Selling stress - is this what it is meant to be like?

Comms69

ameliarate said:

Comms69 said:

comeandgo said:

It is normal, it's got something to do with the awful system that England has and the only way it will change is if people complain to MPs and get things changed but nobody does.  It's not only buyers who can walk away, you as a seller can withdraw your property from the market right up until exchange.

System is much better than elsewhere

Is it? Such as? 

I cant think of anywhere better. 

Get to exchange, bam lower the price by an extra 2-3% - perfect.

Ornais

Wow thanks for the replies. 

So it does appear normal. I think for me personally its so emotionally charged as we are so overcrowded and I hate living here. 
is it worth the stress? I wish I never bought it and rented. 

  

HanPop

I know exactly how you feel as this was us last year trying to sell for the first time and it was so stressful. Overcrowded house, knew the dream home we wanted, buyers pulling out and trying to keep your house showhome perfect for viewings over a few months was a nightmare. We had a buyer pull out after we’d all signed for exchange and then made us wait 5 days whilst she ‘thought about it’, the level of stress was immense. The house we were buying was a new build which had a ‘welcome home’ banner on it we were that close to moving in. Then we had so many time wasters turning up for viewings, ones who put offers in but couldn’t afford it, others who put an offer in then were uncontactable etc etc. To be honest we were that fed up my husband kicked the for sale sign down in anger on the day we had our real buyer. The problem was I never actually thought it was going to happen with him as every other buyer hadn’t worked out. Our solicitor was so useless I repeatedly told her I did not want to exchange and complete on the same day due to what had happened previously.....this was exactly what she made us do!!!!! Honestly thought he was going to back out whilst our whole house was packed up, so stressful. Thankfully it all went through. I for one will not be moving in a long time due to it being so awful. Hang in there, it feels like it will never end but I’m sure it will. 

Ornais

wow @HanPop that sounds awful.  thats exactly what I feel like, like its never going to happen. 

knightstyle

If you are looking for a better system look across the channel. In France the buyer pays the agent who takes you round properties, then having chosen one you pay a deposit, this is only returnable if you decide within 30 days not to buy. If you pull out after that the seller gets the deposit, about 10% of selling price. I have French friends who got this when a UK couple pulled out.
Plus both seller and buyer usually use the same notaire and that makes things smoother.

lillypoo

Ornais
i feel the same
i wish we had never lived here. i used to love the house but the worlds worst neighbour has been one side of us for about 15 years and they alone are making my property worth about 50000 less than it would be if they werent there. the house is for sale and i feel like it will never happen or if it does happen it will be at a price so low that i wont be able to afford to buy anywhere else.

i keep seeing properties on right move that i fall in love with but ( despite what crashy time says) they are selling within 1 to 14 days of going on the market
unlike you though , i dont have family ( husband passed away ), its just me trying to deal with this alone, and sometimes i do wonder if ill get through it with my sanity

the forum does help 

good luck anyway, i hope it all works out for you

Hannimal

It is broken system for everyone involved - except maybe the conveyancing and insurance companies that make a killing. House buying and selling isn't this complex probably anywhere else. For comparison, I am due to get my keys in 2 weeks for a house I started the purchase process for in early July. My family member in Scandinavia had an offer put on her house early this month and her family has already completed the sale and moved out. The whole process took less than 3 weeks to complete - granted there was no chain - and it was considered slow. Earlier they had someone offer whose mortgage application despite good affordability got rejected. The process going from an accepted offer to rejected mortgage application all happened on the same day. And no, that was not an AIP, that was an actual mortgage application. They didn't need to wait weeks for the rejection. 

Hannimal

knightstyle said:

If you are looking for a better system look across the channel. In France the buyer pays the agent who takes you round properties, then having chosen one you pay a deposit, this is only returnable if you decide within 30 days not to buy. If you pull out after that the seller gets the deposit, about 10% of selling price. I have French friends who got this when a UK couple pulled out.
Plus both seller and buyer usually use the same notaire and that makes things smoother.

Also where I am from the surveys are instructed from independent parties and paid for by the seller. The prospective buyers have access to a full survey before they offer so they can consider this. The seller of course has the option to fix any problems that arise and then get a new survey. My family couldn't believe I was paying for a survey and told me to ask the seller to do this. I think the seller would've told me to go do one had I asked them to pay for a full survey. 

Also the survey doesn't remove liability off the seller. The seller will still be liable for some things after the sale, if it turns out there were problems with the property the seller knew of, or should have reasonably known of, and didn't disclose of prior to sale. Given these problems would've affected sale price or process.

Keep_pedalling

Went through this 35 years ago, and the horrible experience has a lot to do why we have not moved since.

My daughter and SIL are now going through it having just lost her second buyer, who Just had their mortgage offer withdrawn. New baby on the way which makes the move somewhat urgent. Luckily for them we are able to give them a bridging loan so unless their seller pulls out they won’t lose the home they are buying.

fishfingerbutties

I think the the sell and rent thing would be more common if rental periods weren't so long for people selling/buying. I'm actually surprised there hasn't been a niche in the market for people buying and selling houses who want a shorter rental, where rental terms are 3 months instead of 6 minimum. I know you can get shorter term airbnb / holiday cottages, but they tend to be extremely expensive in comparison.