The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

firsttimesellerldn

Joining the waiting to exchange club. I accepted an offer on my flat in early August and me and my partner had an offer accepted on a house mid August. The house is empty (owner was planning to rent it apparently and then got into financial difficulty, apparently). After some mortgage difficulty on our part we finally got all that sorted out and so thought we were almost there. However in true 2020 style my local council got cyber hacked some now can’t return land searches until at least April next year! It’s just crazy. And my buyer told me they’re been advised just to wait as long as possible by their solicitor in the hope that searches do come back online, rather than use a search indemnity. I’ve had to tell them plainly that if they decide to wait (which will be many months) I’ll remarket the flat and look for a buyer who will accept an indemnity, although the thought does not fill me with joy. I fear if we can’t exchange soon our vendor will drop us as they’re clearly getting nervous already. Feels like a bit of a nightmare!

badger09

badger09 said:

Finally decided to post our timeline, which is bound to spell disaster!

28/7 Our ‘niche/marmite’ house live on RM

25/8 2 identical below asking offers from 2nd viewing, & another who viewed today. Told EA to seek ‘best & final’ offers by 27th

27/8 both increased offers to above asking price. Viewed house we are buying - in torrential rain (+ 1 other)

28/8 accepted our buyers’ offer even though £4k lower than other offer. Solicitor lined up

29/8 2nd viewing on house we are buying – in sunshine (+ 2 others). Negotiated below asking offer direct with seller (PBricks)

1/9 buyer does his own survey. All OK (house built late 1950s, extended 1990s) Exchanged contact details. He mentions end October completion if possible

2nd offer couple ask EA if another £10k will change our minds. Decide he might be a chancer, so stick with our agreement

2/9 seller’s offer accepted on onward purchase, mortgage application done. Wanted to buy this ‘forever’ home for years. Offered privately. Its tenanted, tenants will be out by end October, but they will move in with parents if any delay. Alarm bells ring but this is repeated on several conversations. EA dismissive about my concern over issues re evicting tenants

5/9 buyers get their mortgage offer. Sales & Purchase packs received from solicitor  

7/9 Homebuyers survey done on purchase (no mortgage)

8/9 Completed Property Information Form, Fittings & Contents etc. Solicitor already has contract papers re purchase (PPL)

11/9 Homebuyers Survey received – nothing untoward, valued at offer price

17/9 contract papers to buyers’ conveyancer (Countrywide Conveyancing). Contract papers re purchase received

22/9 our solicitor raises enquiries re purchase

7/10 buyer says their chain is ok, all mortgage offers in place, waiting for searches. Doesn’t know if solicitor has raised any enquiries on contract paperwork.

8/10 I phoned solicitor for update. Buyers solicitors have lost our pre contract paperwork! No replies to enquiries to sellers’ solicitors. Searches not yet received.

Seller says tenants in onward purchase ‘being awkward’. Alarm bells & sirens now going off. Very unsettled all weekend

13/10 solicitor phones, sellers not going ahead with sale. She said it was odd as on 9th she received replies to most enquiries.  Devastated; can’t lose sale as our house not easy to sell (failed 3 years ago). Decide to view others & look for rented. 

In view of friendly relationship with seller, decide to message to try a work around. Costed rental, storage, hassle factor etc etc we would offer sellers more, to cover additional SDLT they might pay due to delay. Wonder if we’re completely mad.

14/10 view chain free house, but too many compromises. Resigned to renting. Seller contacts me. Equally devastated by turn of events. What did we have in mind? We offered additional money if they completed to original timescale. They discussed with parents & accepted. Instructed their solicitor same day. I updated our solicitor. Immense relief.

20/10 single enquiry from buyers solicitor, reply same day

22/10 seller confirmed all enquiries dealt with. They are working towards completion mid November. Already sold some furniture. I feel much happier about whole situation.

23/10 receive 14 page ‘Client Report’ and half a rainforest of paperwork & replies to enquiries on our purchase. Solicitor on holiday next week

24/10 updated buyers. He will chase solicitor re only one enquiry. Sent me list of 10 enquiries, supposedly sent by conveyancer 8/10 BUT mine told me 13/10 she’d received only 1 enquiry.

27/10 Our solictor says list of 10 enquiries was received 26th by email. Somebody has been less than honest!

28/10 visited our new house to check boundaries with Title plan, chatted with sellers. Children excited to be staying with grandparents, boxes everywhere. Replied to Client Report.

31/10/20 today buyer tells me they’ve taken reduction on their sale in order to keep chain intact.

No chickens being counted – but all hopefully committed. Now for the COVID announcement!

Congratulations if you've got this far. You're either bored, or like me, derive some comfort from knowing you're not alone on this rollercoaster. Anyway, it has helped me to 'share'   

 

Haven't felt like posting update, but here goes:
18/11/20 solicitor phones, working through final batch of paperwork from sellers' solicitor when email pings. Basically, their onward purchase has been withdrawn from sale. As they were only selling so they could buy that particular property, which we knew, they also had to withdraw from sale. Devastated, for 2nd time, but this time its not recoverable.

Can't risk losing sale of our 'marmite' house this time, so have to think about renting. Honestly, can't think straight about anything.  

Spoke to our buyers who basically said, if we don't buy 'our house name' we're not moving. Tell them we'll look for rental immediately. It is their searches which are the hold up, so they check with their buyer who checks with their FTB - all agree that if they can't complete by 4th December (virtually impossible as search not expected until 27/11) they'd rather keep going with view to complete early January. 

Now trying to persuade landlord of new build, that a couple in their 70s, with guaranteed pension income, substantial savings, house equity well over £500k, non smoking non pet owners, prepared to pay several months up front if necessary, are suitable candidates. This is in an area with dozens of 4 bed properties available - aimed at students. But unlike them, we have no history as tenants!

Surrounded by boxes labelled for our new house, can't sleep, constant sick headache.
So, to all those who say glibly 'why don't you move into rented'? In the middle of lockdown with Christmas & New Year approaching, it really isn't always that simple.

Grateful to son in Hong Kong for being available to 'chat' at all hours of night (for me), but I wish he was here for a proper hug. 
Apologies - feeling very sorry for myself & easier to talk to strangers.

Congratulations to all who have completed their journey.  

Isteon

badger09 said:

.......

Sorry to hear that, badger - all sounds stressful! Hope you manage to get a rental sorted soon!

Caramac

Does your EA do rental properties? They may be able to help you. I agree that going into rented accommodation isn’t as easy as it sounds. We looked at it and we would either have to commit to a year or go into short term whilst we waited for our new house to be completed. Short term would be fine for up to a couple of months but rather costly for longer.

Doodlebugs

Sorry to hear that badger09, sounds so stressful  Fingers crossed the rental works out. 

mlb95

Hey, 

I have a possibly stupid question but hoping it has a quick simple answer.

We are relatively early on in this process and are currently waiting for our mortgage offer, enquires and one search result to come back. We are FTBs and our vendor is moving in with family so no chain . Our vendor is keen to move asap due to illness so I want to ensure we don't hold anything up unnecessarly.  

I'm trying to plan forward for when we need to produce our deposit, so my question is does my deposit have to come from one account , i.e. when the time comes to transfer is it suppose to be from one account to the soiltors or can I send the deposit funds from multiple accounts? At the moment my money is spread across three accounts including two ISAs and a normal savings account. Should I move it all into the one account now (the savings one not ISA) in preparation or does it not matter ? Its not big amounts so don't think it'd take long to transfer between them but in case there is a delay I don't want to hold anyone up. 

Thank you ☺️ 

tigerlily74

Oh badger that sounds so stressful. I do hope you find somewhere to buy soon! We might end up having to go to rented over Christmas, I am hoping we can find a nice air bnb and pretend it’s a holiday as it should hopefully be for less than a month. Our buyers are obsessed with being in by christmas, but our sellers don’t want to and we still haven’t  requested our searches yet (due to delays with our sellers slow solicitors) so it feels impossible anyway.

I guess I should do a timeline for my onward purchase  but I still haven’t recovered from having to sell my dream forever home this week.

Suseka97

badger09 said:

badger09 said:

Finally decided to post our timeline, which is bound to spell disaster!

28/7 Our ‘niche/marmite’ house live on RM

25/8 2 identical below asking offers from 2nd viewing, & another who viewed today. Told EA to seek ‘best & final’ offers by 27th

27/8 both increased offers to above asking price. Viewed house we are buying - in torrential rain (+ 1 other)

28/8 accepted our buyers’ offer even though £4k lower than other offer. Solicitor lined up

29/8 2nd viewing on house we are buying – in sunshine (+ 2 others). Negotiated below asking offer direct with seller (PBricks)

1/9 buyer does his own survey. All OK (house built late 1950s, extended 1990s) Exchanged contact details. He mentions end October completion if possible

2nd offer couple ask EA if another £10k will change our minds. Decide he might be a chancer, so stick with our agreement

2/9 seller’s offer accepted on onward purchase, mortgage application done. Wanted to buy this ‘forever’ home for years. Offered privately. Its tenanted, tenants will be out by end October, but they will move in with parents if any delay. Alarm bells ring but this is repeated on several conversations. EA dismissive about my concern over issues re evicting tenants

5/9 buyers get their mortgage offer. Sales & Purchase packs received from solicitor  

7/9 Homebuyers survey done on purchase (no mortgage)

8/9 Completed Property Information Form, Fittings & Contents etc. Solicitor already has contract papers re purchase (PPL)

11/9 Homebuyers Survey received – nothing untoward, valued at offer price

17/9 contract papers to buyers’ conveyancer (Countrywide Conveyancing). Contract papers re purchase received

22/9 our solicitor raises enquiries re purchase

7/10 buyer says their chain is ok, all mortgage offers in place, waiting for searches. Doesn’t know if solicitor has raised any enquiries on contract paperwork.

8/10 I phoned solicitor for update. Buyers solicitors have lost our pre contract paperwork! No replies to enquiries to sellers’ solicitors. Searches not yet received.

Seller says tenants in onward purchase ‘being awkward’. Alarm bells & sirens now going off. Very unsettled all weekend

13/10 solicitor phones, sellers not going ahead with sale. She said it was odd as on 9th she received replies to most enquiries.  Devastated; can’t lose sale as our house not easy to sell (failed 3 years ago). Decide to view others & look for rented. 

In view of friendly relationship with seller, decide to message to try a work around. Costed rental, storage, hassle factor etc etc we would offer sellers more, to cover additional SDLT they might pay due to delay. Wonder if we’re completely mad.

14/10 view chain free house, but too many compromises. Resigned to renting. Seller contacts me. Equally devastated by turn of events. What did we have in mind? We offered additional money if they completed to original timescale. They discussed with parents & accepted. Instructed their solicitor same day. I updated our solicitor. Immense relief.

20/10 single enquiry from buyers solicitor, reply same day

22/10 seller confirmed all enquiries dealt with. They are working towards completion mid November. Already sold some furniture. I feel much happier about whole situation.

23/10 receive 14 page ‘Client Report’ and half a rainforest of paperwork & replies to enquiries on our purchase. Solicitor on holiday next week

24/10 updated buyers. He will chase solicitor re only one enquiry. Sent me list of 10 enquiries, supposedly sent by conveyancer 8/10 BUT mine told me 13/10 she’d received only 1 enquiry.

27/10 Our solictor says list of 10 enquiries was received 26th by email. Somebody has been less than honest!

28/10 visited our new house to check boundaries with Title plan, chatted with sellers. Children excited to be staying with grandparents, boxes everywhere. Replied to Client Report.

31/10/20 today buyer tells me they’ve taken reduction on their sale in order to keep chain intact.

No chickens being counted – but all hopefully committed. Now for the COVID announcement!

Congratulations if you've got this far. You're either bored, or like me, derive some comfort from knowing you're not alone on this rollercoaster. Anyway, it has helped me to 'share'   

 

Haven't felt like posting update, but here goes:
18/11/20 solicitor phones, working through final batch of paperwork from sellers' solicitor when email pings. Basically, their onward purchase has been withdrawn from sale. As they were only selling so they could buy that particular property, which we knew, they also had to withdraw from sale. Devastated, for 2nd time, but this time its not recoverable.

Can't risk losing sale of our 'marmite' house this time, so have to think about renting. Honestly, can't think straight about anything.  

Spoke to our buyers who basically said, if we don't buy 'our house name' we're not moving. Tell them we'll look for rental immediately. It is their searches which are the hold up, so they check with their buyer who checks with their FTB - all agree that if they can't complete by 4th December (virtually impossible as search not expected until 27/11) they'd rather keep going with view to complete early January. 

Now trying to persuade landlord of new build, that a couple in their 70s, with guaranteed pension income, substantial savings, house equity well over £500k, non smoking non pet owners, prepared to pay several months up front if necessary, are suitable candidates. This is in an area with dozens of 4 bed properties available - aimed at students. But unlike them, we have no history as tenants!

Surrounded by boxes labelled for our new house, can't sleep, constant sick headache.
So, to all those who say glibly 'why don't you move into rented'? In the middle of lockdown with Christmas & New Year approaching, it really isn't always that simple.

Grateful to son in Hong Kong for being available to 'chat' at all hours of night (for me), but I wish he was here for a proper hug. 
Apologies - feeling very sorry for myself & easier to talk to strangers.

Congratulations to all who have completed their journey.  

Gosh... am so sorry to read this, you really have had to deal with a lot over the last few months.  We are in a similar situation, struggling to find a rental.  Like you we are retired, with secure pension incomes (but we do have pets).  We simply cannot seem to find a short term rental, other than possibly Airbnb's which are very expensive in the area (but also difficult with pets).  So I hope you manage to persuade the landlord of the new build to let to you and are able to keep your sales chain intact.  You deserve a break!

firsttimebuyerhelpme

mlb95 said:

Hey, 

I have a possibly stupid question but hoping it has a quick simple answer.

We are relatively early on in this process and are currently waiting for our mortgage offer, enquires and one search result to come back. We are FTBs and our vendor is moving in with family so no chain . Our vendor is keen to move asap due to illness so I want to ensure we don't hold anything up unnecessarly.  

I'm trying to plan forward for when we need to produce our deposit, so my question is does my deposit have to come from one account , i.e. when the time comes to transfer is it suppose to be from one account to the soiltors or can I send the deposit funds from multiple accounts? At the moment my money is spread across three accounts including two ISAs and a normal savings account. Should I move it all into the one account now (the savings one not ISA) in preparation or does it not matter ? Its not big amounts so don't think it'd take long to transfer between them but in case there is a delay I don't want to hold anyone up. 

Thank you ☺️ 

I had this question, we completed on our purchase yesterday. Better to send deposit from one place, but our solicitor wanted bank statements of all of them. I had money in my savings account and ISA and a gift, I was also buying half with my partner too who had a help to buy!!
Long story short I transferred ISA, savings and gift into my account and produce transaction history of these. Then I transferred to my partner and produced transaction history of this. He then had his help to buy statements and then transaction history or my deposit going into his account! 

We then transferred in one big go to the solicitor 🤦🏽‍♀️ It was a bit of a nightmare tbh! I think our solicitor was particularly fussy as every time we had money stored somewhere else he expected three months of statements to prove it had been there for that long for anti fraud and then transaction history to show the movement of the money! Some solicitors I have seen aren’t so needy!! Haha 

hope that makes any sense at all?!!

mlb95

firsttimebuyerhelpme said

I had this question, we completed on our purchase yesterday. Better to send deposit from one place, but our solicitor wanted bank statements of all of them. I had money in my savings account and ISA and a gift, I was also buying half with my partner too who had a help to buy!!
Long story short I transferred ISA, savings and gift into my account and produce transaction history of these. Then I transferred to my partner and produced transaction history of this. He then had his help to buy statements and then transaction history or my deposit going into his account! 

We then transferred in one big go to the solicitor 🤦🏽‍♀️ It was a bit of a nightmare tbh! I think our solicitor was particularly fussy as every time we had money stored somewhere else he expected three months of statements to prove it had been there for that long for anti fraud and then transaction history to show the movement of the money! Some solicitors I have seen aren’t so needy!! Haha 

hope that makes any sense at all?!!

Perfect, thank you for your reply. So it'd be easier to start to put all the money in the one account now so it's ready to go from the one account ? 

Thanks and I'm glad yours is all sorted and you've got your new home.