Is the whole property buying process too complicated?

jimbo6977

It is far too complicated, as is planning and everything else associated with real estate. 

How about applying proper consumer protection (ie before you had to pay a hundred quid for an expert report to prove that a twenty quid radio is faulty) to new builds?

davidmcn

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

davidmcn said:

p00hsticks said:

in_my_wellies said:

Much simpler in NZ too.
My niece saw a property go on the market on a Thursday am, viewed pm. Offered Friday am, accepted pm. Moved in the following Friday 

Or are mortgage companies, solicitors, surveyors etc really that much quicker elsewhere ?

This, probably. In the 90s it wasn't that unknown (in Scotland at least) to be able to instruct a survey in the morning and have a verbal report back by the end of the day - but that's in the days when there was actually a demand for it, and buyers were prepared to possibly "waste" their money on one (because the norm was to get your survey before making an offer).

So I have a question with those who've bought and moved in within a week or two.... do your lenders not need searches done? For us as buyers, this was the biggest hold up. I'm told we did OK as ours were only 6 weeks. I'm being told now that they're taking 3 months or more.

Many lenders will accept search insurance. Again, this is something where other countries' approaches can be very different - I think in the US for example it's pretty commonplace to use insurance instead of due diligence, so rather than lots of lawyer time and fees poring over old title deeds etc, you just insure against the remote chance of something terrible lurking in there.

And if you do want actual local searches, work out a way of getting the information faster. In Scotland we gave up on the councils' timescales years ago, and everybody now gets the searches from private providers who typically turn them around in 24 hours.

gozaimasu

One of the things that annoys me a lot is that every single solicitor is paid a fee for every single search every single time a property is sold. They are all exactly the same. When I sell my house, if I give all my searches to the buyer, is that going to save them money? No. Also why would I do that. Nobody else does. Plus the lender probably wouldn't accept it.

davidmcn

gozaimasu said:

One of the things that annoys me a lot is that every single solicitor is paid a fee for every single search every single time a property is sold. They are all exactly the same. When I sell my house, if I give all my searches to the buyer, is that going to save them money? No. Also why would I do that. Nobody else does. Plus the lender probably wouldn't accept it.

How much use do you think your old searches are? They're only a snapshot of what was on the records at the time of the search - they're considered out of date after a few months.

gozaimasu

Could you give me a real life example of what changes in the searches? The environmental search? Title search? Local Authority Search? Coal Mining search?

gozaimasu

Oh and not forgetting the Chancel repair liability search. Those things are so old nothing will change. Sigh.

Slithery

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

davidmcn said:

p00hsticks said:

in_my_wellies said:

Much simpler in NZ too.
My niece saw a property go on the market on a Thursday am, viewed pm. Offered Friday am, accepted pm. Moved in the following Friday 

Or are mortgage companies, solicitors, surveyors etc really that much quicker elsewhere ?

This, probably. In the 90s it wasn't that unknown (in Scotland at least) to be able to instruct a survey in the morning and have a verbal report back by the end of the day - but that's in the days when there was actually a demand for it, and buyers were prepared to possibly "waste" their money on one (because the norm was to get your survey before making an offer).

It's not unheard of for a valuation survey to be done in 24 hours. The surveyor will provide the valuation same day. Now, whether the lender instructs in a reasonable time.........

So I have a question with those who've bought and moved in within a week or two.... do your lenders not need searches done? For us as buyers, this was the biggest hold up. I'm told we did OK as ours were only 6 weeks. I'm being told now that they're taking 3 months or more.

I've bought with no mortgage before and didn't bother with searches. If you do require them then it all depends on your local authority, some will get them back in days whereas others currently have 3+ month backlogs as you say. It's a postcode lottery.

Scotbot

p00hsticks said:

Speedbird676 said:

The process is also much more straightforward in Australia. My partner was completely baffled about the process here, especially the part where either party can pull out without penalty (except costs incurred) up until exchange.

Over there, when you make an offer you make the offer with a settlement (their word for completion) date. You can make the offer subject to finance, in which case the only reason you can pull out is if you're unable to obtain a mortgage by a set date, and you would have to provide evidence from your lender that you've been turned down. Failing that it is a binding purchase with penalties on both sides for pulling out.

So at what point is the survey done ? Is the seller obliged to make a recent one available to any potential purchaser ? Or is the potential purchaser expected to have one done before offering on the property (in which case it sounds similar to the process of buying in auction over here) ?

As far as I can see, the opportunity to survey a property once an offer is made, and to potentially withdraw from the purchase or renegotiate the price if that survey throws up faults in the property that weren't obvious beforehand, is one of the main causes of purchases taking a long time and/or falling through in this country. But as a lay person, I wouldn't be prepared to buy a property without one. 

Before makng an offer paid for by the buyer at least in NSW, different states have different systems. The pest Inspection (essential as termites can cause tens of thousands of dollars of damage) is also done upfront  but that is paid for by the seller.  For the reasons you state no one buys without a survey. An expensive exercise for the buyer if they are lose out on the propoperty.  Not a perfect system but better than here IMO

davidmcn

gozaimasu said:

Could you give me a real life example of what changes in the searches? The environmental search? Title search? Local Authority Search? Coal Mining search?

Off the top of my head:

Environmental - obviously historic maps etc don't change, but a typical desktop report includes details of current/recent nearby occupiers with potentially contaminative uses, land which is now known to actually be contaminated, latest flood risk maps etc

Title search - everything can change in the title! Ownership, mortgages, boundaries, other rights - this one needs to be bang up to date, along with protection to cover the period up to registration of your deeds.

Local authority search - planning applications / current zoning, conservation areas / tree protection orders, planning and building control enforcement notices, compulsory repair and other environmental health/housing notices, proposed roads/other major projects in the area. Not much comfort from knowing what the position was all of those years ago.

Coal mining search - no deep coal mining in Britain for ages (apart from I think one recently proposed one I think), and coalfields don't move around, so no change with those records, but it includes nearby opencast mining, and probably more relevant the history of any claims for subsidence damage, which could be recent

Surrey_EA

ccfc1972 said:

I'd like to buy a house like I buy a car. See one I like, have a look round, then pay for it and jump in!
I realise it's never going to be straightforward, I was just wondering if it was possible to make the process quicker at all...i'd like to think there must be.

Under certain circumstances, it is possible. Let's say you were a cash buyer and wished to buy a property that was already vacant. There's nothing to stop you ignoring the need to wait for searches. Get your solicitor to have a quick look at the title, you accept all the risk that comes with missing out on large chunks of the traditional process, transfer the money and off you go to pick up the keys.