Due to Complete Next Friday but still haven't exchanged - Very Concerned. Need Help

ahepworth1991

Hello,

We're in a chain of 4, we are FTB at the bottom on the chain and we are still waiting to exchange.

To give you a bit of background our purchase has been far from easy and our vendors have been difficult and unpleasant. Throw in their conveyancer who is the rudest, most unprofessional piece of work i have ever had the displeasure of dealing with and you will get a gist of why we are at the end of our tether and on the verge of giving up. We feel so deflated and defeated.

To cut a long story short, we were told our sellers expected us to complete on 31st January despite us never being informed of agreeing to this. We knew we were aiming for beginning of Feb and we told our conveyancer countless times the date we needed however we were told we couldn't agree anything until exchange. So when this 31st January got brought up we pushed back due to when our first mortgage payment would fall so we fought a hard battle for Friday 7th February. Our sellers onward purchase's mortgage offer expired on 31st January (we were never at any point told about this, apparently we were the only party not to be informed) but they got an extension for the following Friday 7th as a last and final date with no further extension. Which we were happy with and everyone in the chain agreed, even our vendors through gritted teeth. Vendor does have little man syndrome so doesnt like being told but instead likes to be in control, call the shots and everyone else bend to accommodate him.

We have been ready to exchange for 2 weeks now after being hounded by the EA and our vendors awful conveyancer. But surprise surprise our vendors were too worried about what we were doing that they didn't have their own house in order and had things outstanding. They also wanted guarantees we wouldnt back out before doing searches etc so they didnt lose money. They are mortgage free and making £80k out of us so hardly short of a few bob. Bottom line is we have now been pushing for exchange for well over a week, almost 2 weeks now and still no joys.

Vendors finally signed the contracts Monday but for some reason their conveyancer sent off for a land registry priority search prior to exchange rather than completion. An OS2 was sent on Tuesday. Their onward purchase is potentially unregistered, we were waiting for clarification and Wednesday we are told the search is back but there is a problem. Finally got clarification this morning and their seller had recently re-acquired some garden ground from his neighbour prior to sale and his solicitors has applied for a transfer pf part to be registered in the sellers name.

Their sellers conveyancer applied to expedite the application with the Land Registry due to the deadline and our sellers conveyancer had been on the LR portal this morning and seen a requisition had been raised by the LR. They spoke to the sellers conveyancer this morning and she assured them she had responded to the requisition yesterday through the portal. They are certain its being worked on. But we think they are living in dreamland

Fast forward to this afternoon and no updates. We have to give our lender 5 days notice to draw funds for next Thursday (day before completion). Our solicitors requested agreement from the chain to draw funds as another party in the chain also answers to a lender. also No response so our solicitors decided to go ahead anyway and have requested this afternoon to draw funds from our lender to be transferred on Thursday 6th to ensure the money is there and ready to go.

So basically as of tomorrow Friday 31st January we have exactly a week until completion. Our funds have been requested so should be received but we still haven't exchanged and the issue is with the Land Registry that is holding things up. our sellers conveyancer will not exchange until they know they have this tiny little bit of garden ground. Their house is fine.

It just seems ridiculous. Its so stressful not knowing. and we are not being updated neither is our conveyancer. Its driving us crazy. I am literally on top of my conveyancer and the EA all day everyday to get answers to no avail or help to us.

We were being hounded to exchange and get everything tied up ASAP for completing on Friday 7th Feb for the last 3 weeks. Even to the extent that we were told that they were waiting on us and we were the only ones holding up the chain (this was before we found out the latest info, where actually everyone was ready except our seller and their rude and lazy solicitor with backwards practices).

As a result we arrange everything we need to move in so we have furniture being delivered the week following exchange, decorators and carpet people coming in and also Sky. On top of this due to the hold up because of our sellers conveyancer not exchanging until this LR issue comes back, the chain appears on the brink of collapse. We feel so defeated and don't know what to do.

Has anyone had this experience? Any experience with how long the land registry take when a case has been expedited? They are aware its holding up the sale for next week?
Is it likely we will still exchange? Or should we pull out?

What should we do? I don't know if i can take anymore stress. its affecting our health now and also our jobs where its at the fore front of our mind and constantly disrupting us throughout the day. We are at a loss. I just can't see this being resolved before completion. Which means the chain collapses and we lose alot of money.

Any help, experience or advice is appreciated

[Deleted User]

ahepworth1991 wrote: »

Hello,

We're in a chain of 4, we are FTB at the bottom on the chain and we are still waiting to exchange.

To give you a bit of background our purchase has been far from easy and our vendors have been difficult and unpleasant. Throw in their conveyancer who is the rudest, most unprofessional piece of work i have ever had the displeasure of dealing with and you will get a gist of why we are at the end of our tether and on the verge of giving up. We feel so deflated and defeated.

To cut a long story short, we were told our sellers expected us to complete on 31st January despite us never being informed of agreeing to this. We knew we were aiming for beginning of Feb and we told our conveyancer countless times the date we needed however we were told we couldn't agree anything until exchange. So when this 31st January got brought up we pushed back due to when our first mortgage payment would fall so we fought a hard battle for Friday 7th February. Our sellers onward purchase's mortgage offer expired on 31st January (we were never at any point told about this, apparently we were the only party not to be informed) but they got an extension for the following Friday 7th as a last and final date with no further extension. Which we were happy with and everyone in the chain agreed, even our vendors through gritted teeth. Vendor does have little man syndrome so doesnt like being told but instead likes to be in control, call the shots and everyone else bend to accommodate him.

We have been ready to exchange for 2 weeks now after being hounded by the EA and our vendors awful conveyancer. But surprise surprise our vendors were too worried about what we were doing that they didn't have their own house in order and had things outstanding. They also wanted guarantees we wouldnt back out before doing searches etc so they didnt lose money. They are mortgage free and making £80k out of us so hardly short of a few bob. Bottom line is we have now been pushing for exchange for well over a week, almost 2 weeks now and still no joys.

Vendors finally signed the contracts Monday but for some reason their conveyancer sent off for a land registry priority search prior to exchange rather than completion. An OS2 was sent on Tuesday. Their onward purchase is potentially unregistered, we were waiting for clarification and Wednesday we are told the search is back but there is a problem. Finally got clarification this morning and their seller had recently re-acquired some garden ground from his neighbour prior to sale and his solicitors has applied for a transfer pf part to be registered in the sellers name.

Their sellers conveyancer applied to expedite the application with the Land Registry due to the deadline and our sellers conveyancer had been on the LR portal this morning and seen a requisition had been raised by the LR. They spoke to the sellers conveyancer this morning and she assured them she had responded to the requisition yesterday through the portal. They are certain its being worked on. But we think they are living in dreamland

Fast forward to this afternoon and no updates. We have to give our lender 5 days notice to draw funds for next Thursday (day before completion). Our solicitors requested agreement from the chain to draw funds as another party in the chain also answers to a lender. also No response so our solicitors decided to go ahead anyway and have requested this afternoon to draw funds from our lender to be transferred on Thursday 6th to ensure the money is there and ready to go.

So basically as of tomorrow Friday 31st January we have exactly a week until completion. Our funds have been requested so should be received but we still haven't exchanged and the issue is with the Land Registry that is holding things up. our sellers conveyancer will not exchange until they know they have this tiny little bit of garden ground. Their house is fine.

It just seems ridiculous. Its so stressful not knowing. and we are not being updated neither is our conveyancer. Its driving us crazy. I am literally on top of my conveyancer and the EA all day everyday to get answers to no avail or help to us.

We were being hounded to exchange and get everything tied up ASAP for completing on Friday 7th Feb for the last 3 weeks. Even to the extent that we were told that they were waiting on us and we were the only ones holding up the chain (this was before we found out the latest info, where actually everyone was ready except our seller and their rude and lazy solicitor with backwards practices).

As a result we arrange everything we need to move in so we have furniture being delivered the week following exchange, decorators and carpet people coming in and also Sky. On top of this due to the hold up because of our sellers conveyancer not exchanging until this LR issue comes back, the chain appears on the brink of collapse. We feel so defeated and don't know what to do.

Has anyone had this experience? Any experience with how long the land registry take when a case has been expedited? They are aware its holding up the sale for next week?
Is it likely we will still exchange? Or should we pull out?

What should we do? I don't know if i can take anymore stress. its affecting our health now and also our jobs where its at the fore front of our mind and constantly disrupting us throughout the day. We are at a loss. I just can't see this being resolved before completion. Which means the chain collapses and we lose alot of money.

Any help, experience or advice is appreciated

:eek::eek::eek:

Buying a house is stressful, particularly in England because of the stupid drawn out process of doing it and chains. You just need to be patient if you really want this particular property.

Are you able to cancel any of the things you've ordered because you really jumped the gun doing that before exchange which has made an already stressful situation even worse.

babyblade41

Sadly until exchange goes ahead nothing is certain and can fall down completely.

First practical thing is to cancel deliveries ,sky etc. Never arrange anything until exchange has gone ahead

LR are relatively good when a case has been expedited but they do have a process to work to which can take time.

Your seller will want this extra land registered as that is what they are paying for but should have been picked up a lot earlier .and they are not yet in a position to exchange .

Until everyone is ready and a date has been agreed up the chain then I'm afraid it' a waiting game

RelievedSheff

As others have said nothing is set in stone until you have exchanged contracts.

Try not to worry too much though as there is still plenty of time to exchange contracts between now and next Friday. It can be done on the same day if needs must.

ahepworth1991

Thanks for your responses.
Yeah i get that it looks like we’ve jumped the gun but its annoying because we really didnt have a choice. We didn’t actually arrange anything until all our enquiries were back and we had to give a commitment along the chain it was all going ahead.

I know you shouldn’t take peoples word for something before a legally binding contract is in place but as we are FTB both living at home, we dont have any furniture or anything and the wait time for the furniture we wanted was 16 weeks so we had to get out and start buying stuff to get it in time for end of feb.

Everything was chugging along nicely and it was pretty cemented for a completion day since the beginning of January. The 2 at the top of the chain have been ready for ages as they were going through the process and the chain collapsed before our vendor purchased the house. So they’ve been waiting for a while and it was just us and my seller that had to get things together.

The most frustrating thing is from day dot our vendors told us they would go out and rent or live with family. They were committed to selling us the house regardless of their situation and they’d rather get it sold and have the money in the bank. Then they found this house. Told us they weren’t going to tie us in to that chain due to the flexibility of their situation and lo and behold they did exactly that and now won’t break the chain. We only found this out at the beginning of Jan.

Sad thing is every single party is ready to go and is anxious over the situation but its our vendors who have caused this and their conveyancer for not picking this up sooner.

I could cancel sky thats easy enough but the furniture has a delay on it to the end of March now anyway. We have loan sofas coming until the delivery date so i suppose we still have time to resolve this without losing the furniture we love.

Its just the whole situation is frustrating. Ultimately even if we did decide to wait the chain would collapse as our vendors onward purchase mortgage offer expires Friday. So unless they can do another application its not going anywhere for a while.

Would you sit tight and wait?
We are just so infuriated by all of this. Through the whole process we’ve been hounded, had to take a lot of things on the chin to progress the sale and blamed for everything going wrong. Literally there is not enough pages to write how we’ve been treated. I suppose as FTB they think we are easy to try and take advantage of. I don’t think the vendor banked on getting someone as fastidious and thorough as me.

Is it likely the Land Registry can give a timeframe if there is something holding it up?

I guess what will be will be. But its our vendor who has caused this problem and we all lose out because they couldnt be on top of their own stuff rather than worrying what everyone else was doing.

Its just such a crap situation

RelievedSheff

It is rubbish I agree but that is how it goes with buying in a chain. You can't move forward to exchange until everyone in the chain is ready unfortunately.

AdrianC

ahepworth1991 wrote: »

To give you a bit of background our purchase has been far from easy and our vendors have been difficult and unpleasant. Throw in their conveyancer who is the rudest, most unprofessional piece of work i have ever had the displeasure of dealing with

You don't need to deal with either of them.

You <-> Your solicitor <-> Their solicitor <-> Them
You <

---

> The EA for informal stuff <

---

> Them

If the EA and their solicitor are bypassing your solicitor, then why?

To cut a long story short, we were told our sellers expected us to complete on 31st January despite us never being informed of agreeing to this.

Who didn't inform you...? How far along that chain of communication did this "expectation" get? Completion happens when both sides mutually agree, not before.

We knew we were aiming for beginning of Feb and we told our conveyancer countless times the date we needed however we were told we couldn't agree anything until exchange.

Of course, you can exchange and complete on the same day.
But the date is decided by MUTUAL agreement. Both sides need to be flexible.

So when this 31st January got brought up we pushed back due to when our first mortgage payment would fall

That's a fairly lousy excuse.

so we fought a hard battle for Friday 7th February. Our sellers onward purchase's mortgage offer expired on 31st January (we were never at any point told about this, apparently we were the only party not to be informed)

So your solicitor was aware?

but they got an extension for the following Friday 7th as a last and final date with no further extension. Which we were happy with and everyone in the chain agreed, even our vendors through gritted teeth.

And now we get a mention of there being more than just the two of you involved... How many are there in this chain?

Vendor does have little man syndrome so doesnt like being told but instead likes to be in control, call the shots and everyone else bend to accommodate him.

So let me get this straight...
Somebody else has their reasons to dig their heels in, personal abuse is warranted.
You dig your heels in, it's only fair and right that you get your way?

I'd have said an expiring mortgage offer was a damn sight higher priority than "I'd like my payments to be at this point in the month", tbh.

We have been ready to exchange for 2 weeks now

EVERYBODY in the chain needs to be ready to exchange.

...after being hounded by the EA and our vendors awful conveyancer.

Again, the only reason they need to contact you direct is if your solicitor is proving a roadblock to communication.

But surprise surprise our vendors were too worried about what we were doing that they didn't have their own house in order and had things outstanding. They also wanted guarantees we wouldnt back out before doing searches etc so they didnt lose money.

Frankly, I don't blame them for being worried.

They are mortgage free and making £80k out of us so hardly short of a few bob.

What on earth does that have to do with the price of fish?

Bottom line is we have now been pushing for exchange for well over a week, almost 2 weeks now and still no joys.

But, again, EVERYBODY In the chain has to be ready.

Vendors finally signed the contracts Monday

So they weren't ready.

but for some reason their conveyancer sent off for a land registry priority search prior to exchange rather than completion. An OS2 was sent on Tuesday. Their onward purchase is potentially unregistered, we were waiting for clarification and Wednesday we are told the search is back but there is a problem. Finally got clarification this morning and their seller had recently re-acquired some garden ground from his neighbour prior to sale and his solicitors has applied for a transfer pf part to be registered in the sellers name.

So the delay was actually their purchase. They aren't ready to exchange. Nothing to do with you - unless they're going to break the chain and move into other accommodation for an interim period. Are they? That ball is in their court.

Their sellers conveyancer applied to expedite the application with the Land Registry due to the deadline and our sellers conveyancer had been on the LR portal this morning and seen a requisition had been raised by the LR. They spoke to the sellers conveyancer this morning and she assured them she had responded to the requisition yesterday through the portal. They are certain its being worked on. But we think they are living in dreamland

Fast forward to this afternoon and no updates. We have to give our lender 5 days notice to draw funds for next Thursday (day before completion). Our solicitors requested agreement from the chain to draw funds as another party in the chain also answers to a lender. also No response so our solicitors decided to go ahead anyway and have requested this afternoon to draw funds from our lender to be transferred on Thursday 6th to ensure the money is there and ready to go.

Hold your horses. Your chain is not ready to exchange. This isn't all about you.

So basically as of tomorrow Friday 31st January we have exactly a week until completion.

Until a random date that's unlikely to happen, because the chain isn't even ready to exchange.

Our funds have been requested so should be received but we still haven't exchanged and the issue is with the Land Registry that is holding things up.

No, the issue is with your vendors' purchase not being ready. Somebody's done something that's thrown a spanner into the chain. You need to let that spanner work itself out.

our sellers conveyancer will not exchange until they know they have this tiny little bit of garden ground. Their house is fine.

And who can blame them? Right now, they don't know what they're buying. Would YOU exchange on that basis?

It just seems ridiculous. Its so stressful not knowing. and we are not being updated neither is our conveyancer. Its driving us crazy. I am literally on top of my conveyancer and the EA all day everyday to get answers to no avail or help to us.

Because they can't tell you any more. The delay is up the chain. The chain is not ready.

We were being hounded to exchange and get everything tied up ASAP for completing on Friday 7th Feb for the last 3 weeks.

Then a last minute issue was discovered further up the chain.

Even to the extent that we were told that they were waiting on us and we were the only ones holding up the chain (this was before we found out the latest info, where actually everyone was ready except our seller and their rude and lazy solicitor with backwards practices).

Leave the abuse out of it. Their solicitor looks like he's done his job, and halted exchange because of a last minute change by their vendor.

As a result we arrange everything we need to move in so we have furniture being delivered the week following exchange, decorators and carpet people coming in and also Sky.

Why on earth were you so daft as to organise all those fripperies so prematurely? That's absolutely self-inflicted.

On top of this due to the hold up because of our sellers conveyancer not exchanging until this LR issue comes back, the chain appears on the brink of collapse. We feel so defeated and don't know what to do.

Has anyone had this experience? Any experience with how long the land registry take when a case has been expedited? They are aware its holding up the sale for next week?

That's not their problem. It will get done when it gets done, and you will exchange and complete when it's done.

Is it likely we will still exchange? Or should we pull out?

You're going to pull out because exchange and completion may be a week or three later than you want...? <stampy foot>

The only reason you won't exchange is if somebody has a tantrum, causing the whole chain to collapse. Do you want that to be you?

What should we do?

Wait.

I don't know if i can take anymore stress. its affecting our health now and also our jobs where its at the fore front of our mind and constantly disrupting us throughout the day. We are at a loss. I just can't see this being resolved before completion. Which means the chain collapses and we lose alot of money.

Any help, experience or advice is appreciated

The only reason it's stressful is because you're allowing it to be stressful. Relax. Stop fixating on trivia. A week or two is not that important. The precise date in the month is not that important.

Doozergirl

Wow, that was long! Let's see if I can match that.

I'm afraid you can chalk this up to naivety.

It's clear the your vendors solicitors are working at this, and pretty hard. You have zero control here, so there is no point acting like you do, because you will end up angry and frustrated. Ringing a bell?

As a FTB, you have one focus, to buy. And, true to FTB form, you're stamping your feet louder than anyone and patting yourselves on the back for (one) job well done, not by you, but by your solicitor *and theirs*, so they can't be that bad! Congratulations on finding an easy purchase.

Your vendor has the stress of buying and selling and it sounds like they don't have the luxury of an easy purchase with theirs. Their mortgage offer issue is an unpleasant additional stress for them, but all I read is that people are doing what they can. If you have to draw down the money and send it back, so be it.

The exchange date can only be agreed when everyone is ready. You are in the chain and a part of it. It's luck, not judgement that got your link ready first. You don't carry the right to be judgmental about others when they are doing their best.

Ordering your furniture and Sky package was insanity, frankly. You should cancel Sky and warn the furniture people that you may need it in storage for a bit. You've created that headache for yourselves.

As a footnote, your vendor needs somewhere to live as well. And house prices will have risen on them too, so cut the entitlement about how much money they're making. They're probably older than you and have ploughed double the amount they borrowed off that house into mortgage repayments. The housing market happens to everyone, so the place they move to will also have risen in value by more than £80k since they bought, so that's no consolation.

I say this as someone who has been where you are: All you can do is calm down and accept that these things happen when they happen. We are merely bystanders in the process. You don't get personal, you don't take things personally. No one is taking advantage of a FTB because they're usually the angriest; little knowledge being dangerous. We've accepted an offer this week and been told that the FTB (literally always the people with the most flexibility in their living arrangements)down chain is impatient and has a demanded a date. Suits me for a quick sale because we're top of the chain, but that doesn't make life easy for the two other parties in the middle.


This goes for most things in life - if you try to control what is uncontrollable, you will be miserable.

davidmcn

ahepworth1991 wrote: »

To cut a long story short,

This is the short version?!

pinkteapot

Here's the actual short version:

Chain of 4 has agreed 7 Feb as a completion date but has not yet exchanged. Vendor’s mortgage offer for their onward purchase expires on 7 Feb with no further extension possible.

OP (FTB) is ready to exchange.

Vendor is not ready to exchange. Next two paragraphs copied directly from OP’s post as they’re the pertinent part, regarding an issue with their vendor's onward purchase:

Vendors finally signed the contracts Monday but for some reason their conveyancer sent off for a land registry priority search prior to exchange rather than completion. An OS2 was sent on Tuesday. Their onward purchase is potentially unregistered, we were waiting for clarification and Wednesday we are told the search is back but there is a problem. Finally got clarification this morning and their seller had recently re-acquired some garden ground from his neighbour prior to sale and his solicitors has applied for a transfer pf part to be registered in the sellers name.

Their sellers conveyancer applied to expedite the application with the Land Registry due to the deadline and our sellers conveyancer had been on the LR portal this morning and seen a requisition had been raised by the LR. They spoke to the sellers conveyancer this morning and she assured them she had responded to the requisition yesterday through the portal. They are certain its being worked on. But we think they are living in dreamland.

Does anyone know how long the Land Registry will take to resolve this?

ahepworth1991

Thanks Pinktea pot. Appreciate you trying to help. I know it was long apologies. Thanks for not being too hard on me either.

Maybe some of my comments were warranted but I cannot explain how much stress i am under at the moment