My experience thus far

pr0berts

I would just like to write and share my experience of selling my property and buying a new house to relieve some of my frustration.

I was an FTB and bought a shared ownership property in 2010 and it all went relatively smoothly from my side. The whole process took 2 months and was pain free due the solicitor being good and because I was paying cash. This probably gave me a false sense of security that selling the house would be equally as easy!

So I first got it valued in 2012 and it came in £10k below the amount we paid which seemed incorrect. We accepted it could be lower due market conditions but the sale price of others in the area suggested ours should be worth more. We tried to convince the RICS surveyor (required by housing association) but he refused to budge despite fairly obvious evidence to the contrary, it was below what we needed and this was £200 down the drain.

We tried again in September of this year and fortunately had a surveyor who was far more sensible about comparisons and flexible so we got a valuation that represented what we initially paid. We then sent this in to our housing association and paid their assignment fee to enable us to start advertising.

Following an open day we got the full asking price to an FTB and we were thrilled that we would be able to move on to a bigger house in a more favorable location.

We waited for a month before looking for a new property because we wanted things to be more certain on ours but after being told a mortgage was in hand we put down a reservation fee on a new build requiring exchange on 28 days.

Since then it's been a complete nightmare:-

> We have now been waiting for over 8 weeks to exchange contracts and the buyers solicitor refuses to be tied to any dates

> My timescale to exchange on my newbuild expires next week but fortunately they're being very good about it despite the rising market.

> The estate agent has tried to put forward dates but these go past with little acknowledgement from anyone other than myself

> I spend everyday on the phone trying or on email trying to get people to do their job or to be more professional in doing their job. i.e be SPECIFIC.

> The buyers solicitor is Premier Property Lawyers and they seem to be exactly as per the online reviews - rubbish. They claimed they had additional enquiries only to send out the initial list again. (This was after my solicitor had sent them over a week ago). They later acknowledged that they already received them.

> Management packs, cost cost cost. RMG what rob dogs £366 for some paper.

> I ended up driving documents to my buyers solicitor so I know they got them in case they claim otherwise.

> My buyers mortgage has come through incorrectly on two occasions. It's shared ownership but the first one came through for 100% and the second didn't have the required terms for the housing association to approve it. His broker doesn't want to be involved and the solicitor doesn't seem interested in sorting it out quickly. So this is dragging on and seems to be the main hold up.

> Lies, the buyers solicitor told mine that they had a correct mortgage offer and it would go out to housing association on day x, they also told the buyer this only to later say they had an incorrect offer again. They did something very similar with the enquiries - why do this?

> Additional fees, solicitors love them don't they - leashold sir? £150. Shared Ownership you say oh well that's an extra £125. Thinking about completing on a Tuesday, well that will be costly £185.

> I now have to extend my valuation because my housing association only do three months at a time. Probably a few quid for that too.

Perhaps the above is my frustrated ramblings but perhaps it provides a useful insight to people as to how stressful the moving process can be. If your undecided on whether to stretch yourself and go for a longer term house or to buy well within your means - my recommendation would now always be to minamise your exposure to this - The whole transaction process is a joke and everyone seems gets something out of it along the way and offer very little in terms of customer service.

I take my hat off to people who do large chains. My nerves could not handle this.

pinkteapot

I completely agree with your sentiments at the end. We're selling and buying in a chain of four and although we've had no major hiccoughs so far, I'm finding it hugely stressful until we exchange as so much is out of my control. We've only been in our house for three years as we bought very conservatively (well below what we could afford). I wish we'd gone straight into the long-term house.

In your position I would speak to the EA and tell them to put a rocket up your buyer. They're paying their broker and solicitor so they have the most clout with them. You could set a deadline for exchange but only if you'd actually be willing to re-market afterwards.

pr0berts

I agree I think the rocket is needed and having thought about it some more I now think I have 2 options to get this moving:-

1) Tell the estate agent to re-advertise the property immediately and inform the buyer that he is in pole position but that I'm protecting myself in the event he can't get the paperwork sorted. This may cost some goodwill but it may also put pressure on him to get his people to do their job for fear of loosing out. (The actual likelihood of another buyer coming in and being able to get it through quicker than him is virtually non-existent but gives me a head start if he drops out)

2) Tell the buyer that if they do not get the correct mortgage offer to the housing association and approved by x (probably end of week) then it will go back on the market at that point. Possibly fairer but they've already had 8 weeks with many timescales thrown in before and I'm running out of time.

A third option is to do neither of these things and continue to chase but it's been fairly ineffective so far and it now needs some kind of escalation.

Which of the first two do people consider to be most appropriate?

Slightly_Squiffy

I'm sorry you're having a rubbish time with things! So glad we've just hired a small local firm instead of going with Premier Property Lawyers. (We used them for somewhere over the summer which we pulled out of. We got 12 weeks in and they hadn't even started the searches! :eek:)

I would be inclined to put the pressure on your buyers and say if they don't kick their lawyers up the backside, you're putting the house back on the market.