The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

mm1985

We are now at the point of exchange. Have kept in touch with our buyers and sellers over Christmas period. Our seller is ready to move out (and in with family) our buyer was awaiting contract in post (last week) so we are hoping we hear from solicitor early next week to secure exchange and completion date. But I’ll be holding off on calling them Monday and getting in touch later in the week if we don’t hear anything by then. 

Drawingaline

geoave1 said:

WiseOwl00 said:

About to ask a "how long is a piece of string" question... 
When the solicitors reopen, they should have our searches back and will be raising enquiries. How long did it take from raising enquiries to exchange for you? I know this will vary with houses, solicitors, sellers, area, etc., etc. but I'm just curious how long it took other people? 

We got our searches back on the 27th November. Our solicitor raised the enquiries on the 2nd of December and vendors solicitor replied to them all on the 4th December. Solicitor sent report to us on 11th confirming we are now in position to exchanged. Reviewed report and searches and we exchanged same day on the 11th. Waiting anxiously for solicitor to open on Monday, not only because they have all our funds, but that’s when we’re completing 😬. Good luck all!

Omg this gives me some hope. Our buyers searches came back on 21st Dec, hoping enquiries will be raised next week, we will turn them around ASAP due to the timescale. (We also know what will be raised having answered them all for our previous buyer before they pulled out, can't see there being anything extra ) We have removals booked for 27th Jan due to mortgage expiry!!! Everyone has the 27th as a date working towards, but buyers solicitors have been so slow. 

badger09

geoave1 said:

WiseOwl00 said:

About to ask a "how long is a piece of string" question... 
When the solicitors reopen, they should have our searches back and will be raising enquiries. How long did it take from raising enquiries to exchange for you? I know this will vary with houses, solicitors, sellers, area, etc., etc. but I'm just curious how long it took other people? 

We got our searches back on the 27th November. Our solicitor raised the enquiries on the 2nd of December and vendors solicitor replied to them all on the 4th December. Solicitor sent report to us on 11th confirming we are now in position to exchanged. Reviewed report and searches and we exchanged same day on the 11th. Waiting anxiously for solicitor to open on Monday, not only because they have all our funds, but that’s when we’re completing 😬. Good luck all!

That was a very quick turn around by both sets of solicitors. Most of us can only dream of such timescales , & ours isn’t one of the worst! 

We complete on our sale on 8th Jan  (accepted offer 28th Aug) & I’m hoping ours gets on with our purchase next week.  

Vendor is hassling already even though we made our offer on 25th Nov, arranged survey for 17th Dec & have bought searches from his failed buyers. I’d love to tell him to back off. I’ve got enough stress going into storage & temp accommodation in lockdown😡  

annetheman

Does anybody know if searches "expire"? My searches were instructed and completed in May 2020, doesn't look like I'll complete until early March 2021... Does the solicitor need to do new searches and if they do, would I need to pay for them again  ?

badger09

annetheman said:

Does anybody know if searches "expire"? My searches were instructed and completed in May 2020, doesn't look like I'll complete until early March 2021... Does the solicitor need to do new searches and if they do, would I need to pay for them again  ?

We’ve bought searches from previous failed buyer done end Aug 2020. 

BUT we don’t need a mortgage. Solicitor advised mortgage lender would want fresh survey if more than 6 months elapsed from previous searches

Doodlebugs

I’m no good at waiting. I’ve started walking the dog past the house we’re hoping to buy 😅 !! We’ve got at least 6 weeks before we can exchange, probably closer to 10. 

Peppermint90

Doodlebugs said:

I’m no good at waiting. I’ve started walking the dog past the house we’re hoping to buy 😅 !! We’ve got at least 6 weeks before we can exchange, probably closer to 10. 

Haha!


Why so long until exchange? 

I'm asking because I only got my mortgage offer a few days ago. Solicitor still hasn't received searches yet....is it too optimistic of me to hope to complete before stamp duty deadline? 

DairyQueen

Apologies for the rant...

A warning re: enquiries. These are not just box-ticking, last-minute exercises as problematic issues can fall out of the woodwork, and often do so at a late stage of the purchase.

Just when we thought we were over the line....

Having waited almost 6 months since our buyer offered, our sale will complete on the 13th Jan. No issues with our property but plenty of issues with buyer's mortgage. We are lucky that we are not in a chain as buyer has nowhere to sell and we have another property in which to stay until we complete our purchase.

Our purchase (offered in September) was well-advanced (or so we thought) until our solicitor dropped a pre-Christmas bombshell. Turns-out that there is a very restrictive covenant on the property we wish to buy. A neighbouring property sold the land on which it was built and they have retained the right to control the appearance of this house and its grounds. Any structural or aesthetic change, including garden buildings, requires their permission. Also, they must approve the design. 

We couldn't even change the colour of the front door without their say-so and we were planning a garden office, kitchen extension and conservatory within the first 6 months of ownership. Our plans are covered by permitted development rights so we should have been good-to-go on day one. Now, at this late stage, the deeds have revealed that we are buying a property with similar restrictions to a listed building. Worse, as any changes would be at the discretion of a neighbour with a vested interest and zero accountability.

I am fuming. We have incurred the majority of the costs of purchase, including a structural survey and searches, and were hoping to exchange in January. The post-lockdown bunfight of last summer means that there is currently nothing on the market, other than 'problem' properties and/or those seriously overpriced, within a radius of 20 miles. Despite being cash buyers we will almost certainly miss the stamp duty holiday even if we found a 'no-onward-chain' property tomorrow.

We have been misled. The vendors and, possibly, their agents must have known about this covenant. Presumably they naively thought it wouldn't be noticed by our solicitor or, possibly, that we would still proceed having committed this far.

Wrong.

This is a potential show-stopper so it should have been mentioned when we made an offer in order to avoid wasted time and costs on both sides. It may not be an issue for some but it most definitely would be for most, and it is for us. We know there was a previous buyer who pulled-out 4 months into the process and we were told by the agent that she just changed her mind at the 11th hour.  Ahem...... Really?

The EA and solicitors have been closed since Xmas Eve so we have been unable to raise the red flag to the vendor. Yet more time wasted. We know the vendors are coordinating this sale with the purchase of an empty property so that transaction will be jeopardised if this sale falls-through.

It's one thing to selfishly waste others' time and money but this is also a spectacular own goal. Stupid. Really, really stupid.

breakfast_epiphanies

On the same street that we’re buying, a house went up for sale just after we offered on ours, for £10k more. A few weeks later it was SSTC. A few weeks after that it was back on the market. Then it went SSTC again. Then it came back on the market for £5k less. Finally it came off again, and reappeared marked “cash buyers only”. 

I’m dying to know what’s gone on there, but I bet it’s something the sellers knew about and, like you, didn’t tell future buyers about. 

Drawingaline

DairyQueen said:

Apologies for the rant...

A warning re: enquiries. These are not just box-ticking, last-minute exercises as problematic issues can fall out of the woodwork, and often do so at a late stage of the purchase.

Just when we thought we were over the line....

Having waited almost 6 months since our buyer offered, our sale will complete on the 13th Jan. No issues with our property but plenty of issues with buyer's mortgage. We are lucky that we are not in a chain as buyer has nowhere to sell and we have another property in which to stay until we complete our purchase.

Our purchase (offered in September) was well-advanced (or so we thought) until our solicitor dropped a pre-Christmas bombshell. Turns-out that there is a very restrictive covenant on the property we wish to buy. A neighbouring property sold the land on which it was built and they have retained the right to control the appearance of this house and its grounds. Any structural or aesthetic change, including garden buildings, requires their permission. Also, they must approve the design. 

We couldn't even change the colour of the front door without their say-so and we were planning a garden office, kitchen extension and conservatory within the first 6 months of ownership. Our plans are covered by permitted development rights so we should have been good-to-go on day one. Now, at this late stage, the deeds have revealed that we are buying a property with similar restrictions to a listed building. Worse, as any changes would be at the discretion of a neighbour with a vested interest and zero accountability.

I am fuming. We have incurred the majority of the costs of purchase, including a structural survey and searches, and were hoping to exchange in January. The post-lockdown bunfight of last summer means that there is currently nothing on the market, other than 'problem' properties and/or those seriously overpriced, within a radius of 20 miles. Despite being cash buyers we will almost certainly miss the stamp duty holiday even if we found a 'no-onward-chain' property tomorrow.

We have been misled. The vendors and, possibly, their agents must have known about this covenant. Presumably they naively thought it wouldn't be noticed by our solicitor or, possibly, that we would still proceed having committed this far.

Wrong.

This is a potential show-stopper so it should have been mentioned when we made an offer in order to avoid wasted time and costs on both sides. It may not be an issue for some but it most definitely would be for most, and it is for us. We know there was a previous buyer who pulled-out 4 months into the process and we were told by the agent that she just changed her mind at the 11th hour.  Ahem...... Really?

The EA and solicitors have been closed since Xmas Eve so we have been unable to raise the red flag to the vendor. Yet more time wasted. We know the vendors are coordinating this sale with the purchase of an empty property so that transaction will be jeopardised if this sale falls-through.

It's one thing to selfishly waste others' time and money but this is also a spectacular own goal. Stupid. Really, really stupid.

This is awful!

The enquiries on our house are easy to satisfy, we have already done it once, our previous buyer pulled out due to financing not because of the actual house. It is a 1970's ex council house on a huge estate, so although there are a few covenants, nothing that will ever be enforced, and an indemnity will sort anything out for the lender. 

I really feel for you. Such a stupid thing to have not mentioned.