The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

Insomniac101

Natbag said:

@Insomniac101 - urgh, I feel for you. At least you're receiving some communication. Pretty sure my solicitor and both estate agents I'm chasing for updates have gone on annual leave. My buyer is becoming impatient, but until the last enquiry comes back on my ex's purchase then we are all stuck. And it seems to be one of those that could take weeks as well - I need to complete this month and I'm pretty sure that isn't happening now.

I've honestly given up, its upsetting for everyone in the chain, apart from our buyers as they are not in a hurry.  We need to complete quick as our mortgage offer expires soon, and I don't think the bank will extend it, as we extended/moved it from another property which we had an offer on back in July 2020.

in_w4ves

byeo said:

A new financial year brings up an issue for me, I've got a Lifetime ISA with Skipton, the majority of my deposit is with them while the rest is in a regular savings account. The house we're buying is in a chain of three, we're FTB and at the other end, the house they're buying is empty. We've not got a date for completion yet but I'm wondering if I've got time to stick another 4k from my regular savings account into my LISA to then get the additional 1k Government bonus. That would help us out a lot as the additional 1k saved can go towards whatever we need in the house.

My main worry is that I'll stick 4k into the LISA then the solicitor contacts me with a date for completion which is before the date the bonus is paid in.. I'd be looking at around the 20th May at the earliest for bonus to be paid into my account.

I guess if I transfer 4k over and we get a completion date before the bonus is paid it's not the end of the world, I won't lose out on anything which I never had.

Hope this makes sense..

I’ve had the same musings. 

Also LISA with Skipton. 

I’ve bitten the bullet, as I’m hoping even if the flat purchase complete before the bonus from 21/22 comes in - then my solicitor will still be able to draw out the 4k anyway. Depends what you’ve put down on the LISA fund release form I guess? (I’ve ticked - leave £1 in account). So if bonus comes in time, great. If it does not then it’s still a bonus £1k, granted I can’t touch until retirement but it wouldn’t be there anyway if I don’t put the 4k in!

(I am apparently maybe exchanging on 19th April as the seller’a mortgage runs out then. Despite not having seen a shred of the enquiries responses or signed a contract yet. And naturally, I cannot get a hold my solicitor after they’ve dropped that bombshell!)

AnnexeRegular

Here's my timeline. I'm a first time buyer with no chain.

13/03 DIP agreed
15/03 Offer put in
16/03 Increased offer by £5000
17/03 Offer accepted
18/03 Solicitors instructed
22/03 Full mortgage application
24/03 Valuation booked in for 26/03
25/03 Memorandum of sale received from EA
26/03 Valuation came back with no problems
26/03 Mortgage offered
31/03 Mortgage documents received from Santander
07/04 Solicitor has applied for the searches
07/04 Survey booked in for 20/04

I just want to move in to my first home and the waiting is killing me.

firsttimesellerldn

I’m reading accounts of people exchanging with a mixture of hope and envy. I put my flat up for sale in June last year and still don’t have a proposed exchange date so am somewhat losing the will. 

Am on my second buyer after losing my first because they weren’t willing to get a search indemnity after my local council got cyberattacked and wasn’t able to provide searches.

This current buyer then got turned down by their first lender as my block doesn’t have an EWS1. Thankfully another lender was willing to offer a mortgage. 

My solicitor then sat on enquiries for over a month and was generally atrocious at responding (I was by no means demanding..). I complained and was allocated a new solicitor who actually replies to emails. He’s now responded to enquiries so I am keeping fingers crossed it’s nearly there. Well, apart from the fact my Help to Buy redemption valuation has now expired so I have to have to pay for another survey, even though the flat is exactly the same as it was before. 

The whole process feels like the most boring and frustrating saga imaginable. 

We don’t actually have anywhere to live once it’s sold but at least there are no kids or pets in the mix so hopefully can muddle on through! 

SlowlyLosingIt

Isn't it funny that we are all in the same situation. Do you think that everyone who opens a conveyancing firm has this experience and then says...'im going to open my own firm and it will be the best and never be so incompetent'. 

I'm sat re-reading my complaint email I sent to the solicitors yesterday and can't work out if I hate myself or them more...

Natbag

@AnnexeRegular - welcome, although if you think the waiting is hard now, just wait (sorry lol!)
@firsttimesellerldn - I feel for you, that's a long time. It just feels never ending, doesn't it?
@SlowlyLosingIt - my solicitor is getting a shirty complaint email if I don't hear from her this week, I am so sick of paying thousands of pounds to simply be ignored.

lauraflorence

Is anybody else finding searches are taking an age.... i get there are delays with the stamp duty holiday and lockdown but i've been waiting 6 weeks and its torture... all the solicitor says is I have to be patient and wait, they keep saying "any day now" but that's been their response for the past 3 weeks  

ohdarn

I think today marks seven months since we accepted the offer on our house.
We were pleased when two weeks ago, our buyer started suggesting completion dates.

Since then, we've heard nothing from them and apparently the estate agent can't get ahold of them or their conveyancer, although I dont trust anything our estate agents says anymore (fun sidenote: we asked our estate agent who the branch manager was so we could make a complaint about them. Our estate is the branch manager).

So we've asked the EA that if they do manage to contact the buyer, to pass on that if an exchange date isn't agreed by the end of this week, we're putting our house back on the market.

It's been such a trudging s**tfest of ineptitude, complacency, lies, anxiety and worry that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to experience the emotion of happiness ever again.

Natbag

I think the problem is that with lockdown, working from home and the cramped situation we're in currently, it's just making this whole wait so much more stressful. I probably need to just try not think about, maybe stay away from here for a few days, as it's driving me mad. The whole process is a total b1tch.

naomibm

lockdown and working from home is defo adding to it @Natbag. we are in a 2 bed flat with a 2 and 5 year old so not any easy working environment. 

we found out today the place our sellers are buying is chain free and they already have a mortgage in place. lets hope we can get an exchange date in asap.