Nearly homeless and no completion date

Robin9

sarah124562 wrote: »

So it's been over three months now since I put the offer in for the house I'm buying. ......................

So who gave you the idea it could all be sorted in three months ?

My own chain was short - buyers moving out of rented, sellers into rented. Still 5 months.

onwards&upwards

sarah124562 wrote: »

Not where I live unfortunately, they give us the ultimatum of eviction or a 6 month contract 2 months before our contract ends. Anyway I'm currently sharing with a mate who is living elsewhere so would be totally unaffordable to rent alone

Where do you live? In the UK you can legally stay until you are evicted by a court, regardless of what your contract might say, a contract can't trump the actual law of the land.

You'd be mad to go to a hotel when you have a perfectly good rental property you have every right to stay in.

sarah124562

Noone said 3 months, just that it's at the very end stage of the house purchase (solicitor reported to lender so all enquiries complete, just need their approval).

I'm in Manchester city so I could very quickly rent out another apartment in no time, but still don't want to do this. If the sale falls through then only then will I rent another place, however it suits me best to stay in a hotel/airBNB in the meantime (until my friend gets their apartment).

Perhaps I didnt read into the eviction thing enough but it is in our contract that the landlord can give 2 month's notice for us to leave. Of course given the ultimatum of all or nothing, a hotel is much more flexible.

molerat

sarah124562 wrote: »

Perhaps I didnt read into the eviction thing enough but it is in our contract that the landlord can give 2 month's notice for us to leave.

The landlord can do no such thing. The landlord can give you notice that after 2 months he may begin to seek the permission of the courts to evict you which will, providing he has fulfilled all his legal obligations and correctly issued the appropriate paperwork, take at the least several months. That notice must be in the form of a correctly issued S21, have they issued a correctly completed S21 ?

Cakeguts

3 months is nothing you have only just got started. You have completely unrealistic expectations. We bought a house some years ago and it took 5 months. No chain. House we were buying was vacant and there was no mortgage needed. Still took 5 months. Yours is more complicated than this and you are expecting it to take less time.

bopsybunny

Can't help with the flat/hotel situation but I can give you some hope.

We bought in December. We signed our contracts about 10 days before our vendor's requested completion date (14/12), awaiting positive responses to final queries at which point solicitor was permitted to exchange contracts. We physically signed the documents, after the solicitor had talked us through what it all meant.

About a week before expected completion, we paid our deposit money to the solicitor (transfers were in solicitors account same day). On 13/12 queries all sorted and both parties "ready to go", but too late notice to complete next day as solicitors both needed to apply to respective lenders for funds to be released, so agreed to aim for new date of 21/12. Still no exchange...

Found out 2 days before that vendor's solicitor hadn't get applied to vendor's lender to have their funds released for their purchase (idiots!!). Was told this usually takes "up to 7 working days". They applied anyway and luckily mid-morning of the 21st, their funds came through and we exchanged and completed at lunchtime. We only found out mid-morning that it was going ahead. So long story short - it can all happen quite quickly in the end, but that can't be relied upon. If your mortgage has been approved the funds may still take over a week to be released.

Total of 6 weeks 1 day from offer accepted to getting the keys.

We then had to wait for the vendors to clear the house, ended up asking them to leave the keys with the next door neighbour when they were finished, which they did at about 8pm (with our permission to stay beyond the time originally agreed of 2pm). Estate agents were closed by around 5pm so this was the easiest option. You don't need the keys in your hand for completion to formally take place.

saajan_12

sarah124562 wrote: »

So it's been over three months now since I put the offer in for the house I'm buying. -okay, so not long at all.. hope you're not pushing unrealistic expectations of a super quick purchase to increase the stress for everyone involved. We're very close to the end of the house purchase but my solicitor downright refuses to give me an estimated completion date which is making me incredibly stressed as I can't make any plans regarding moving my belongings, booking annual leave and so on. - I'll keep pestering you for future lottery numbers.. if you don't you're making me stressed as I can't buy a mansion. Seriously, your solicitor doesn't know until certain queries etc come back satisfactorily, so giving you an unrelaible date would be unprofessional. Better you don't book removals etc for a date you may not be able to keep.

The property is quite complex so some legalities have held back the sale. However, the sale should have been super easy as I'm a FTB and there is no chain eitherside. - But it turned out to be complex, so shouldnt' have been quick.. We're now at the point where the solicitor has reported to the lender and waiting back on them. HOWEVER I called the lender on Friday, two days after the solicitor claimed to have reported to them, and they said they hadn't received anything. This has totally thrown me off, two days is a huge amount of time wasted at this moment in time. - no its not. You don't know that the solicitor hasn't sent the letter/email but the lender simply hasn't logged it in their systems or had anybody look at it yet.

It's now at a point where I'll be homeless on Wednesday as my flat contract ends and my family don't live in the same area, so I'll be having to live in a hotel. - How?
1) You've received a court order which expired and bailiffs will be arriving on Weds -> fair enough, a touch situation. Go to the council.
2) You served notice / chose to move out without making future arrangements prematurely -> why?
3) You're not homeless, and can remain where you are

As it's a Sunday and I can't ring the solicitor who would refuse to give an estimated date anyway, I'm hoping someone would be able to help me with these questions, or at least some of them...- please stop ringing them. You're asking the impossible.

1) If the lender receives the documents on Monday (tomorrow) and the processes within 2 working days as stated, when will they release the funds?- which documents? Have they given a firm mortgage offer? Do the documents include requesting to draw down the funds? I suspect its too early to release funds.
2) Is there anything else the solicitor will need to do before I send over my money? I am assuming sending my money between accounts will take 1 day too. - Have you sent over your exchange deposit? That would usually need to be cleared before exchanging, then they need to agree dates, finalise all the queries, exchange, request funds, complete.
3) what exactly does 'exchanging contracts' mean, as in will I need to sign / approve contracts or is this for the solicitor to do? - you will need to have pre-signed, then when everything is ready, you can give verbal go ahead for the solicitor to actually exchange with the seller's sols.
4) given the above information, when would you predict I will get the keys? Really ANYTHING will help me, however rough the estimate. I'm just so unsure of what actually happens at this stage of the process and what could possibly delay it.- could be in 2 days, could be in 3 months, could be never. Please don't book anything based on a completely made up guess, as it'll only cost you money / leave.
5) I will have to work from home at my family's house on Wednesday for a lack of elsewhere to go. Is it possible to complete and then pick my keys up at a later date? Or has the sale technically not completed until then? - it completes when the money reaches the seller's solicitor. You can usually make separate arrangements for the keys, often through EAs. However dont' bank on this being in 2 days..
6) any tips on how I can speed up the process other than chasing the solicitor endlessly? I have been advised to not move my money until the lender has approved everything but I'm considering ignoring this advice to prevent any further delay. - STOP chasing the solicitor and let them get on with their actual work? Re money, you can safely move it to your solicitors.. they'll only pass it on if / when you actually exchange / complete.

Thanks in advance

Solicitors dont' have a crystal ball, so stop bothering them. The queries and any info the lender needs will be sorted when they're sorted.

Ask your solicitor what you need to do eg transfer monies to their client account, pre sign docs etc. However there's lots left eg checking lender, you and seller are all happy and willing to go ahead on the same date, then exchanging and requesting funds ready for said date.

Unless you've been evicted by a court, with bailiffs coming on Weds, then you won't be homeless. If you CHOOSE to go before you have to, that's on you for jumping the gun. It may well be wise to stay in a hotel / with family if it is LIKELY you'll complete soon and that's CHEAPER than enforcing your right to maintain the tenancy, but those are your choices. Not the solicitor's fault.