The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

vicki2221

OMG we've just exchanged!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7 months after putting our house on the market and 4 months after accepting our offer. I had actually given up hope of it ever happening and then a few minutes ago just got a casual email from the solicitor informing us it has all been done. We move on the 26th! I can't believe it.

GBR78

Couple of updates below;

27/03 - offer accepted on current house
28/03 - solicitor given the go ahead for sale (purchase not considered at this stage as plan was to move into rental for a few months)
30/03 - Offer accepted on new build purchase
01/04 - Mortgage application started
10/04 - Solictor letter arrives with TA6 forms etc (unfortunately I was out of the country so couldn't fully complete until 12/04)
13/04 - Solictor forms/TA6/property information all submitted to solicitor
13/04 - Buyers survey completed. Nice chap, see's no reason to worry about not moving out - lets hope he's right!

Still no news on mortgage application for our onward purchase, but not stressed about that as we still have a few weeks before exchange on that. Completion on our sale (now only 4 weeks remaining to meet request) is the worry...

tudorfan22

Advice please! Following on from my post a few post ago that our buyers builder has quoted £25k of work. The buyer has disclosed 2 pages of the survey but not the builders report. I think this may have even been verbal. So the survey is the usual blurb about making sure the roof, boiler, electrics, rendering, insulation is checked by a professional - surely this is the usual stuff!! Just a surveyor covering his own behind?!
So she has done as instructed and got a builder in, who has basically do a 'to-do' list on our house, as if money were no object, the kind of thing we'd all like to do if we could afford it. But I think she thinks this is all urgent, horrible, nasty stuff lurking in the house.
Ive written the EA a very nice email saying that everything is fine, except a few niggles such as 2 blown glazing panels, a room missing a radiator and a brick off the chimney and offered to reduce by £5,000 just to make this horrible business go away and for us to continue!
The EA is on leave today so I have a nail biting weekend of wondering if I played it right, im trying to read her mind and see if £5k is enough for her to go, DEAL!
What are peoples thoughts here? I so desperately want to continue, were really close and have all local searches done, its just a case of getting the council bits and bobs for the extension and the conservatory and then were done!

kk235b

Tudor fan, I'm not sure if it's necessarily *good* advice and I'm sure there are more careful, methodical, detail oriented people on here who may well counter it, but, I have a similar attitude to you (and I am a buyer). I do think that surveyors have to recommend that you get EVERYTHING checked to cover their own !!!!!!. My report seems very scary and covered in red writing but when I broke it down it was just stuff like "get the boiler serviced as I'm not sure this has been done this year".
And a lot of stuff that I can take my time getting fixed like warped doors, a rusty outdoor fence, etc.
He also said that I was paying way above the value price, but it's Bristol and it's impossible to get anything for my budget so I couldn't really take that too seriously.

Basically I would say unless there's mould, asbestos, structural damage or something that you definitely couldn't either live with or get fixed, and can therefore see why a buyer might be put off, then...it's...probably fine?!

kk235b

I got an update from my vendor via the estate agents -- she says she has all her searches back on her related purchase and hoping to get responses to the enquiries by next week, and her mortgage is approved and the contracts are ready to sign and she wanted him to reassure me that we're on track for exchange at the end of the month.

On the other hand, my solicitor is having no luck getting any info from the seller's solicitor, so I have nothing from anyone legal, just platitudes from the vendor who obviously wants to keep me interested.

I'm trying to not let myself get hopeful that it'll happen in 2 weeks, but I'm already planning in my head where I'm going to put all my plants.

TamsinC

Two more weeks in and no movement - considering we are at the end you would imagine we would be getting there. I feel the Deed of Easement is probably holding us up. Big sigh!

Time Scale so far . . . updates in bold
Tenants asked us if they could leave house - 26/12/17
Estate agents instructed - 31/12/17 (then a bit of bother)
House on market - 10/1/18
DIP from Nationwide 13/1/18
Offer received and accepted on our house 17/1/18
Offer made and accepted on the house we want 20/1/18
Solicitors Instructed 17/01/18
Documents picked up and filled in from Solicitor 17/1/18
Documents and ID returned to Solicitor 19/1/18
Solicitor composes draft contract & starts local searches - for selling 22/1/17 - for buying ?
Mortgage application interview - 1/2/18 - 3 and 1/2 hours of going over and over the same stuff - still not finished - they are struggling with the fact that hubby will leave the forces in Dec and go onto a service pension - we can't say what his job or wages will be at that point and so are basing the mortgage application purely on his pension. They can't cope with that and the fact that deductions from his wages NOW won't be applicable in Dec. Head office and underwriters need to be contacted. This is making a compacted issue out of something that is not complicated.
2nd Mortgage application interview - 8/1/18 - ANOTHER 2 hours going over the same information - they still don't get it but the application is going through.
Basic surveys done for our purchase - 12/2/18 - nothing untoward found
various letters and emails from our solicitors - they do seem to be on the ball though I am in contact a leasers twice a week to keep things moving forward.
Valuation survey for mortgage - 14/2/18
Chasing mortgage offer - 21/2/18
Mortgage people see and approve valuation 23/2/18
Building survey - 23/2/18 - awaiting report
Emailed mortgage approval - 26/2/18
Exchanged on the house we are selling 27/2/18
Completion on house sale 2/3/18
Chasing building survey on house we are buying 6/3/18
Received survey 7/3/18
negotiated a £10K discount
rang to sort mortgage documents with lower price 10/3/18
solicitor emails to say old document sent 13/3/18
rang again and it will be another 1 - 2 weeks! 13/3/18
email to say new mortgage offer on it's way - not the 1-2 weeks they said 16/3/18
vendor emails to say solicitor needs to do Deed of Easement still- thought this was sorted weeks ago 19/3/18
Deed of Easement quickly done and sent to vendor, owner of the land the Easement is for 20/3/18
Signed contracts and kids signed stuff to do with the mortgage 3/4/18
And now a big fat nothing.

TamsinC

tudorfan22 wrote: »

Advice please! Following on from my post a few post ago that our buyers builder has quoted £25k of work. The buyer has disclosed 2 pages of the survey but not the builders report. I think this may have even been verbal. So the survey is the usual blurb about making sure the roof, boiler, electrics, rendering, insulation is checked by a professional - surely this is the usual stuff!! Just a surveyor covering his own behind?!
So she has done as instructed and got a builder in, who has basically do a 'to-do' list on our house, as if money were no object, the kind of thing we'd all like to do if we could afford it. But I think she thinks this is all urgent, horrible, nasty stuff lurking in the house.
Ive written the EA a very nice email saying that everything is fine, except a few niggles such as 2 blown glazing panels, a room missing a radiator and a brick off the chimney and offered to reduce by £5,000 just to make this horrible business go away and for us to continue!
The EA is on leave today so I have a nail biting weekend of wondering if I played it right, im trying to read her mind and see if £5k is enough for her to go, DEAL!
What are peoples thoughts here? I so desperately want to continue, were really close and have all local searches done, its just a case of getting the council bits and bobs for the extension and the conservatory and then were done!

Stick to your guns - her wish list is not for you to fund. £5K is generous.

Xclare_2

So we have finally exchanged today with a completion of the 27th we can finally start planning stuff.

Our time line

26th Feb Viewed house
1st March Went back for second viewing!
1st March offer accepted
1st March applied online for mortgage
2nd March Instructed solicitors and sent required paperwork for mortgage app
8th March solicitor received our ID, paperwork and proof of deposit
9th March received mortgage offer
9th March homebuyer survey done
14th March received our copy of survey ( minor issues ,and a possible damp issue, estate agent anti moving on price so sellers arranging a quote for damp work to see what needs doing and potential costs)
14th March local searches requested
14th March environmental searches received
15th March draft contracts received from sellers solicitor
23th March - Quote done for damp
2nd April renegotiated price due to damp
6th april all querys back
9th april searches back
13th april exchanged contract

Good luck everyone who's still waiting

Ogriv

Hello all
I would like to join this thread.
My purchase has taken ages so far (since mid-Nov), and I've even threatened to pull out.
But if I start another purchase, what's to say it won't be the same sh*t-show?
It's a leasehold flat, and they are inherentlly sh*t-shows.
But it's all I can afford.

Timeline:

• Offer accepted mid-November
• Mortgage offer received early December
• Homebuyer Report done mid-December - surveyor generally happy but pointed out we should ask for building regs certificates for removal of a load-bearing wall during the conversion (from 5-storey house to flats)
• Pre-Xmas conveyancer made their enquiries
• Then various enquries came back slowly.... but nothing about load-bearing walls. Conversion apparently done 20 years ago, so regs cert unlikely.
• Early March it transpired that freehold currently being sold by an older couple to a company. News to me, and annoying. Means certain enquiries can only be answered by new freeholder.
• Sale of freehold completed mid-March
• Searches finished end of March
• start of April I tell my conveyancer that if still no answer on loadbearing walls question by end of April I'll pull out. She beefs this up somewhat and tells seller's people that if we are not in a position to exchange by end of April I'll pull out. I doubt we'll get responses to outstanding enquiries by then as freeholders/managing agents are notorious - we are apparently waiting on them providing a Leasehold Information Pack.
• Mid-April I have a full shortlst of other properties that I'll start viewing soon.
  At the same time I know that all properties are hell to buy and I might as well just wait this one out. I don't think I'll be in there before end of June.

Very frustrated indeed.
Might as well just give in to the full horror of it though.

[Deleted User]

We now have a completion date after 3 months - I can't believe in one week and 2 days I will be a home owner!

Now for the paying down the mortgage
If our rate is 1.84% is it better to pay overpayments to 10% as quick as possible or try and find a higher interest account and pay off a large sum after the 2 years fixed rate has ended?

Thanks