The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

Pumpkim

I suppose it depends on how long you intend to stay in the new property. We intend to stay in the next house at least until our son flies nest (he's 6) so not really too worried about it.

Natbag

goodwithsaving - not really. We bought our last house in 2008 just before the crash and it has only just returned to the value it was before. We won't be making any money on it to upsize, but we own more equity in it now and it has still been better than throwing money away on renting for 9 years. Once you're on the ladder, yes, your house may drop in value but then so does everyone else's and if you're staying or selling to buy another it's all relative. You only lose out if you're selling and not buying, but then you'd have been paying more in rent anyway and have nothing to show for it. At least interest rates are low at the moment, so if you can fix in for a few years then that offers some security at least.

tt07

goodwithsaving wrote: »

May I ask, is anybody anxious about buying at the moment? Just because of potential drops etc.
After 18 weeks I finally exchanged on my sale. I haven't yet on my purchase though.
Great house, location but just increasingly nervous about the market. Possibly because of the nightmare I've had buying it.
(Crashy-I don't want to hear from you)

We are in the process of buying a new build and close or at least thought we were to exchange but a number of factors meant we have not but that's another story!

It's hard to call the market, you need somewhere to live, if the housing markets tanks it's an issue if you want to sell or remortgage, but if you can hang tight, don't need to sell then you don't crystallise the loss should there be one and sit it out, just keep paying the mortgage, if you can overpay at least that reduces the risk of a downturn in pricing to some degree.

juniordoc

Agree with the thoughts above. As long as you plan to stay in the house you are buying for at least 3-4 years and you are not buying with a very high LTV mortgage then you should be ok.
Homeowners should be making the most of the low interest rates and overpaying their mortgages while they can in order to protect themselves from negative equity down the line.
Now would be a bad time to buy a house if you can only just afford to.

goodwithsaving

Thank you. I'm buying with a 70% LTV (really proud that I've done it myself hence don't want to mess it up) and from the outset I'll be overpaying by £150/month. I'm not due to remortgage until 2020 (porting). I think it's just last minute nerves. I've had to make a couple of compromises to get the location I wish to live in, which is fine, but I think because we're now on week 17 the actual difficulties in buying are starting to make me feel nervous (not the one I'm buying but the property at the top of the chain is taking the time). At least mine is now exchanged for sale though, it's a big relief.
Thank you for your thoughts and supportive comments.
Now to get us all to exchange...............!

CommitedToChange

Time to join this thread I'm a FTB moving (fingers crossed) from a flat I've rented for 10 years to a 2 bed house with a bathtub and a yard. Can't wait to grow stuff and sit outside with a glass of wine in the summer, and soak in the tub (having only had a shower for 10 years). :rotfl:

My timeline so far:

06/9/17 - Met broker, handed over all docs and did factfind
09/9/17 - view 4 house, really love number 3, sleep on decision
10/9/17 - put in offer - accepted an hour later!
11/9/17 - API sorted with Pepper
11/9/17 - solicitor instructed -
12/9/17 - full application put in
30/9/17 - valuation done
6/10/17 - Mortgage offer received for full amount :j:j:j:j:j
10/10/17 - money on account given to sols to start searches etc

So now back to waiting - I may give my sols a call on Monday just to check in and see what they are thinking regarding timelines etc. Plus I don't want them to send anything in the post is as mine is awful and stuff goes astray - would much rather pop in and grab anything.

Would love to be in by the end of Nov - but by Christmas is the main aim.

Fiesto88

One piece of advice I was given at the outset that I SORELY regret not following.

Tell NOBODY that you’re in the process of buying.

Every day at work now is a never-ending stream of: “How’s the house going?”, “Any news?”, “Has the solicitor rung yet?”. Having to repeat the story of what’s happening this week over and over again gets so draining.

I have everything crossed that this week it will end. We’re waiting for one document. Everything else is in order.

dancing_star

Fiesto88 wrote: »

One piece of advice I was given at the outset that I SORELY regret not following.

Tell NOBODY that you’re in the process of buying.

Every day at work now is a never-ending stream of: “How’s the house going?”, “Any news?”, “Has the solicitor rung yet?”. Having to repeat the story of what’s happening this week over and over again gets so draining.

I have everything crossed that this week it will end. We’re waiting for one document. Everything else is in order.

Oh how I agree with you Fiesto!

"Have you moved yet?"

"NO!!!"

Best wishes for you this week.

Fiesto88

dancing_star wrote: »

Oh how I agree with you Fiesto!

"Have you moved yet?"

"NO!!!"

Best wishes for you this week.

Thank you.

I’ll definitely be doing things very differently if i’m ever in this position again. It’s things that you don’t even consider at the time that you really wish you’d done - like, why didn’t we photograph every room from every angle? At the time, neither of us had any concerns. But three months down the line, I look at the pictures on the Rightmove listing and can’t actually remember which bedroom is which (it’s a vacant purchase so there aren’t any details to jog my memory). None of them are rectangular and the rubbish floorplans on both this listing and a historic one don’t give any clues. It doesn’t really make a difference, but one of the listings has mirror-flipped the first floor floorplan - I can’t remember which is the correct way and none of the pictures reveal the true layout either!

I’m trying to visualise furniture in the living room - took measurements but didn’t think to note where the radiators and plug sockets are - and, typical, the pictures are taken from just such an angle that I can’t work out how far along the walls the radiators are!

If it was a traditional EA I’d get them to let me back in, but it’s an online one and the agent who has the keys is fiendishly difficult to get hold of - it took them nearly three weeks just to let the surveyors in!

It’s silly really because I know I’ve seen it twice and nothing was a glaring problem - but the more time goes on, the more I imagine problems that don’t exist.

Ougat

We are FTB and luckily our vendor already have her new house all set up and the property is basically vacant and ready. We think she is more in a hurry about this than us. Everything I now know about the whole process I read on MSE and since we started thinking about buying I have been reading MSE like there is n tomorrow.


Our timeline is


DIP with broker `16/09/2017
Pay initial deposit to retain solicitors 16/09/2017 **
Saw house 21/09/2017
Second viewing and offer made and accepted 23/09/2017
Memorandom of sale to all parties 25/09/2017
Mortgage interview 26/09/2017 with broker.
Mortgage approved Nationwide 26/09/2017
Mortgage valuation survey 10/10 2017
Survey and Home Buers report positive 10/10/2017
Morgage offer on house offered 10/10/2017
Welcome pack from solicitors 10/10/2017
Solicotors/Conveyancing pack received 10/10/2017
All paperwork and copies completed & send for conveyancing 12/10/2017
Recieve Fixture and Fittings from Vendor 13/10/2017
Receive Mortgge confirmation and Morgage deed to sign 13/10/2017
Send off signed/witnessed posted Mortgage deed to solicitors .16/10/2017
Paid funds to cover 6 searches by conveyance 16/10/2017
4 Searches came back all good 17/10/2017
Coal mining report requested by Lender 17/10/2017
Seller had boiler/electricity/gas and heating serviced and certificated 17/10/217



So it has been one month since we started in all earnest. So far it feels like everything is moving at a pace we like although there was a slight hiccup with the solicitors already not sending us the welcome pack when we first made contact with them. **


There are also 2 things on the fixture and fittings list that need clearing up but nothing major. The home buyers report also highlighted few things like certificates for the heating electricity and gas. The Vendor is getting all this serviced the 17th Oct and will take the details to her solicitor the same day. We done a Radon and Flooding check ourselves before we did the second viewing so hopefully the conveyance team will accept that as been done.


I suppose the real wait starts now as there is nothing more we need to do...


In an ideal world we would love to exchange and complete before end November. As it is I already spoke to our landlord (private rent) and confirmed that we will extend our contract with her by one month which takes us to end December. We will just suck it up that we might pay a month's rent and the mortgage but that will give us ample time if all goes horribly wrong.