First Time Buyer Offer accepted

Soldato
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We used O'Neill Patient. A month from offer to completion on our leasehold flat and gave us plenty of guidance along the way. As a first time buyer they were fantastic and made me wonder how others complained so much about their transactions with other conveyancers. They really set the standard in our experience.
And yet I have had horrific experiences with them on the other side of some of my transactions. Look at their Yell reviews, makes me wonder whether the Google ones are mostly faked :o
 
Soldato
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If was a salesman's dream i would i have gone with whatever the EA said rather than post of here looking for opinions....

as for the SDLT1 form £120 or do myself
seems difficult to even get a PDF version just to see what im up against
To be honest you got a cheap quote for the conveyancing as they add on "extras" to make it a normal price. Some do this, others just quote it all in one. There is a local one near me that quotes about £400 and then charges £100 if you have a mortgage, £100 for stamp duty forms etc etc until they are more expensive than most of the rest anyway.

The SDLT form takes about 2 minutes for conveyancers to fill in online, its mostly drop down boxes! Clients on the other hand have to negotiate a minefield of codes and "if" boxes, here's the guidance notes if you want to try and stomach it https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...turn/guide-for-completing-paper-sdlt1-returns
 
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Other than incompetence or overwork there shouldn't be that much diff between solicitors in my experience, and in fact if they are too good they often find things previous ones have missed (such as an issue with building works having taken place on a listed building that previous solicitors had missed/ignored in my experience)

There are so many things that can cause a delay that are outside anyones ability to influence, e.g.
- Survey response times from LA
- Building society/banks mortgage teams workloads
- Surveyor workloads
- Someone in the chain looking to delay for some reason (often FTB who realise they can delay a little for an extra pay cheque to help buy stuff with)
- Buyers/sellers sending back paperwork, or missing pieces of info, or providing info that looks incorrect

Its a lottery to be honest who is in your chain, but the longer it is, the more chance you get someone who holds it up
 

Kol

Kol

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And yet I have had horrific experiences with them on the other side of some of my transactions. Look at their Yell reviews, makes me wonder whether the Google ones are mostly faked :o

They were absolutely fantastic for me. Who's handling your case? The two I had could not have done more. Brilliant bunch. Haven't checked the reviews, I went with them as a recommendation which was more important. Competitors often post scathing reviews, happens to my company all the time and we can spot them a mile off as they quote things we don't even provide as a business.
 

Sem

Sem

Soldato
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This is what we paid the solicitor for when we moved, hope it helps;

Thanks it does
This is what he is charging me

Conveyancing £720
SDLT1 Form £120
Local Searches £274
Land Registry Fees £135
Telegraphic Transfer and Handling Fees £30
Pre-completion Land Registry Searches £14
Acting for your Lender £180
 
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Soldato
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Not a particularly extortionate quote at all. I went with the EA's recommended solicitor on my first house purchase thinking it would be a local one that they had good relationships with. How wrong I was! Ever since I've used our family solicitor who is a little more expensive but amazing to deal with and makes the process much easier to deal with.

Tell the mortgage broker to take a running jump! £400 should secure you the deal of a lifetime! Do some price comparisons online and see if you can get an equivalent deal. They don't exactly fill out all the application forms either!

Good luck!
 

Kol

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£400 for the broker? I missed that bit. I thought they all just got their commission from the bank nowadays; mine didn't cost me a penny as he did get his commission from our lender; he got us a cracking deal and advised us throughout the process (recommendation from a friend).
 

Sem

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Soldato
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ok so just a little update

ended up going direct via Barclays and had the valuation yesterday and got the mortgage offer later the same day
but now everything is approved and this is actually going to happen i am getting serious doubts and even thinking about pulling out all together

is it normal to feel like this... i worked so hard to get the mortgage then now i have it i dont want lol

I've seen the place twice and each time i left thinking yes i like this place but my last viewing was almost 5 weeks ago maybe i should ask for another viewing just to reassure myself its the right thing to do

another thing i noticed this same property was listed 6 months ago for £25k less than the current asking price and didnt sell which might be the cause for my doubts
but if the bank values it at its current price then maybe its worth it?

i just dont know what to think :rolleyes:
 
Soldato
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I didn't really have a moment of doubt or cold feet throughout the entire process. Nor have I now 2 weeks after completion, getting my hands stuck in and finding all the problems with the house.

But yes, perfectly normal for most of my clients :p I even had a guy a couple of years back withdraw from his sale and purchase the morning we were going to exchange after about a 4 month process because he realised it was the wrong house for him :eek: Was a huge chain too, that was a dark day...

another thing i noticed this same property was listed 6 months ago for £25k less than the current asking price and didnt sell which might be the cause for my doubts
but if the bank values it at its current price then maybe its worth it?
What has been done to the place since? If nothing, that sounds odd and I would be seriously considering your position unless something big has happened in the local area. Mortgage valuations are pretty well renowned for valuing things the same as the asking price unless there is some serious structural defects so don't put all your hope on that.. In independent survey would be a better judge.

If on the other hand lots of improvements have been made, perfectly normal.
 

Kol

Kol

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Yea, as skillmister says, not selling for £25k less and then you offering £25k more a few months later is a bit odd but at the end of the day the price is what you are willing to pay for it. Our flat was a lot more than we originally starting viewing places at, nearly £90k more than our initial budget (though completely different areas) but the location, the flat, the garden etc. justified what we were willing to pay for it. In the end only £5k less than asking price but in an area renowned for going above asking price we were happy.

I personally haven't had that feeling, but my girlfriend has. We moved in early September and still has that feeling, even though the area is nicer, the flat is much nicer - everything is better. Sometimes it's being out of your comfort zone or not being something you are used to.

Once you get the keys and you sit in your empty lounge (for us at least as we had crossover), you begin to realise this place is yours. You can do what you want. It's a fantastic feeling. Until the flat above leaks. :o
 

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Soldato
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I didn't really have a moment of doubt or cold feet throughout the entire process. Nor have I now 2 weeks after completion, getting my hands stuck in and finding all the problems with the house.

But yes, perfectly normal for most of my clients :p I even had a guy a couple of years back withdraw from his sale and purchase the morning we were going to exchange after about a 4 month process because he realised it was the wrong house for him :eek: Was a huge chain too, that was a dark day...


What has been done to the place since? If nothing, that sounds odd and I would be seriously considering your position unless something big has happened in the local area. Mortgage valuations are pretty well renowned for valuing things the same as the asking price unless there is some serious structural defects so don't put all your hope on that.. In independent survey would be a better judge.

If on the other hand lots of improvements have been made, perfectly normal.

the pictures on each listing is exactly the same so dont think any changes have been made
other flats in the area go for an average of 240-275 this particular one is 260k the listing in march was for 235k

nothings changed from what i can see

but i am in London so maybe massive increases in value is normal?
 
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Plenty of reasons sales fail to go through (buyer pulling out/seller pulling out/chain failing/mortgage offer withdraw/ lost job etc etc)

Sellers can pull out just as easily as buyers, if prices are going up quick it can happen so its possible the sellers wanted more money and original purchaser said do one.
Wait for the survey and see if it throws anything up, how old is the flat and what sort of survey have you requested?
 
Soldato
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To be honest no comment I make about London prices is likely to be anywhere near accurate, that's a whole different ball game :p

But as a similar example, the first property I intended to purchase was on the market for 110k, my offer of £107.5k got accepted (which my surveyor said was definitely top end of what I should be paying) then reduced to £105k and accepted after survey. They they withdrew and its back on the market for 120k which would be over egging it for something in decent condition in the area let along a "doer upper"!
 

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Soldato
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Plenty of reasons sales fail to go through (buyer pulling out/seller pulling out/chain failing/mortgage offer withdraw/ lost job etc etc)

Sellers can pull out just as easily as buyers, if prices are going up quick it can happen so its possible the sellers wanted more money and original purchaser said do one.
Wait for the survey and see if it throws anything up, how old is the flat and what sort of survey have you requested?

the survey was yesterday and i havent seen it yet but i have requested it but i guess it was fine as the offer has been issued
the flat is 11 years old with 88 years left on the lease

to be fair 260 isn't a bad price considering the asking price for similar flats on the same development and the rooms are pretty big compared to places ive seen going for 240

its just that old listing has just made me think something is not right here.. £235k and March 2017 isn't that long ago

it was listed by a different EA back then as well so dunno if i can ask the current EA whats up
 

Kol

Kol

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That 88 year lease could become an issue depending on how long you are going to stay there, something to bear in mind would be the cost of the lease extension. Once it gets to a certain point no lender will provide a mortgage on it, so you'd get low/no offers.

I don't suppose they've given you that figure have they?
 
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