The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

Bossypants

Congratulations, well done! :beer:

I confess I am rather jealous of your situation, as we're only just getting started. Offers and surveys were done just before Christmas, so I've been eagerly awaiting the end of the break for the legal work to begin. I heard from my solicitor this morning that he has had 'some documents' from my vendor's solicitor, but no confirmation from the buyer's solicitor that they have been instructed. They were only named by the buyer on Monday 17th, leaving less than a week before most solicitors' offices wound up for Christmas, so trying not to worry too much yet, but will definitely be on the phone to the agent first thing tomorrow (when they reopen). Friendly reminders that the holiday is over and real life has officially recommenced all round I think, let's get cracking! :cool:

Finchy2018

12 Dec - offer accepted
17 Dec - Instructed sold
2nd Jan - mortgage application submitted
next step is mortgage val which is booked for the 4th.

woollisox

ironmanjason wrote: »

Ditto here! We were to exchange on 20th. My Solicitors have been sending mails to the sellers solicitors since 18th to inform them that exchange could take place in the next couple of days.. and then at 3.45pm on 20th no news so my solicitors call them and are told they do not have the signed contracts and their office closes in 15 minutes for the holiday period until the 2nd!

Met with the sellers on sunday as previously scheduled a visit to do some measurements.. and seller was not even aware until friday morning because they did not hear anything from their solicitor.. they were assuming everything was signed already.. could be because we noticed a spelling error in the contracts which was rectified and sent to sellers solicitors on 10th December which was never forwarded to the client to sign! But hoping everything goes smooth for exchange on 2/3rd with completion a week later!

Good luck! We managed to exchange on 31/12 (Happy new year, indeed!)
Due to complete Friday! Only issue is no one seems to know where the keys are ....
EA told us to contact sols, sols said estate agents and the vendors said EA too. May have to break in on Friday :rotfl:

babyblade41

Sooo.. offer accepted after a few hours on the market start of the second week in October
Offer accepted on a property a week later with Powers of attorney with owner in a home
Property not registered but told deeds are available .
Our buyers have cash buyer and need completion for first week of ~December
Easy?? Wrong
No full deeds available even though my solicitor had been told there were , garden has to be applied for adverse possession and the garden is one of the main reasons for offer as it is huge and house really is secondary for our needs
Adverse possession has to go through a specific process with LR, 4 stages
Stage 1, send in everything available with statement of truth and proof of sale for expediting
Stage 2 , LR legals checking all is correct to be able to to stage 3 or go back to vendors solicitor for more information
Stage 3 LR site visit by Ordnance Survey peeps
Stage 4 , notification to neighbours and waiting 15 working days to see if anyone objects.(Xmas in the middle and time clock ends Jan 9th for objections )
Completion date originally wanted passes after we have all packed up, arranged removals etc and subsequently cancelled.
My buyer completes on theirs and moves into holiday let
Second week in December our buyer pulls out so back on the market again

Few hours after buyer pulls out they decide they still want to proceed so "under offer" goes back online ad
Xmas eve I check LR and amazingly garden has been registered but due to the holidays coming up nothing can happen.
December 27th my solicitor is the only one back at work so nothing can happen until after New Year
January 2nd my solicitor is still the only one back at work as both buyer and sellers are not in until today.
Indemnity policy agreed to be paid by me due to possessory title as trying to get hold of powers of attorney is like pulling hens teeth
New contract received today to reflect the second title number , signed and returned
Buyers won't exchange until they have viewed again...had 6 weeks to do it so why today ??, but no good putting off even though house is full of mud (small holding with 6 dogs , pet pigs , and a flock of rescue hens, ducks and turkeys )
Lots of shoving boxes into one spare room , hoovering mopping , Febreeze and scented candles everywhere as one dog (Great Dane suffers terribly with wind)
Have to wait until OH gets home from work to take dogs down the fields whilst I show buyers round ...they look in oven where thankfully I haven't shoved something else out the way (glad they didn't look in dish washer )
Buyers were very nice and apologised for being a pain but solicitor told them to do a second viewing before exchange.
Buyers want second week of January (14th) to complete , I am Ok with this if exchange happens tomorrow as I have been allowed to install perimeter fencing and erect animal housing before completion on my purchase and contractor can start Monday, if it doesn't happen then I will need a full 2 weeks from exchange and completion.
My buyers said they will have exchange done first thing tomorrow... am I positive? not on your Nelly

12 weeks from offer to potential exchange with an adverse possession in between .. no wonder my wine intake has been way above the limit for a female these past few months

Bossypants

Wow, that sounds incredibly stressful babyblade41, I don't blame you for needing some lubrication to get through it! Good luck for exchange!

I've just sent a mammoth email to my mortgage broker with all the necessary attachments, and tomorrow I'm going to see my solicitor to drop off all the initial paperwork for the sale of my current house. I am really anxious about this whole thing. In the past, I've been fortunate enough to avoid having to link sales and purchases, plus I've been fairly confident that my circumstances would be acceptable to most lenders. This time around, that's not the case. There is a distinctly non-zero possibility that my current lender will refuse to let me port my mortgage in my present situation, meaning I'd have to pay a very significant amount in exit fees which I really can't afford, and likely end up with a worse rate on top of it (which I will do, if it comes to it - I need this move for my long term health and well-being, so I'll try to make it happen if I can possibly manage it). Between that and general anxiety about my miracle buyers not being able to get a mortgage, or dropping out for any reason, and it's looking like I've got a nerve-wracking couple of months ahead of me.

babyblade41

Bossypants.. my move is also for mind health as I'm going back home after being away for 4 years ..sadly when I was set for seeing my family for xmas it didn't happen but was surrounded by boxes and not sure if we were going to have to go through it again

Still might be as until that magic "exchange has happened" from solicitor the stress continues.

Keep going and try (virtually impossible I know) to keep stress to a minimum.

I have chased everyone daily ..I think all involved will be glad to get me out of the way .. thankfully my agent is a close friend and this is the third time we've gone through the process and my solicitor is someone I also know but still hasn't helped the process involved

ancilla100

I was going to update the week before Christmas but got upset and frustrated and decided to put everything out of my mind and try to enjoy Christmas rather than venting on here. However it is now good news.

Here's my (hopefully final) timeline:

I am a FTB with no chain. My seller is not living in the property and also has no chain. The only complication with the sale is the fact that we're extending the lease as part of the sale - my seller is paying for it out of the proceeds of the sale and I'm getting the benefit of the 90 extra years to the lease.

Here's my timeline:

09/05/2018 Viewing
10/05/2018 Offer made
11/05/2018 Offer accepted
21/05/2018 Mortgage submitted
08/06/2018 Mortgage valuation and homebuyers report survey
11/06/2018 Mortgage approved
14/06/2018 Survey report received
25/06/2018 Paid solicitor for searches
16/07/2018 Draft contract, fixtures and fittings etc received
28/07/2018 Second viewing and measurements taken
01/08/2018 Amended mortgage offer letter sent (with updated solicitor as solicitor had merged with another)
05/08/2018 Moved out of rented accommodation and into friend's spare room.
11/08/2018 Seller paid for management pack
20/08/2018 Lease extension documentation received
12/09/2018 Management Leasehold pack received
18/09/2018 My solicitor requested the missing information from the management leasehold pack.
21/09/2018 LISA applied for with 14 day completion date
02/10/2018 I approved Deed of Variation for lease extension and my solicitor sent it on to the seller's solicitor to be finalised.
03/10/2018 LISA money paid to solicitor
12/10/2018 All lease extension documentation finalised
02/11/2018 Information on upcoming major works received
20/11/2018 Final queries answered. Report on Title submitted to lender for approval.
06/12/2018 Answer from lender on major works (after lots and lots of chasing and people being away and not answering the answer was that they're ok with everything if I am). Suggested completion date for lender and seller of 14 December.
11/12/2018 Seller's solicitor are still waiting on a redemption statement from seller's lender (they're in arrears on their mortgage) so can't do anything until they've received that. Also freeholder's solicitor (who's managing the lease extension part) is on holiday after 14th Dec so if exchange and completion can't be done by 14th then it can't be done in 2018.
14/12/2018 Seller's solicitor still hasn't received redemption statement so no completion in 2018. New completion date of 7th Jan agreed.
14/12/2018 I apply for an extention to my mortgage offer which expires 31 December.
18/12/2018 New mortgage offer received
20/12/2018 Try to exchange but seller only confirms at 5pm so can't be done. Rescheduled for 21st.
21/12/2018 Try to exchange but seller not picking up phone and not answering messages. I call the EA. They manage to get hold of her on her lunch break and tell her to call her solicitor to approve, which I believe she does. After another hour or so, I call my solicitor for an update to find that the seller's solicitor has discovered he's missing a final piece of information on service charge and ground rent apportionment so we can't exchange now in 2018.
02/01/2019 EXCHANGE!!! Clearly first day back after Christmas, everyone gets things in order.
04/01/2019 Completion statement received. Currently reviewing the info as the seller is saying I should reimburse her for the credit she has in her service charge account. I'm saying she should get that money back from the management company.
07/01/2019 Cross fingers this will all go ok!

If this all goes ahead it will be just shy of 8 months from offer to completion. EIGHT MONTHS!

harz99

ancilla, I think you need to move on a year...

WibblyGirly

I guess I should join this thread now?

Offer made: 30/12/18
Offer Accepted: 30/12/18
Decision in Principle received: 4/01/19

Next step is to get a solicitor. I meant to call one today but didn't have time.

Bossypants

Congrats on having exchanged Ancilla! When I purchased a leasehold flat where the lease was going to be extended on completion, it was also an absolutely brutal process, topping out at just under ten months in the end. And I ended up hating the flat for totally unrelated reasons, and moved out again a year later!

Welcome to the funhouse Wibblygirly!

As for me, I dropped the Law Soc forms for my sale around to my solicitor earlier, and have had confirmation from my mortgage broker that he has received my file dump. My solicitor has also sent me the Law Soc forms for my purchase, as well as the title plan, all of which look fine to me (no gas or electric certs, but it's a probate property with a lot of work to be done, so I wasn't expecting any). So now, I suppose we play the waiting game. In the meantime I am trying to keep myself busy/distracted by doing small 'preparing to move' chores. I don't want to start actually packing just yet, both because I'm superstitious and don't want to jinx it, and because we're probably looking at a late Feb completion at the earliest (and honestly March would suit me better), but I feel like I can still do small things, like putting the hobby stuff in more easily movable containers, and sorting through things for charity. I'm already so full of nervous energy and we've barely even begun, it's going to be a loooong winter I think!