The nervous wait to exchange....

Associate
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27 Oct 2008
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Gloucester
That's how it worked for me. I'd signed it all about a week before. Still had to wait another week before getting the keys. I had to threaten to pull out of the deal completely to force them to get their finger out.
Got the keys at 16:10. Another 50 minutes and I was going to tell them to forget it. 4 months to buy a house with no chain and that was empty (ish) when I first viewed it was starting to really wind me up.
I phoned the lawyers every single day for the last 2 weeks trying to hurry things along.

All over now though :D
 
Caporegime
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Leafy Cheshire
Went to see my solicitor on friday, went through all the documentation, signed all the forms, seller is ready to go when we are, so completing this friday :)

Not bad going, got my offer accepted on the 1st April, will get the keys 23rd May.

Good luck everyone else who's in the process.
 
Associate
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16 Apr 2007
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Went to see my solicitor on friday, went through all the documentation, signed all the forms, seller is ready to go when we are, so completing this friday :)

Not bad going, got my offer accepted on the 1st April, will get the keys 23rd May.

Good luck everyone else who's in the process.
Lucky you gratz :D.
We signed all forms last Tuesday and not heard a peep since we were hoping to get keys on 23rd too, gonna try ringing the lawyer in an hour and see what he says as he didn't return my call on Friday. Still hoping for Friday move with it being bank holiday and payday and few other reasons like availability of helpers though.
 

noj

noj

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It feels like we're almost there...I just cant get any commitment from the solicitors. We've now received the final paper for the purchase but haven't had them on the sale of our current place yet. Its all gone a little quiet from the people buying our place which is a bit concerning.

Maybe they're just completely happy and working through but haven't heard a peep out of them since we sent back the fixtures and fittings list 2 weeks ago. The EA we used to sell now don't care as they've sold it as far as they're concerned so getting them to do anything is next to impossible.

Sure it will be ok, just be good to hear something.
 
Associate
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Just heard from solicitors the other side havent responded much to the final queries we had and 23rd is now out the window, pushing for the 7th now (fingercrossed).
 
Caporegime
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Should have been in on the 23rd last month, however the solicitor didn't communicate the date with the vendor, so she was on holiday, i only found out on the 22nd (after i phoned up), wasn't happy.

However, after putting some pressure on, we get the keys tomorrow, 24hours before we fly off the Egypt for two weeks, so not the best timing in the world.

How is everyone else doing?
 
Caporegime
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22 Nov 2005
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45,166
It feels like we're almost there...I just cant get any commitment from the solicitors. We've now received the final paper for the purchase but haven't had them on the sale of our current place yet. Its all gone a little quiet from the people buying our place which is a bit concerning.

Maybe they're just completely happy and working through but haven't heard a peep out of them since we sent back the fixtures and fittings list 2 weeks ago. The EA we used to sell now don't care as they've sold it as far as they're concerned so getting them to do anything is next to impossible.

Sure it will be ok, just be good to hear something.

no updates since then?
 

noj

noj

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no updates since then?

a lot of fretting and chasing around but still not exchanged, I didn't want to spam a thread with nothing at all :(

We went through a point last week thinking it was all about to fall through as literally nothing from our buyers, we couldn't get hold of their solicitors, our EA was (and continues to be) crap as they've moved on to people earlier in the process.

Finally managed to get enough pressure on via the EA of the people we're buying from - what a absolute legend that EA is, so friendly helpful even though we're not his client.

So position as of this mornings update:

Our sale is ready to go, there are no outstanding queries or questions remaining. It turns out the pack we sent them had everything they needed they were just slow in getting a mortgage offer. As we'd had an extension, new roof, soffits, facias and windows all done we had all of the paperwork together.

Our purchase is almost ready to go, we got final answers in yesterday which our solicitor is reviewing "soon". We were waiting for a certificate and confirmation that a couple of issues had been fixed.

We should be in a position to exchange later this week or early next depending how fast out solicitor reviews the paperwork they got back.

We were hoping to move before my b'day in a couple of weeks but that wont happen as we're out of time for a June move (the Mrs cant get time off last 2 weeks of June) which we'd been warning everyone in the chain about. If we exchange this week/next we're pushing to complete week commencing 30th June.

Still no idea if our buyers want to buy the cooker, tv and cabinets we offered. Our EA is crap at getting back to us (or anyone else for that matter).
 

LiE

LiE

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Milton Keynes
Just in the process of putting my first house up for sale this week, fun times ahead...

My sister put her house up for sale 1 street over from mine and it sold to a cash buyer within 24hours. The area is really hot right now so going to cash in and move to a different area and get more for our money.
 
Soldato
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25 Jun 2007
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Downtown
My first property purchase, of which I'm in the process of now has taken 4 long months. The conveyancers are a PITA. We've not even exchanged yet. Going to exchange and complete on the same day now hopefully within a week, if any luck maybe even Friday.
 
Soldato
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Manchester
snip

Still no idea if our buyers want to buy the cooker, tv and cabinets we offered. Our EA is crap at getting back to us (or anyone else for that matter).

how come you are still dealing with the EA? our's who we're buying through (FTB) doesn't really want anything to do with us anymore and just directs us to solicitors - are you still corresponding to the Vendor through the AE? If so - I might try and open up a discussion again through mine.

our buy is going very slowly at the moment; I sent off a big list of questions via my solicitor in response to their TA6 and TA10 forms - that was over a month ago and I literally have not heard anything from them. I've called my solicitor a few times and on the last occasion that he got back to me he said he didn't know what was happening as their solicitor has not been in contact with them - all questions remain un-answered. All I really want to know is roughly when they want to move - I've never been bothered how long it took but I've had to put my notice in on my rented house now and that's on the market so pressure is on a little bit.

I had a full survey done 2 weeks ago and got that report back last week; all seems mostly okay but there's a few scares in there (sort of) I may post my own thread about it for some opinions. Either way, I haven't been scared off buying the house, but at the same time I'm not considering revising my offer or anything.

I feel like there's a whole load of conversations that are just not happening though; not really sure who is meant to be doing what for me at the moment! the word 'exchange' has not even been mentioned but I have told them I wanted to complete on the 20th of June - no idea if that message has been put across though!

Where do I stand in terms of just knocking on the Vendor's door and talking to them; or putting a note through the door and asking for a call? Can I / should I do that? I have the feeling that what was a 'no chain sale' now has a chain - they were always meant to be moving into a caravan, and then looking for a new home to aid a speedy sale of theirs, however, I get the feeling that they have found a house with a chain and are now stalling to avoid a caravan session.
 

noj

noj

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how come you are still dealing with the EA? our's who we're buying through (FTB) doesn't really want anything to do with us anymore and just directs us to solicitors - are you still corresponding to the Vendor through the AE? If so - I might try and open up a discussion again through mine.

we're still trying to communicate via the EA but they're being crap at it. I'm not surprised to be honest. They're now off chasing the next sale for commission and not bothered by us. I'm tempted to instruct our solicitors not to pay them out of completion monies just to make them work for us again.


our buy is going very slowly at the moment; I sent off a big list of questions via my solicitor in response to their TA6 and TA10 forms - that was over a month ago and I literally have not heard anything from them. I've called my solicitor a few times and on the last occasion that he got back to me he said he didn't know what was happening as their solicitor has not been in contact with them - all questions remain un-answered.

This was the same problem we were facing, keep pestering and make a nuisance of yourself with the EA and Solicitor. It does take time for all the forms and questions to be turned around but keep pushing to remind everyone you're waiting as well.


I had a full survey done 2 weeks ago and got that report back last week; all seems mostly okay but there's a few scares in there (sort of) I may post my own thread about it for some opinions. Either way, I haven't been scared off buying the house, but at the same time I'm not considering revising my offer or anything.

Don't forget that surveyors have to point out everything for fear of repercussions. The house we are buying is only 10 years old but had "red flags" over electrics, it looked scary in the summary but then in the detail it basically said that the surveyor could not give an opinion as they are not qualified to do so on electrics (or something like that) so they flagged it as high priority issue for us to resolve...

I feel like there's a whole load of conversations that are just not happening though; not really sure who is meant to be doing what for me at the moment! the word 'exchange' has not even been mentioned but I have told them I wanted to complete on the 20th of June - no idea if that message has been put across though!

Talk to the solicitor, they're the one that should be doing stuff for you at the moment. Give them a call and express your concerns, they may not be able to give you much more than comfort that stuff is happening. 20th June isn't that far away, you'd probably need to be quite near the end of the process already for a completion to happen in 3 weeks. You might be but I know we wont be completing by then in our situation.


Where do I stand in terms of just knocking on the Vendor's door and talking to them; or putting a note through the door and asking for a call? Can I / should I do that? I have the feeling that what was a 'no chain sale' now has a chain - they were always meant to be moving into a caravan, and then looking for a new home to aid a speedy sale of theirs, however, I get the feeling that they have found a house with a chain and are now stalling to avoid a caravan session.

Nothing stopping you putting a polite note through explaining the issue with their EA and how you'd love to talk to someone about it all but can't get a response from their EA. Personally I'd try the solicitor route first and see if you can't get some answers that way.
 
Associate
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16 Apr 2007
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2,192
Its almost comforting that other people are being messed around too.
We were hoping to complete last week but somehow it didnt make it through to their end and after lots of phone calls it seems the place the other party was buying has fallen through, being first time buyers we are pushing to get her to move into rented accommodation as we really want to move quickly but earliest date they seem to happy with is 11th July. If we exchange and agree a completion date is she liable if she doesnt complete and move out on that day? We are thinking about pulling out and that is the very last day we are willing to wait for.

Grrr it was all going so well and I thought "Dunno why everyone says this is stressful".
 
Soldato
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18 Feb 2003
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8,612
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Brighton/West Wicklow
At least you guys aren't wading through the minefield that is the irish property market!

Market tanked with the economy and half of Dublin and the surrounding area is in significant negative equity. Things are starting to pick up again and there isn't enough housing to meet demand, particularly in South Dublin. Hence you have all sorts of dodgy shenanigans going on such as houses going for 50k over asking price, phantom bids, properties on the market which aren't actually for sale etc. etc.

Hence we're turbo nervous about the whole situation. However, we've managed to find a nice property which we're trying to buy albeit without going through an EA. We managed to engage the seller directly whilst the property was temporarily off the market, and have agreed a price and are currently waiting for his solicitor to send out the contracts.

Despite not using his original EA, the EA appears to be sticking his oar in now we've agreed on prices and is trying to still arrange viewings regardless.

All very stressful stuff.
 

noj

noj

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Surrey
Not much of an update but...

Still working on the last bits of enquiries. Now waiting for share certificates and indemnities for transfer charges on the purchase - the house is on a development that is partially private owned so a management company looks after the public areas and we have to pay them annual charges etc.

Still hoping to exchange this week.....oh please let it be this week.........
 
Soldato
Joined
2 Dec 2009
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4,006
Location
Midlands
Everyone is in the same boat these days.

I think the biggest mistake is thinking that YOUR estate agents care about you. They don't. There's primary customer is in the one purchasing your property.

Once we realised that, it all became clearer.
 
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