The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

wwfwilla

Hannimal said:

COMPLETED!!!

11/07 (Saturday) Viewed property. Offered, offer rejected with counter offer, I agreed to the counter offer and seller agreed
13/07 (Monday) Mortgage in principle issued through a broker and I instructed a solicitor 
14/07 Mortgage application submitted by the broker
14/07 Requested survey through mortgage company (Platform)
24/07 Survey instructed (Platform is incredibly slow)
26/07 Searches came back
14/08 Survey & valuation performed
19/08 Survey results back - showed some problems
25/08 Mortgage offer issued
03/09 Seller tells me all parties (except me) are ready to exchange (5 household chain)
04/09 Went around the house with a builder for some quotes re: problems and negotiated retaliation with sellers
10/09 Replies to all enquiries finally sorted
11/09 Agreed on exchange and completion date (25/09)
11/09 Requested closing statement for HTB ISA from Natwest
14/09 Completion date changed from 25th to 28th, agreed exchange on 21/09
18/09 Received closing statement got HTB ISA 
21/09 Completion date changed from 28th to 5th October
21/09 Failed to exchange due to above
22/09 Exchanged
05/10 Completed. Phew!

Firstly, congratulations.
I have to agree that Platform are not just slow, but agonisingly slow.
I paid Platform the money for the survey/valuation on 12th August. They took 5-6 weeks to instruct the surveyors. The valuation threw a major spanner in the works as the value was downgraded and I couldn’t make up the shortfall. Having to switch from a 80% LTV deal to a 85% LTV deal but Platform don’t do 85% deals. So 9 weeks after starting conveyancing I’m back at square one with the mortgage application.

My timeline
30/7 Offer accepted 
04/08 Solicitor instructed
06/08 Sellers solicitor instructed
12/08 Arrangement fee and surveyors fee paid to Platform (mortgage application put in by broker on 13/08)
14/08 All ID’s and statements of myself and gifted deposits verified by solicitor
14/08 My solicitor requests contract pack from sellers solicitor 
02/09 My solicitor receives contract pack from sellers solicitor
14/09 My solicitor approves title checks and the contract. Raises enquires with sellers solicitor 
14/09 Solicitor instructs property searches to go ahead
21/09 Platform raises query with gifted deposits (answered same day) and instructs surveyor
26/09 Surveyor contacts me direct for signature to carry out survey 
02/10 Survey carried out
05/10 Survey report received stating the valuation was £9k lower than purchase price
06/10 Discussed results with broker and ask them to contact Platform for their response and my options
08/10 Re-negotiated selling price down by £2k (property is in a sought after location so can’t get lower)
12/10 Searches received by my solicitor. Compiling report which they will send in a day or two.
12/10 Platform confirm they will only lend the 80% against the valuation meaning I would need an extra £5k.
13/10 Discuss situation with broker. New deal needed as I don’t have spare £5k and Platform don’t do 85% LTV

13/10 Waiting for response from broker with options available

N.B. By this point Platform still hasn’t approved the documents and by their timeframes weren’t due to do this til next week (only 10 weeks after initially applying).
Myself and the seller are chain free and I know the estate agent was expecting completion at the end of this month probably. The only saving grace is that my solicitors follow up queries haven’t been answered yet by the sellers solicitor meaning we aren’t waiting on just the mortgage.
Unless my new mortgage company turns the application around pretty snappy then I’m afraid the delay caused may put the seller of. 

I’m naturally an anxious person and this is just making things so stressful. 

If Platform weren’t so slow instructing the surveyors I could have had another mortgage application in by now with someone else and it be a bit further up the queue.
Thanks for reading if you got this far

Falafels

CBush86 said:

Congratulations Falafels 😄😄😄

Thank you, CBush86. Sorry for the delay in replying - I've only just seen this! xxx

Falafels

padlilly115 said:

padlilly115 said:

CBush86 said:

padlilly115 said:

Attempt number 3 on exchanging, if it doesn't happen today I think I might cry haha.  It's impossible to concentrate on anything else, I have never been so unproductive at work!

Know the feeling!! Specially working from home, constantly checking my phone 🙄 fingers crossed for today padlilly115 

Exactly!  Unfortunately it failed yet again yesterday (I am not even sure why at this point), so attempt number 4 today!

Finally exchanged!!  Completion next Friday.  The full horror that I need to pack has now hit!

Well done, padlilly! I'm in the same boat, and console myself with the thought that this packing lark is of finite duration...

ftbhoping

Hi, hoping for a little advice (or reassurance!) we received Santander offer a few weeks back with zero conditions attached. New build 75LTV with HTB. All aspects were as planned, valuation, searches etc. We are now at point to exchange - HTB have issued the Authority to Exchange so we have signed the papers ready and deposit is paid. Our solicitor yesterday though advised we can’t yet exchange yet as Santander have now added a Condition on 9th Oct querying the Annual Service Charge for the property. It is freehold, detached. The charge is £112 per year but allows for an increase once finalised costs are established by Greenbelt. Santander don’t seem happy with this. Greenbelt are one of the main companies to do this in the UK for new builds so can’t see them operating in a way that is not legit. Has anyone any advice? 

Thankyou 😊

Toastie2018

Toastie2018 said:

Hi all,
I am also waiting to exchange. I have done everything my end but the seller is waiting for the leasehold pack/management pack - we have been waiting for over 8 weeks.
May 29th - DIP
July 7 - offer made and accepted
July 14 - instructed solicitors
July 15th - memorandum of sale
July 16th - mortgage application
July 16th - desktop valuation completed
Aug 3rd - mortgage offer
Aug 12th - survey completed
Aug 26th - searches returned
I am a FTB. I have found the Estate Agents to be very responsive in providing updates. 

Hi All,
Update: We are still waiting for replies to enquiries. 

13 weeks and counting since memorandum of sale. No talk of exchange dates. For those wondering, I am a FTB and the property is empty 😐.

FinallyStoppedLurking

ftbhoping said:

Hi, hoping for a little advice (or reassurance!) we received Santander offer a few weeks back with zero conditions attached. New build 75LTV with HTB. All aspects were as planned, valuation, searches etc. We are now at point to exchange - HTB have issued the Authority to Exchange so we have signed the papers ready and deposit is paid. Our solicitor yesterday though advised we can’t yet exchange yet as Santander have now added a Condition on 9th Oct querying the Annual Service Charge for the property. It is freehold, detached. The charge is £112 per year but allows for an increase once finalised costs are established by Greenbelt. Santander don’t seem happy with this. Greenbelt are one of the main companies to do this in the UK for new builds so can’t see them operating in a way that is not legit. Has anyone any advice? 

Thankyou 😊

I'd suggest starting a new thread for this with a clear title. 

movingon2020

Joining! We are selling and moving into rented for about a year or so. 
Offer accepted on our sale: 17 July
15 September: Buyer's buyer asked to exchange on 25th September and complete on 9th October. We asked them to give us till end of October. 
Beginning of last week we agreed to exchange asap and complete on 30th October. No less than 2 weeks between exchange and completion. 
Now they aren't ready!! Our buyer needed an amended mortgage offer last week which is now in. But their buyer decided to carry out a drainage survey. That was done yesterday, awaiting outcome today hopefully. 
We left them along from 17 July when we accepted and never chased but now I am calling agent daily and waiting for updates.

movingon2020

Pumpkin - We are doing this too, definitely recommend you get out sooner rather than later if you can. We got a good offer and wanted to take it and move without risking anything going wrong while they wait for us. Very sensible.

HoopyNJ

HoopyNJ said:

Thought I'd finally post here as things are moving super quickly and it's all getting very exciting! We're FTBs and the sellers have no chain.

• 22/08/20 - First viewing - fell in love but we'd only seen 5 houses by that point so wanted to keep options open.
• 27/09/20 - Second viewing, which confirmed our decision that the house was the one for us.
• 28/08/20 - Offer made, a bit of back and forthing and final offer accepted.
• Then we had the bank Holiday weekend, awful timing!
• 03/09/20 - Mortgage application submitted via broker
  
• 04/09/20 - Solicitors formally instructed
• 14/09/20 - all documentation finally sent to solicitor (We had to wait for a few bits and bobs like a gift letter etc)
• 17/09/20 - Mortgage approved
• 23/09/20 - Solicitor confirmed we were happy with mortgage offer. 
•  Got a call on 01/10/20 from the estate agent of all people who advised that the sellers had forgotten to complete a piece of paperwork and the sellers solicitor was just sitting on it. 
• 02/10/20 - Homebuyers report and contract pack received, enquiries raised by our solicitor. Searches commenced.

So not much to wait for now! Both us and the vendors are hoping to complete by Mid-November, all being well. Dya reckon that's realistic?

Still waiting for responses to the enquiries, it sounds like the sellers solicitors aren't exactly fantastic and it's making me antsy 

shaunad93

Has anyone ever dealt with the conveyancing director of the firm? Wondering if they actually do anything