Buying a house - most stressful time ever?!

outdoorcjc

Probably not what you want to hear but I haven't found the process too bad.

It was a little stressful in the run up to exchange as I was keen to exchange by a particular date to avoid too much of an overlap with rental periods, I added a bit of extra stress as a result of trying to save money!

The solicitor is the key I think, I was fortunate to have a good one, she pushed things for me and always phoned or emailed me when I asked for updates.

Now, buying and selling at the same time.....that I am not looking forward too, I can see how that would be one of the most stressful things you can do.

Keith

It took us 6 months to sell, has taken 3 months to get to completion which is next week and the most stressful part is that we havenot found a new home so are off to live in a dining room!

yorkshire_terrier_owner

I agree with what you say LL about being organised etc - in my former life I was a mortgage underwriter so had a better than average understanding of how the process works, and organisation and staying on top on EA/sols etc helped my sale and purchase go through quickly.

However I will say this......... as I was going through the process, it felt like the most stressful thing ever, yes in reality I have dealt with far more stressful things in my life, but that didn't diminish how it felt going through it, and now it's done I wonder what all the fuss was about.

Best comment ever from my mum - "if you want to move, the only way is straight through the middle of it, you can't bypass it. So just get on with it."

Isn't a mother's wisdom fab?!!!!!

m0bov

Some stupid unhelpful comments in this thread, but anyway, yes moving home is one of the most stressful things in life. Eveyone told me this, even as a first timer with no chain, however I was trying to beat stamp duty and did so with hours to spare!!

My advise, change your sol, I did twice! Best thing I did, if your not 100% happy with them, it will stress you out, so contact another sol and get the paperwork sent over (telexed). I my sol gave me a full refund cos I thing he never did a single thing! Its quick and easy and might save you lots of time and hassle.

P.S Re read your issues with your sol, I would def sack them, you don't seem to have confidence, they need to speak to you and you need confidence in them if you don't understand something. Don't let them hide behind emails, you might find your dealing with a dept rather than a single person.

lessonlearned

Better_Days wrote: »

So any pointers as to how to maintain a profile with EA's so that when the house comes onto the market they give me a ring?

Sorry BD - forgot to answer this.

I'm assuming that most of the EA's in your chosen area will be registered with Right Move.

You can request a RM alert. This can be sent daily if necessary. RM will email you with an alert for all new properties that come on to the EA's books, any that have price reductions etc.

I would also email the agents on a regular basis, at least once a week.

I don't know how things are in your area, but we certainly have something of a "Spring Surge" here at the moment and the EA's are very busy.

Lots of new properties coming onto the market each week. I'm getting RM alerts every day. I just put in my preferred areas and a price guide, I didn't stipulate house types or any particular requirements.

pinkdora1

m0bov wrote: »

Some stupid unhelpful comments in this thread, but anyway, yes moving home is one of the most stressful things in life. Eveyone told me this, even as a first timer with no chain, however I was trying to beat stamp duty and did so with hours to spare!!

My advise, change your sol, I did twice! Best thing I did, if your not 100% happy with them, it will stress you out, so contact another sol and get the paperwork sent over (telexed). I my sol gave me a full refund cos I thing he never did a single thing! Its quick and easy and might save you lots of time and hassle.

P.S Re read your issues with your sol, I would def sack them, you don't seem to have confidence, they need to speak to you and you need confidence in them if you don't understand something. Don't let them hide behind emails, you might find your dealing with a dept rather than a single person.

Thank you for your reply and your comments re our conveyancer. Both our mortgage broker and EA have managed to speak to him by phone, just us that seem to not have been able to! He has responded to our emails though. My only concern with changing solicitors is would we have to start the whole process again, and then would it delay us by even longer? We are wanting to complete asap, and so are the sellers as they have already moved out of the house at end of march.

lessonlearned

yorkshire_terrier_owner wrote: »

I agree with what you say LL about being organised etc - in my former life I was a mortgage underwriter so had a better than average understanding of how the process works, and organisation and staying on top on EA/sols etc helped my sale and purchase go through quickly.

However I will say this......... as I was going through the process, it felt like the most stressful thing ever, yes in reality I have dealt with far more stressful things in my life, but that didn't diminish how it felt going through it, and now it's done I wonder what all the fuss was about.

Best comment ever from my mum - "if you want to move, the only way is straight through the middle of it, you can't bypass it. So just get on with it."

Isn't a mother's wisdom fab?!!!!!

Ok - hands up I was a tad sharp. I was just trying to make the point that in the grand scheme of things that there are far far worse things in life than moving house.

Yes it can score high on the stress-o-meter but there is so much we can do to mitigate it, to pre-empt and overcome problems. If we can't then a little stress management is called for, yoga, a walk to let off steam, and yes, the gin bottle sounds as good as any.....:rotfl:

I agree it can feel like the stress is overwhelming. However, it rarely is. As you say it's perhaps only with hindsight you realise it was all little more than a storm in a teacup.

Your mum is right - head down, straight through the middle. As Churchill once said "When you are in hell, you just have to keep walking".

Pinkdora - I think it would probably be better to remain with your current solicitor - it could quite well delay things again if you changed at this late stage. Chin up it will soon be over.

I'm truly sorry if my remarks have upset you, that was not my intention. I just think you have let the situation get the better of you and that you need to get the upper hand. You need to take back some control.

Try not to things overwhelm you. No house move is worth fretting over to the point where you become ill.

If - heaven forbid - it all goes pear shaped and you lose the house - there will be another.

These things always happen for a reason and I know it sounds a bit airy-fairy but things often work out far better than you could have foreseen.

Here's another saying from our fab mothers.......

"If it's for you, it won't go by you". o

m0bov

I found another Sol who was on the panel for the mortgage, I got the files sent across to the new Sol and got the new mortgage offer sent over to the new Sol. I had to get it done ASAP as I had only weeks before the deadline expired, I had to exchange and complete in only a couple of hours!

It would make my blood boil if they are talking to others not you, your employing them! Your instructing them, they work for you, so tell them that you want phone conversations daily or you'll go elsewhere, that's what I got when I changed. I was in daily contact with my sol. It eased the stress so much, I had faith in her.

m0bov

Looking back on things, I think it was sorted in a couple of days, give the new sol details to your broker and they will make contact with them, then send details to sellers sol and thats about it.

Better_Days

lessonlearned wrote: »

Sorry BD - forgot to answer this.

I'm assuming that most of the EA's in your chosen area will be registered with Right Move.

You can request a RM alert. This can be sent daily if necessary. RM will email you with an alert for all new properties that come on to the EA's books, any that have price reductions etc.

I would also email the agents on a regular basis, at least once a week.

I don't know how things are in your area, but we certainly have something of a "Spring Surge" here at the moment and the EA's are very busy.

Lots of new properties coming onto the market each week. I'm getting RM alerts every day. I just put in my preferred areas and a price guide, I didn't stipulate house types or any particular requirements.

Thanks LL. Yes I have RM alerts coming through every day for my search area and price range. Also have been keeping a note over the last month of the daily percentage that are reduced - currently running at between 25 and 30%.

Have emailed the EA's but not on such a regular basis. Will set up an email group and press 'send' every week.

There are more listings, but unfortunately not much of a 'spring bounce' in our price range of 200k to 250k. 100k to 200k is more boyant though. We are toying with the idea of getting a small mortgage and pushing up to 300k, but DH is reluctant to pay the extra stamp duty.