The nervous wait to exchange....

Soldato
Joined
20 Dec 2004
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15,764
Cheers for the kind words. We may well go inti rental since we have someone lined up to buy ours :[

Well, the stamp duty holiday rush will be done with now pretty much ...things may calm down a bit.

Good chance taxpayer money will be thrown at more incentives at the first sign of a downturn again though!
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Jan 2008
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Manchester
Cheers for the kind words. We may well go inti rental since we have someone lined up to buy ours :[

We did that when we put our property on the market. Moved into rental, hoping to sell or at least get close to exchange before we start seriously looking. Didn't quite work out like that, with Covid and our first buyer pulling out as his job became insecure we ended up in a chain anyway. Luckily our buyers were first time buyers and house we're buying (completing on Friday) was rented. It is more expensive and does mean two moves but on other hand there's little to no stress about doing it all in one day. Assuming you're not moving far and don't mind doing a few round trips :). We still have a lot of our things in the boxes and are now starting to pack the rest. We have next week off work so plan is to decorate the new house before we move in. Everyday we'll pack the car up on the way there and then get a van/ removal company next weekend to move furniture and whatever else is left.

Sorry to hear that you missed out again. We didn't have as narrow area as you do, ours was about 10 streets but we wanted a decent size south facing garden. In 8 months only two came up in our budget. First sold before we could even view it and the second one is the house we're buying. We were 2nd people to view it, offered a fair bit over the asking price as soon as we got back home. Got outbid but then couple of weeks later we had a call from the estate agent asking if we still want it, even managed to get it a bit cheaper. :) Still a fair bit over asking price though. :(
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2007
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3,388
I don't know where you are, but for us people are going nuts selling flats and apartments for gardens and home offices. There was a huge rush on ours as soon as it went on, and we got well over asking also. We're 15 minutes from the centre of Manchester, and they were almost all people who now work from home and want gardens.

Sorry that's happened. There's no easy way forward. We're going to rent to give us time to find the right place to buy and to break this chain on ours. Not everyone has that choice though.

Out of interest where in Manchester?

I ask because we're buying about 15 minutes from the centre (less than 10 on the train). Well proportioned houses with 2+ bedrooms, off-road parking and a garden are selling quickly. It's clear that people are seeking to move away from apartment life and into something more spacious with gardens etc.

I do fear for what the centre will look like in 5-10 years. Apartments going up left right and centre, but I just can't see the demand being there.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Feb 2007
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14,107
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Leafy Cheshire
Out of interest where in Manchester?

I ask because we're buying about 15 minutes from the centre (less than 10 on the train). Well proportioned houses with 2+ bedrooms, off-road parking and a garden are selling quickly. It's clear that people are seeking to move away from apartment life and into something more spacious with gardens etc.

I do fear for what the centre will look like in 5-10 years. Apartments going up left right and centre, but I just can't see the demand being there.

We're in Chorlton, which is kind of in demand anyway... Though personally I think it's gone downhill a bit. Or at least, I've started to notice things i didn't notice before.

Ours is 4 bed (one is an office) with 2 car drive and a very small but not overlooked garden with a nice view so we kind of lucked out a bit.
 
Soldato
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7 Nov 2009
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19,798
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Glasgow
I came second yesterday - getting closer! That's 5th twice, and now second. Not sure what the person above us bid but they didn't have a property to sell. I've got no intention of renting so going to keep hunting.

Though a pretty perfect house came up yesterday evening. Think we're going to try a different tact, arrange a viewing ASAP and make an offer same day to try and avoid a closing date. I think there's a 1/100 chance of that happening but worth a go!
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Feb 2007
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14,107
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Leafy Cheshire
I came second yesterday - getting closer! That's 5th twice, and now second. Not sure what the person above us bid but they didn't have a property to sell. I've got no intention of renting so going to keep hunting.

Though a pretty perfect house came up yesterday evening. Think we're going to try a different tact, arrange a viewing ASAP and make an offer same day to try and avoid a closing date. I think there's a 1/100 chance of that happening but worth a go!

We very specifically waited for all our booked viewings before taking offers and it paid off, but my experience of viewing properties is that most people are taking them off market as soon as they get an offer, which is insane to me. It may be your best bet.

We've had this one house we think is perfect (well it will be after an extension) and we've booked to view it 3 times, and 3 times they've cancelled bookings and taken it off after an offer. Why? You have no idea who I am? I might have no chain and no moving date and all cash and willing to go wayyy over?

Madness.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Aug 2005
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3,610
We very specifically waited for all our booked viewings before taking offers and it paid off, but my experience of viewing properties is that most people are taking them off market as soon as they get an offer, which is insane to me. It may be your best bet.

We've had this one house we think is perfect (well it will be after an extension) and we've booked to view it 3 times, and 3 times they've cancelled bookings and taken it off after an offer. Why? You have no idea who I am? I might have no chain and no moving date and all cash and willing to go wayyy over?

Madness.

Perhaps they're were desperate to move and the offer they received was already above there minimum amount but i do agree with you, definately would let all booked viewings take place before choosing a buyer.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Jul 2007
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5,392
I came second yesterday - getting closer! That's 5th twice, and now second. Not sure what the person above us bid but they didn't have a property to sell. I've got no intention of renting so going to keep hunting.

Though a pretty perfect house came up yesterday evening. Think we're going to try a different tact, arrange a viewing ASAP and make an offer same day to try and avoid a closing date. I think there's a 1/100 chance of that happening but worth a go!

I think we've hit a year now of looking, doesn't help that now post lockdown everyone is attempting the rural/semi-rural move.

The property we offered on on our drive home from viewing we've still not heard back, recon it will be a closing date. I keep looking at pictures and the video, which I know is wrong :(
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Jul 2004
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6,571
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Esher
I've had one of the most annoying experiences buying a house ever.
  • 5 Bed house in an absolute state (hasn't been renovated in like 30-40 years), just had the essentials done
  • It was an estate sale, and guy and his sister are selling the house. Sister gave POA to the guys wife
  • Offer accepted in October
  • Proceeded as normal up until December when the Sister aborted the transaction because she didn't want to pay 50% of the executor fees. I had spent about £1,200 on solicitors fees and all searches etc.
  • So it all ended around December
  • July this year I found the sellers address and wrote him a letter asking what was happening with his sister, he still wanted to sell the house and was happy with me as a buyer but his sister was being a bitch
  • Eventually he just decided to sell the house and the two of them can argue about the split later
  • Progressing slowly from then till now, all that is waiting is a certified Power of Attorney but that is unfortunately with the courts who are taking an age
  • Two weeks ago he got an email from his sisters solicitor saying she now agrees to the 50% split of executor fees
So to sum up we've got two routes to progress with the sale, but it's just taking time. I was hoping to be moving in October but that might be November now.

Fingers crossed it all goes through.
As horrible as it is I am glad for Covid in this horrible sense, we think his sister has agreed to the sale because she's struggling for money with the whole pandemic.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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13,997
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Sandwich, Kent
I accepted the first offer we got. They offered the asking price. If I wanted more for it, I'd have put a higher asking price. People seem to be just taking the p now - it's like ebay for houses.

Glad ours was all agreed before all this nonsense started.
 
Soldato
Joined
2 Dec 2004
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13,980
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Under The Desk, Wales
Mate of mine pulled out of a purchase twice, on same property. First time was because of work related issues but was resolved.

2nd time because of survey.

Then, he had a re think and decided he really wanted the house.

Thing is, the seller wanted him to buy but with no searches! Lol. Then, only if he left a non refundable deposit of several thousand! No chance!

Then, the estate agents stepped in and told my mate to move on as the owner didnt want to sell to him and that him pulling out was bad for their business! They washed their hands of my mate.

So, my mate asked his solicitor to contact the sellers solicitor to broker a deal. He eventually got the deal!

Estate agents are utterly useless etc...
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Apr 2006
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7,045
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Earth
So I spoke to my solicitor today and he assured me there was no ultimatums or any signs that the chain below us was going to break and they pull out. In fact it turns out the buyers of ours aren't even 100% ready as still some details to complete. I don't know what these estate agents are on half the time. The EA of the house we're buying has assured me several times that all of the paperwork has gone from seller to their solicitor and it's been submitted but my solicitor says no.

My solicitor said everything else is in place and would be ready to exchange very soon and then set a completion date. We're in panic mode now thinking we need to start clearing out and getting some stuff in boxes.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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13,997
Location
Sandwich, Kent
So I spoke to my solicitor today and he assured me there was no ultimatums or any signs that the chain below us was going to break and they pull out. In fact it turns out the buyers of ours aren't even 100% ready as still some details to complete. I don't know what these estate agents are on half the time. The EA of the house we're buying has assured me several times that all of the paperwork has gone from seller to their solicitor and it's been submitted but my solicitor says no.

My solicitor said everything else is in place and would be ready to exchange very soon and then set a completion date. We're in panic mode now thinking we need to start clearing out and getting some stuff in boxes.
I spent the month beforehand getting everything but the essentials boxed up and out of the way (into my parents garage).

The less you have to worry about on moving day, the better.
 
Soldato
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14 Apr 2014
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East Sussex
I spent the month beforehand getting everything but the essentials boxed up and out of the way (into my parents garage).

The less you have to worry about on moving day, the better.
We did this too and it made life so much easier! Did feel like we were camping for last month - but good to do a huge sort out before moving house!
 
Soldato
Joined
11 Apr 2006
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7,045
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Earth
Yes that is what we are planning on doing but a bit hard with a 5yr old and a 5 month old baby. We can pack all our stuff up but not theirs.

Anywhere to get some decent strong boxes that dont charge the earth and are smaller than they show on screen?
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2014
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2,585
Location
East Sussex
Yes that is what we are planning on doing but a bit hard with a 5yr old and a 5 month old baby. We can pack all our stuff up but not theirs.

Anywhere to get some decent strong boxes that dont charge the earth and are smaller than they show on screen?
I used cardboard file boxes (they have to be strong as paper is heavy) - they were cheap from Amazon/staples.

Local shops for the rest for me (flower boxes are good) - and reinforced all the boxes with gaffa tape.

We ended up with enough boxes to move a very large 2 bed flats worth of stuff and spent less than £30 total on packing material (every penny helps!)

Also I moved all the delicates and computers/screens in the car seperately as it knocked £300 off the quote for the removal men.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
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14,058
I’d imagine delicates includes all glassware, ceramics etc. and not just TVs.

Something like a sky box isn’t really what I’d consider delicate. If it’s boxed up properly and that box is dropped, it would probably be fine.
 
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