The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

charlotteo1988

HopeAndDriftWood said:

charlotteo1988 said:

Hi,

sorry can I ask a question? 

my house was sold in July and we had a offer accepted on August had a few issues and the seller has found a property 28th September and the people moving out of that house is going into a new build but not ready yet so willing to go into rented accommodation. 

Obviously this has been dragging on now and the seller is a cash buyer so been almost 4 weeks since she had her offer accepted. 

Who do I speak to to try and push for her solicitors to exchange and complete asap? I’ve asked my solicitors they seem to be quite slow and was wondering whether my estate agents could chase the sellers solicitors as she keeps chasing me asking if I had an update? 

Thanks
Charlotte 

Do you know how far down the line they are? Have they had searches back; done enquiries? 

You can't really push their solicitor, your buyer needs to. It may well turn out that her sellers have changed their mind about renting, it happens a lot... or that they're struggling to find somewhere. Her solicitor won't progress things until they've confirmed where they're going. 

Your best bet is to push your estate agent to talk to your buyer, and get updates that way. Typically solicitors won't respond to estate agents, and your solicitor should do the chasing of theirs... but your solicitor is unlikely to do much if the top of the chain isn't solid, so to speak. 

I'd ask your estate agent to clarify with your buyer if the top of chain is fully sorted yet, but it's not unusual to feel a bit in the dark about what's going on above you in the chain.

Hello, 

thank you for your reply I will email my estate agent today. 

I got a update from my solicitors to say the vendors solicitors replied to her enquiries with a letter in the post!!!!  I mean talk about being in the ages!!! And at that didn’t reply point by point and answer all the questions raised. I have asked when she emails back to ask them to reply to her emails via email rather than letter which she agreed is a better and quicker option. 

I’m not sure how far the solictors are with regards to the vendors sale and searches etc but I know that the particular area she is moving to has a turn around of 10 working days. 

I will email my estate agent to ask about the top of the chain. Is it unrealistic for an 8 week turnaround for the vendor to try and complete? If the other seller has found accommodation?

Thanks
Charlotte 

novelle

TheScone said:

novelle said:

TheScone said:

A little update from me! 

We completed on our first house purchase yesterday!! Thankfully we have our rental until the second week of November so the move doesn't need to be a massive panic. I do however want to get fully moved over by the end of this weekend so we have plenty of time to clean the rental properly in an attempt to get our deposit back. We are both still working full time so can only move/clean in the evenings.

It still doesn't feel real that I own a house. I just want to get to painting now and making it feel like home (at the moment, everything is magnolia... god help me).

Being on this thread has been a massive help with this process, even when I've mostly been reading other people's experience's. I'm rooting for you all, it really can feel like you are just waiting around praying nothing goes wrong, but everyone seems to get there eventually, and seeing that on here has been a massive help. Also, being a FTB who had no clue what I was doing, the thread has been invaluable.

I wish you all the best of luck!

So happy for you! 

So were you able to book a removal company to do the moving ?

I agree with you that this thread is invaluable especially if you are FTB and your solicitors / EA are slow / non communicative 

Thank you! We didn’t book removals, the house we have bought is only a 5 minute drive from where we have been renting, and both of my brother’s have vans so they are going to move the big furniture over the weekend! Initially I wanted removals but figuring out dates and the additional cost didn’t seem worth it in the end. We’ve put the cost towards replacing some furniture instead 😁

And thank you everyone else for the well wishes 💛

thats excellent! That will save some money and the need to arrnage removal company

GeenBeen

waitingforsomething said:

GeenBeen said:

Hello! FTB here and feeling very out of my depth.

House viewing: 21/09/21
Offer made: 24/9/21
Best & Final: 30/9/21
Offer accepted: 4/10/21 
Meeting with mortgage broker: 5/10/21
Docs send to mortgage broker: 13/10/21
Solicitors instructed and docs returned: 13/10/21
Solicitors received papers: 14/10/21
Application submitted to Barclays: 14/10/21
Mortgage offer (awaiting valuation): 19/10/21

We've heard literally nothing from the solicitors since returning all our documents, even getting confirmation of receipt of email was a pain when I called their office. Now wondering if we've made a mistake, eek! Is this normal? How long from returning all documents would you expect to hear from the solicitor about the next steps? I've sent a few questions regarding when we need to pay for searches, and whether we'd be tenants in common but I've had nothing back. Am I worrying for no reason? I'm trying to be realistic about their work load!

Is your chain complete? Solicitors often won't start searches etc until this happens. Mine didn't start searches until I had my mortgage offer.

We're chain free (the house we're buying is currently empty), and when I called last Friday they said they'd received the documents, but now I wonder if they meant from us or the seller's solicitor. It could be the same for us, I might just be too eager now that we got our mortgage offer so quickly (we were expecting 40 days and they did it in 4!).

HopeAndDriftWood

charlotteo1988 said:

HopeAndDriftWood said:

charlotteo1988 said:

Hi,

sorry can I ask a question? 

my house was sold in July and we had a offer accepted on August had a few issues and the seller has found a property 28th September and the people moving out of that house is going into a new build but not ready yet so willing to go into rented accommodation. 

Obviously this has been dragging on now and the seller is a cash buyer so been almost 4 weeks since she had her offer accepted. 

Who do I speak to to try and push for her solicitors to exchange and complete asap? I’ve asked my solicitors they seem to be quite slow and was wondering whether my estate agents could chase the sellers solicitors as she keeps chasing me asking if I had an update? 

Thanks
Charlotte 

Do you know how far down the line they are? Have they had searches back; done enquiries? 

You can't really push their solicitor, your buyer needs to. It may well turn out that her sellers have changed their mind about renting, it happens a lot... or that they're struggling to find somewhere. Her solicitor won't progress things until they've confirmed where they're going. 

Your best bet is to push your estate agent to talk to your buyer, and get updates that way. Typically solicitors won't respond to estate agents, and your solicitor should do the chasing of theirs... but your solicitor is unlikely to do much if the top of the chain isn't solid, so to speak. 

I'd ask your estate agent to clarify with your buyer if the top of chain is fully sorted yet, but it's not unusual to feel a bit in the dark about what's going on above you in the chain.

Hello, 

thank you for your reply I will email my estate agent today. 

I got a update from my solicitors to say the vendors solicitors replied to her enquiries with a letter in the post!!!!  I mean talk about being in the ages!!! And at that didn’t reply point by point and answer all the questions raised. I have asked when she emails back to ask them to reply to her emails via email rather than letter which she agreed is a better and quicker option. 

I’m not sure how far the solictors are with regards to the vendors sale and searches etc but I know that the particular area she is moving to has a turn around of 10 working days. 

I will email my estate agent to ask about the top of the chain. Is it unrealistic for an 8 week turnaround for the vendor to try and complete? If the other seller has found accommodation?

Thanks
Charlotte 

By post?! Oof. 

8 weeks is possible; if everyone is pushing for it... but the other seller would probably need to have their rental sorted already. The "average" purchase is 12 weeks from the chain being completed; and the industry bodies were saying 16 - 20 weeks at the end of September because of the stamp duty deadline causing backlogs. 

I hope your estate agent can fill you in a bit on what's happening above. 

HopeAndDriftWood

We've just heard from our estate agent that our buyers mortgage offer is FINALLY through, and enquiries will be raised tomorrow. 

justcat01

HopeAndDriftWood said:

We've just heard from our estate agent that our buyers mortgage offer is FINALLY through, and enquiries will be raised tomorrow. 

That's fantastic news!

You prompted me to let our vendors EA know that we received ours too (even though it was 2 weeks ago now).

I used it as an in to try and find out where our vendor is with their purchase too! All I know is that they found a chain free (retirement) apartment 4 weeks ago but I'm not sure what else.

climbthatwallseegar

Rejoining this thread after a hiatus following the sale of my flat in the Summer and a series of failed purchases. So disheartened with this whole process but hoping rejoining here will bring me some luck <clutching at straws>. Brief summary of my !!!!!!:-


House #1 – offer accepted beginning of July. Initially told during viewing that vendor had found an onward purchase but subsequently informed he was still looking. After 3 months of zero progress and no updates his EA admitted he had no idea what the vendor was doing as he had gone completely silent on him. EA actively encouraged me to start viewing other properties so..

House #2 – Offered on a beautiful family home, ticked almost all our boxes. Seller an elderly woman who was downsizing. Said she loved the idea of selling to me as I had a young family. Unfortunately lost out to a cash buyer. Gutted. On to..

House #3 – Vacant house, informed by EA it was a probate but it then turned out the owner was an elderly widower who was actually alive (long story!).  After a confusing week of back and forth my offer was accepted. Assured by EA that owner wanted to sell ASAP as he had already bought another house with his brand new wife and wanted to tidy up his affairs. Seemed it would all be straightforward. Withdrew my offer my House #1. Exactly one week later EA called to say very sorry, owner decided to pull the property from sale citing “family pressure” as his children did not want him to sell the family home. Then went back to…

House #2 which suddenly came back on the market just as House #3 purchase collapsed. The cash buyer had pulled out. My (re)offer was accepted. Initially elated but it feels like groundhog day the as the seller is still looking for her onward purchase, she is downsizing to a one bed flat.  Since she initially accepted an offer from the cash buyer at the beginning of September I naively expected her to have found somewhere by now as at the time when I viewed (in September) she’d already started packing up her furniture and said she’d seen several flats she liked and planned to offer on. The EA also told me she was buying cash and wasn’t dependent on the funds from the sale of the house. She is looking for a 1 bed in a new town I know very well and there are literally hundreds available on Right Move etc but appears she hasn't found anywhere:(

Also, my solicitor is waiting for the contract documentation and told me today that the seller’s solicitor advised that they have still haven't even been instructed to act so nothing has started two weeks after my offer was accepted. Asked the EA if they have any info and they responded that the seller is “sorting out her paperwork” and then will instruct her solicitor.

I just feel like crying and giving up.

It doesn’t matter what kind of house I go for: vacant, occupied, vendor on their way out....I seem to end up in the same shambolic situation. I read threads on here where people offer on a house and then their vendor finds somewhere straightaway and the chain is quickly complete. I just give up.

Pity rant over:) Best of luck to everyone looking to Exchange and Complete this month, I hope it all goes as smoothly as possible!

Ref44

Looking good, EA has advised that our buyers are happy with the proposed date. Our solicitors are hoping to exchange early next week. We had our offer accepted on our purchase 12 weeks today, so very good by some of the tales on here.

novelle

@charlotteo1988 by post?! Who will do this nowadays to answer enquiries in the conveyancing business?

@Ref44 finger crossed for you everything goes smoothly 

novelle

@climbthatwallseegar sorry to hear that you have to go through all these. 

Sometimes i think the system should change for example, once your offer has been accepted then you should pay a deposit to secure the house. It makes it less likely for people to pull out a sale.