The nervous wait to exchange....

Soldato
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Well I'll be using the train, and it looks like they recently added a way to get on to the a23 without having to go up to the town centre, but at the end of the day getting a nice 3bed detached in budget was the main reason.

Can’t argue with that! Hope you are really happy
 
Associate
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I'm buying a property that was built around 3/4 years ago and while the searches have been done, they don't show there being any gas or electrical safety checks being done (the sellers cannot find them either). The sellers solicitor has said that the NHBC would not have signed off on this without seeing a copy but they could have been missed when doing the checks. It was a show home so one of the first to be built and last sold. Also the sellers are not willing to ask for copies of the certificates if they have been done but we have asked them again and we will pay for copies.

If there are no certificates (which I imagine is very unlikely), should I still proceed with the purchase? As I said it's a 3/4 year old house so everything should be up to standard.
 
Soldato
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I had an electrical safety check done on my home as part of the terms of a part exchange with a developer for a new build home, I don't remember it costing that much to get it done by an electrician. If you want piece of mind you could do that.

For the gas one I think they just wanted a boiler service certificate to prove it was safe.
 
Associate
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I had an electrical safety check done on my home as part of the terms of a part exchange with a developer for a new build home, I don't remember it costing that much to get it done by an electrician. If you want piece of mind you could do that.

For the gas one I think they just wanted a boiler service certificate to prove it was safe.


Thanks, my only concern is that I buy the house, get the checks done and find out that its not up to standard (very unlikely on a new build) and have to pay lots to have it done.
 
Soldato
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If you like the house enough, then £50 odd to an electrician for peace of mind is probably money well spent. You could ask the sellers to either do it as they haven't got the certs, offer to 50/50 the cost of getting it done, or offer to pay it yourself. You'll probably want to check that's good before you exchange/complete.

The sellers should facilitate a visit from someone to check it if they want to sell the house.
 
Associate
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They have already said they wont have them done so we have offered to pay for any duplicates that hopefully are available. If not, we'll have to pay for the gas and electric checks as they definitely wont. I'll see what our solicitor says when we get a reply back from them.
 
Soldato
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Newcastle
We are in the middle of selling our house and after our first viewing the buyer offered asking price and promised a quick sale due to being a cash buyer. Survey went through fine and they came back for a second viewing, asked loads of questions including wanting to know the supplier of the wood for our log burner so all looked well. They then decided they wanted a kitchen extension so got a quote and pulled out last week as it was going to cost too much!

No attempt to renegotiate or get further quotes they just decided it wasn't for them which seems a little odd and makes me think there was more to it.

So we are back to square one with the vendors of the property we are buying giving us 2/3 weeks to find another buyer before they potentially chose to put their property back on the market. Our house went back on right move last Thursday and we haven't had any interest as of yet.

Nervous times...
 
Soldato
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We are in the middle of selling our house and after our first viewing the buyer offered asking price and promised a quick sale due to being a cash buyer. Survey went through fine and they came back for a second viewing, asked loads of questions including wanting to know the supplier of the wood for our log burner so all looked well. They then decided they wanted a kitchen extension so got a quote and pulled out last week as it was going to cost too much!

No attempt to renegotiate or get further quotes they just decided it wasn't for them which seems a little odd and makes me think there was more to it.
The buyer of my mate's house pulled out last week the day before the proposed completion date because he suddenly decided the planning restrictions would mean he couldn't do what he wanted to the property :rolleyes: He only had that information for 6 weeks... Probably more to it as well, but still takes the ****
 
Soldato
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La France
Completed on our new home in France today. Opposite situation to selling our UK house in that our estate agent in the UK was great, but our solicitor was fairly inept.

Here, the estate agent hasn’t been much cop, but the notaire has been excellent.
 
Soldato
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Building Survey received last night and no major concerns apart from a redundant asbestos tank in the loft.

Not sure how much it's going to cost to remove it but the report did say it's in good condition so might be worth just leaving it for now.

Need to find out when the boiler / electrics were last checked and also if they have the certificates as well.

Right now, I need to chase my solicitor as I've not heard a peep from them since completing their application form and sending them a cheque!
 
Soldato
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La France
Building Survey received last night and no major concerns apart from a redundant asbestos tank in the loft.

Not sure how much it's going to cost to remove it but the report did say it's in good condition so might be worth just leaving it for now.

Need to find out when the boiler / electrics were last checked and also if they have the certificates as well.

Right now, I need to chase my solicitor as I've not heard a peep from them since completing their application form and sending them a cheque!

You need to become an enormous pain in your solicitor’s bum so that they resign themselves to having to do their job properly. Phone them at least daily.
 
Soldato
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You need to become an enormous pain in your solicitor’s bum so that they resign themselves to having to do their job properly. Phone them at least daily.

Not much point at the moment as we cannot exchange till Jan 8th due to our ISA being locked till the 7th. This is most likely why they've not been quick to talk to me.

I've sent them an email and will call next week if I've not heard from them.
 
Soldato
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26 Jan 2003
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Exchanged on our new place earlier this week - completion set for the 2nd November!

Excited but also a little daunting as we now need to sort out all the sorts of things I've not done before like new internet / gas / leccy / water etc and get the place ready to move into as we want a few bits doing before we actually move in!

Worcester Park area in SW London if anyone's around there currently!
 
Associate
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My sale and purchase seem to be taking forever, solicitors seemingly have their own calendar they work to. Just over 12 weeks now and they are still going back and forth with questions. I'm not even sure some of them are relevant for a 2 year old house but they won't even send me a list of them!

Was hoping to be in by the 8th of November but we haven't exchanged contracts yet so looking basically impossible now. :(
 
Soldato
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Completed back on Friday (2nd Nov) and have been there all weekend doing a few bits but not exactly moved in yet!

Exciting but so much to do yet before we can move in - laminate flooring for one but the internet doesn't get activated until the 15th anyway!

Got an SSE smart meter but no corresponding display unit - guessing previous owner took it with her - is a replacement from SSE expensive / worth it?
 
Associate
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Finally exchanged today, to complete at the end of the month.

Been very slow progress lately, especially as my solicitor wouldn't submit LISA applications until all legal work was done, so ended up sitting around waiting for 2 weeks for them to get our deposit.
 
Soldato
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Bucks
Hi all,

We somewhat surprisingly had an offer accepted on a house so are now getting organised. It's an older property so we're looking to get a full survey done. Does anyone have any experience of how to find a reputable firm of surveyors, and how much is reasonable for a full survey on a ~2,400 sq feet house? Same question with finding solicitors and the conveyancing work. We've asked around friends and family but haven't come up with many recommendations. The seller apparently wants to exchange contracts by Xmas, which is aggressive to say the least.

Thanks.
 
Soldato
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12 Jul 2005
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3,912
How old is the house?

You can go for:

Mortgage valuation survey - fairly basic and more concerned with value but will comment on items that seriously effect it such as damp or cracking upon which further more detailed reports will be recommended
Homebuyers Survey - concerned with value and obvious signs of degradation and disrepair
Building Survey - full condition report and more in depth than the homebuyers survey.

You can also go full structural but that’s a whole different ball game and only looks at structural movement as a whole.

The bank through whom you are getting the mortgage will instruct a surveyor to perform a mortgage valuation survey in order to assess the property and make sure there are no obvious defects that require investigation or repair prior to the bank making you a full offer of a mortgage.

Should you wish, that same surveyor will also be able to perform a homebuyers survey at the same time (usually). Again, that same company will also be able to conduct a building survey for you should you require
 
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