The nervous wait to exchange....

Caporegime
Joined
13 May 2003
Posts
33,939
Location
Warwickshire
Since accepting an offer on mine I haven't yet seen anything worth viewing. How long is acceptable to keep looking for your next home and keep your buyer waiting?
We accepted an offer on ours yesterday, but there's nothing out there that we want that isn't instantly sstc.

So I might be finding out how (im)patient our buyer is soon.

I would be tempted to move into rented to complete and be in a stronger position when something does come up, but it feels like too much of a risk with a young family.
 
Caporegime
Joined
7 Nov 2004
Posts
30,194
Location
Buckinghamshire
I've caved in and emailed the sites sales teams to report issues for the first time....usually we go direct to one of the site guys looking after the plots but I've given up reporting things and waiting or getting no responses.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Nov 2009
Posts
19,798
Location
Glasgow
We pulled out of our purchase a fortnight before we were due to move. Issues with the boundaries.

Just put an offer in for somewhere else (and better!), the offer is £20k more but as the valuation is higher it’s only costing us a few grand more each. It’ll clear me out financially, but she’ll be cash rich from her property sale.
Closing date is Thursday, we’ve gone a good bit above the valuation so fingers crossed.

A bit concerned our buyer will pull out, but it’s not difficult to get it back on the market I guess, and we aren’t out financially from us pulling out of the previous purchase and won’t be out if they pull out.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Sep 2006
Posts
33,883
Hold up still at our sellers end. They seem reluctant to purchase an indemnity policy for £200 covering the transfer from the developer to them when they bought the house 4 years ago. There was an existing one in place covering the whole development but they've been unable to locate it and they're wanting to wait and see if they can get it from the original solicitors. That along with threats from their estate agent saying if we don't complete before the end of the month no one is moving if really starting to **** me off.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2004
Posts
10,291
Location
North Beds
Hold up still at our sellers end. They seem reluctant to purchase an indemnity policy for £200 covering the transfer from the developer to them when they bought the house 4 years ago. There was an existing one in place covering the whole development but they've been unable to locate it and they're wanting to wait and see if they can get it from the original solicitors. That along with threats from their estate agent saying if we don't complete before the end of the month no one is moving if really starting to **** me off.

Offer to pay for it/half of it just to get it done? Better than the delay.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
One of the companies that quoted me charged me £800 or so for a full packing service in 2014. That was a 4 bed to a 4 bed around 2 miles away. The same company quoted me £1200 for the same albeit shorter distance. I asked him and he basically said as they are in such demand they've put their prices up as have all their competitors. At least he didn't try and sugar coat it!

I guess it was inevitable that with the increase in number of buyers purchasing homes over the last 12 months it was going to drive up the demand for delivery services too. Probably not a bad business to have got into for the pandemic.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2004
Posts
10,291
Location
North Beds
It's £200 - they're buying a £550k house, they can pay for it themselves. I'm not being held over a barrel over it and I've told their EA to tell them to get it sorted.

I suppose from their side, you're the one holding them over a barrel for something they don't see as a real issue....

Our sellers refused to buy indemnity policy for right of way due to a poorly scanned deed where it's hard (impossible without photoshop infact) to make out where our right of way over the neighbours land is. We've just bought the policy as it's us that are concerned by it and it's "only" 500 quid, i'd pay that to get in the house a few weeks sooner and make sure we don't miss the sdlt holiday....
 
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Sep 2006
Posts
33,883
I suppose from their side, you're the one holding them over a barrel for something they don't see as a real issue....
It's not my fault that they lost the original paperwork from 4 years ago is it? They had a policy from the developer covering the entire site here. If I were the seller I'd just buy it and get it done.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Nov 2004
Posts
10,291
Location
North Beds
it's easy to dig heels in and say "well it's not my fault", but on the flip side is it worth it over 200 quid, or do you just pay it and get on with your life?
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Nov 2008
Posts
7,080
Agree with Tom on this one. It is their 'fault' or 'problem' but to them it may not matter or they'll be happy to spend 3 weeks wasting time by emailing companies and developers to try and find an old document to save themselves a few quid, but if that's the last thing holding up an exchange / chain I'd pay the money to get it pushed through and done for your piece of mind. An extra few weeks of stress and not being in the new house isn't worth £200 even if they 'should pay for it'.

We ended up with something similar when buying a previous property - many years ago (long before our seller moved in) someone built a small porch despite the deeds saying no extensions forward of the existing house. When they bought the house the solicitor didn't pick it up, ours did and insisted on an indemnity policy. They refused to pay as they said it didn't impact them buying or selling the place and the insurance was to cover me / us.

It was about £125 and they flat out refused to pay / move until it was the last item left holding up the exchange. We offered to pay half and that got it over the line. £67.50 well spent if you ask me even if it was "their fault" that their solicitor hadn't picked up on it when buying the property a few years before.
 
Associate
Joined
17 Dec 2009
Posts
2,008
I had a problem with shale testing that was going backwards and forwards and in the end, I went around, knocked on his door and offered to pay for it myself.

It's probably cost me the price of the shale test for the solicitors to keep sending each other letters for 3 weeks with no progress, not including the actual test.

Also a consideration is it's a sellers market really and houses are going on and off within weeks they could quite easily put it back up on the market - my seller did and the reason I ended up getting the house.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Dec 2006
Posts
9,990
Location
UK
it's easy to dig heels in and say "well it's not my fault", but on the flip side is it worth it over 200 quid, or do you just pay it and get on with your life?
This, I just can't imagine messing things around for the sake of £200, even more so with the market as it currently is, it's getting on for GPU bad lol :D
 
Caporegime
Joined
19 Apr 2008
Posts
26,247
Location
Essex
Had similar with the outbuilding at the place I'm buying, an old covenant in the title deeds mentioned the council must be notified if additional sheds etc are put up so they just covered the £200 for the indemnity policy when I brought it up. One of those odd ones where the council probably wouldn't care but you never know.
 
Associate
Joined
13 Jan 2018
Posts
1,221
Managed to exchange yesterday after a harrowing few weeks. Completion date has been moved 3 times and at one point thought the chain was about to collapse as the first time buyer had some technical issue with the lender.

My last house purchase was at auction and this was much less stressful when compared to the chain.

If you are buying or selling please dont go with a mass chain estate agent or solicitor, on this chain one of the buyers did and they were next to useless.
 
Pet Northerner
Don
Joined
29 Jul 2006
Posts
8,023
Location
Newcastle, UK
Managed to exchange yesterday after a harrowing few weeks. Completion date has been moved 3 times and at one point thought the chain was about to collapse as the first time buyer had some technical issue with the lender.

My last house purchase was at auction and this was much less stressful.

If you are buying or selling please dont go with a mass chain estate agent or solicitor, on this chain one of the buyers did and they were next to useless.

Yep, my buyer used PPL at first (conveyencing for purple bricks) and after three weeks (and a payment) they'd not raised a file for him yet.

He's now thankfully with someone else - but he's trying to be cheap so I expect delays lo.
 
Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
41,731
Location
Notts
Mate put his house up for sale this morning, 10 viewings booked in 90 mins :o

Next door neighbour 8 viewings and sale agreed within 24 hrs

it's all going bonkers
 
Associate
Joined
13 Jan 2018
Posts
1,221
Mate put his house up for sale this morning, 10 viewings booked in 90 mins :o

Next door neighbour 8 viewings and sale agreed within 24 hrs

it's all going bonkers

Massive FOMO with this stamp duty holiday - just spoke to my removals man they have been manic since last july
 
Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
17,854
Location
London
Massive FOMO with this stamp duty holiday - just spoke to my removals man they have been manic since last july
That's mental though. No way anyone would get through in time for the stamp duty holiday now. If I were a buyer looking now I'd be looking for mega discounts or not bothering!
 
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