Saffron BS Mortgage

laura_lau

Nervouslywaiting said:

Update from us if anyone is still reading this 🤣 we have provisional notice from our sellers builders. Her new build is due to be completed end of July meaning that's when we should move in! 

Hi @Nervouslywaiting so sorry I missed your mention the other day! That's good news and good progress! Have you started discussing exchange? 
I haven't exchanged yet! I'm soooo furious! The seller's solicitor didn't reply to our questions for completion for 2 whole weeks! I was going mad and kept calling the agents, the agency sales team, the agency's headquarters, finally on Friday I found a person who was willing to get things moving and they managed to get hold of the solicitor, who finally replied to my solicitor yesterday saying they are happy to exchange and complete whenever we want! so we suggested completion on the 21st June with exchange yesterday (if Saffron was quick at confirming release of funds) or today. Yesterday late afternoon my solicitor writes me to say that they requested the funds from Saffron, and they sent them back a building insurance form for me to compile!!!!!! I was soo furious! They issued my offer 6 weeks ago, they had more than plenty of time to send out this form, why did they wait until we requested the funds???? Knowing their biblical timings, I am now afraid it will take about a week for them to acknowledge they have received the form and to confirm they will release funds! So for sure we will not be able to complete on the 21st, but really if we are able to complete by end of next week is already something!!

Nervouslywaiting

No exchange yet. Not sure when that is happening, maybe in 2 or 3 weeks when our seller has the definite completion date! So excited now though as it's all happening quicker than anticipated!

Oh goodness it really sounds like you are going through it now! That's such a shame about the form. We were given a few extra forms by our solicitor that Saffron had requested (one of them being buildings insurance declaration!) And our solicitor was surprised Saffron hadn't sent them to us directly! So it's clearly a common thing. 

As part of our mortgage offer we also have to repay a few creditors using our savings, so we're in the process of doing that now. And our solicitor had to draft a letter signed by us that agreed to repay these sums on or before completion. Did you have anything like this? I'm wondering how they do their checks and if that will delay things for us (e.g. if our credit files don't update quickly, for example!) 

If it helps, we had an issue with the property's boundary that had to be declared to Saffron and they got back to our solicitor the very next day! Which surprised me because like you I was expecting a 13 working day wait! So hopefully they get back to you quickly too 🤞☺

laura_lau

Very exciting news! I'm glad it might proceed more quickly for you!!!
Ok, that's reassuring that Saffron replied to you more quickly about these boundaries, I really hope at this stage they proceed speedily!!! 
I didn't have anything like that as a condition, but they did put a couple of conditions to my mortgage offer: firstly, that my partner signs a form to acknowledge that he is not intending to claim rights to the property until the end of the mortgage (I'm buying the property alone and took the mortgage alone, but will be living with my partner, who will not be paying rent or anything strictly related to the property). My solicitor sent me this paper together with the mortgage deed to sign, and haven't heard back since, so I assume the paper is enough for them and they are not going to do any further checks. Then, they requested that the seller's solicitor confirms they will be handing over all certificates of sharer for the freehold (it's a share of freehold), which they did. And lastly, they required all documentation about the leasehold from the Management Company to be sent to them to inspect (3 years of accounts, fire certificate, etc etc).
I think they put these things as conditions and ask you to declare that you comply, so that if it comes out that something goes wrong because you didn't comply, then you are technically in breach of the contract and they can repossess the property. So as long as you are declaring it, then it should be enough for them as of now. If then later on you are not able to pay your mortgage, or any other problem, because you lied to them in that form, then they have all the rights and no liabilities. At least, that is what I would think, as I find it unlikely that they will wait till your credit file updates, as that takes up to 3 months!! They are giving you time until completion day, so I doubt they will be doing checks on that day. What does your solicitor think?

Nervouslywaiting

That all makes perfect sense to me and it is what I thought so thank you! I think I'm just worrying about every little thing now as we get closer and closer, it would be all the worse for something to go wrong now! 

Solicitor just said 'we send the letter and we've done our bit, its up to them to check if they want to'... he seems rather chilled about the whole thing so I assume I'm worrying over nothing! 

I posted the question on here in another thread and the general consensus was exactly as you said... the signed letter from us promising that we will do as asked is all they need to ensure they're not held accountable if anything were to go wrong (ie. We didn't pay the mortgage!) So I think I can stop worrying about how long my credit file takes to update now 🤣

Have you had any further news? 🤞

laura_lau

nope, no news, apart from the fact that yesterday the agent also called me to know if there were updates and i told him that I had no updates since Monday. So he wrote to my solicitor with me in copy, to check we were ready to exchange and she replied to ME only! Took him off copy! She said that she's waiting for the seller's solicitor to reply. And I'm like: reply to what, exactly??? They said any day is fine for them! Just decide and do this exchange, is it so difficult?? So I replied looping the agent back in and asking him if he can chase the seller's solicitor himself today. Honestly, I'm so fed up with them! It's a constant "waiting for the other solicitor's reply" thing, both solicitors keeping saying this! Can't they just pick up the phone and agree?? And why did she take the agent off copy, who is the only person who can chase the seller's solicitor, really? I am not convinced that she really "chases" with urgency, I suppose she sends and email and then waits for the reply, forever, and doesn't chase until I tell her to. We had agreed to exchange Monday, ok that wasn't possible because of the lender, but now according to her that's fine, so there was no reason why we didn't exchange yesterday, and we have no reason not to exchange today! But I have that gut feeling it will just not happen today either. Basically we are paying the solicitors to play table tennis with each other.

Nervouslywaiting

Oh this sounds so frustrating!!! I bet you are so stressed knowing that this could all be done and dusted yet you're left hanging about. Must be frustrating for the whole chain to be honest! 

I really hope it happens ASAP for you! Have you no idea at all then of when you might be able to complete?

laura_lau

I have no chain, it's just me and my vendor who is selling a property she used to rent out, so she doesn't need to buy. This is what baffles me, how is it possible that all enquires had been satisfied by end of May and we still haven't managed to exchange and decide a completion date? It is literally just the solicitors' fault, both of them really!
Last Friday I had agreed with the agent we would try and exchange this Monday or Tuesday and complete next Monday (21st), but clearly it is not happening. Today the agent said the seller's solicitor has asked him for his fees to draft the completion statement, but that was pretty much it. I still hope we can exchange tomorrow, because if we don't, it means we will not even complete by next Friday!!!!

Nervouslywaiting

Oh crikey. These solicitors sound like need to crack on! I have to admit, my solicitor has been amazing throughout this whole process, always ahead of the game and pestering and pushing the other solicitors to keep moving. He has said himself that many solicitors he is dealing with at the moment are using the pandemic as an excuse but in his words, he can't see how it's an excuse. He said sometimes he is emailing other solicitors and getting automated replies saying they'll get back to him in 3-5 working days etc, he was quite frustrated about it all to be honest 🤣

Well I have everything crossed for you. Seems crazy it's taking so long when there isn't even a chain to consider! 

laura_lau

your solicitor seems amazing! Honestly, I dread ever upgrading up to a bigger place in the future, because I was lucky there were no issues with the flat but it still took forever to get people to do their jobs, so I can't even imagine being in a chain with multiple solicitors! How did you find him? How do I find a solicitor like yours next time? 

Nervouslywaiting

He is just the same one we used to buy the house we're in now! So we just contacted him again this time and have been so pleased with everything. They are a Sheffield based firm called Norrie Waite & Slater.

We have had further good news today! Our sellers house is now built, so we are aiming for 16th July to complete! 🙌