on so long so they are probably well aware that our mortgage offer will be expiring soon so we don't have time to be challenging any unfair admin costs.

This is such a stressful process, I feel like I have learnt a lot from it so will be less green the next time we buy (and certainly won't bother even viewing leasehold no matter how good value/ nice the house is!) I just can't wait for it to be over, although I still have the fun of buying the freehold in the future, can't wait for that challenge...

Souns very stressful....and certainly a bit naughty as you were on the cusp of exchange, for this to appear? Surely if they have before stated no fees, how can this suddenly appear from nowhere...made up fee?
I hope you get it sorted today and complete etc soon. Good luck:)

Update on mine....STILL waiting for the sellers mortgage offer.....surveyor was out a month ago now, and apparently still no mortgage offer. We were hoping to complete 6th Oct, then end of Oct, now.....god knows! Everything else ready to go. Really dragging on, no chain either end and nobody seems to know anything. Feel really frustrated- I hate things being out of my control! ggggrrrrrrrrr

gingertips

you could instruct their solicitor that seller pays the £500 fee & if they refuse you will pull out?

Or you could offer to pay half & if thats a no then pull out?

Agree though - need to know why £500...sounds like a made up fee, or seller just sat on it therefore their responsibility!

Pupnik

Well I found out what the £500 is for (actually £600 with VAT). We have been sent a very intrusive form which is an application for lease transfer. The form wants to know our bank details, jobs, what we pay in rent at the moment, addresses of the last 5 years etc. It is like the mortgage application all over again... but more expensive! Obviously I have not filled out the form and have instructed the solicitor to fight it, but I am now getting cold feet about the whole purchase. I had planned to buy the freehold and had allowed £10k to do so but this slimy management company are clearly the lowest form of life and will make things very difficult if not impossible. I love the house and want to live there, but I can do without this. The fact that freeholders can get away with what really amounts to extortion makes my blood boil. I did not originally want to buy a leasehold but for character of the building/ location/ price I just haven't found a comparable property, and I still look every now and then and there isn't anything else right on the market. The application form also says to allow up to 8 weeks for surveys and interviews so even if we did fill it out our mortgage offer would have expired by then.

I am worried now that we already paid 10% to the solicitors, we haven't exchanged yet but I'm concerned that just signing the contract is enough to make us lose our deposit.

This is such a stressful process.

klolav

Hi Pupnik, any more news about the leasehold?
Anybody else have any updates?

Mine hasn't moved one iota......purchasers still waiting for mortgage offer....5 weeks since surveyors report, keep getting told there is nothing to worry about, but I can't help but be on the edge constantly! I NEED TO EXCHANGE aaarrrrggghhhhh

Sugared-frog

Waiting (impatiently) for the results of the surveys yesterday. Not quite sure how many days we will have to wait for the reports. It would be nice to hear verbally that nothing significant (that we aren't expecting) was found.