Frustration during house buying process

[sunama]

Last december i saw a property that i liked a lot. So i decided to offer the asking price which of course was accepted. Due to problems with the vendor not having certain documents, the whole process was delayed as she had to get copies of the originals from other sources.

So, 2 weeks back (4 months after the offer was accepted), it was agreed with my solicitor that i would pay all the money (deposit/solictor fees = £16k+) in one go, via debit card. And i would pay this via debit card, last Friday. So last Friday i did just that. Then i got a call saying that my transaction had been declined, but as the office was now closing, we would have to wait until after the bank holiday to sort it out.

So, today i phoned up my bank to tell them what had happened and they said, "try again, it work now." I authorised my solicitor to try again and it failed. This went on another 3 times.

Anyway, eventually i got through to a more informed HSBC operative and she told me that the max i could transfer was £9k. So, finally, i told my solicitor to try again, but this time, only transfer £9k and transfer the rest nearer completion.

So, finally we are on to the next step of the process.

Its so frustrating cuz i've had to wait since december. And now that all enquires/searches have been completed to a satisfactory level and have the money in my account, it took a major battle to successfully transfer the money to my solicitor's account.

Oh and after 4.5 months, i still havent got the keys to the property... Im aiming for a may 10th completion date, so lets see if this happens.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Good luck with everything but my faith with house moving went out the window when we were moving into our current house.

On the day of the move when everything we owned was packed up into the back of a removal van we found out that some idiot from the mortgage company decided to cancel our mortgage without actually telling anyone.

You would not believe the amount of hassle that caused!!

 

[MehulLakhani]

Just hang in there - it will happen. In the meantime, just check and re-check all your paperwork and documents, make sure that you have done all the little things, inventory, checking what the last owner will leave behind in the house for you, make a start on your packing, start making arrangement to move/swap/cancel council tax, phone bills, etc etc

R

Mehul

 

[oneilldo]

We started looking, bought a house and moved in all within 7 weeks. (we were going to get evicted from rented property as the landlord wanted to sell). I just kept hassling the solicitors daily to ensure they pulled their fingers out and earned their fee.

 

[sunama]

On the day of the move when everything we owned was packed up into the back of a removal van we found out that some idiot from the mortgage company decided to cancel our mortgage without actually telling anyone.

Damn.

Did u not get the keys (and complete the sale) of your property before you decided to actually move-in?

Also how long did it take to re-apply for the mortgage (which i assume is what u had to do)?

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Damn.

Did u not get the keys (and complete the sale) of your property before you decided to actually move-in?

Also how long did it take to re-apply for the mortgage (which i assume is what u had to do)?

Was in a chain so everything is completed on the day and you need to get everything packed up beforehand.


Suppose I may as well share the full story now the mere thought of it doesn’t bring on stress attacks, but bear with me it’s a long one……..

Few years back we decided to move and put our house up on the market (2 bed end terrace), the Missus and I then found a lovely 3 bed detached place only a couple of streets away and put an offer in which was accepted.

Our house was getting plenty of interest and without any delays we were made an offer (which we accepted), the chain began and all was looking good.

After a couple of months of mortgages/searches and all that other paperwork we all in a position to exchange contracts with the completion two weeks afterwards, and this is where the fun and games began.

The guy we were buying the house off of pulled out on day of exchange without any reason (at first), after a few days of calls etc we found out he wanted more money. I chased everyone and got the numbers sorted so he got his extra money and the deal could go ahead but our buyer had had enough of being messed about and pulled out.

Not wanting to be beaten I told the idiot I was buying the house from I’d still have it but he had to realise I know have to find a new buyer for mine due to his silly games, told the estate agent that I needed a buyer who was ready to move ASAP and luckily (so I thought) he found one and all was go again.

After a few weeks of delays and being stringed along our new perfect buyer didn’t actually have a mortgage approved nor was she actually in a position to sell her house!

So back in the crap again, what next? Didn’t want to tell our seller this info as I knew he was still after yet more money and this would give him the excuse to pull out and put his house on the market again. Putting plenty of pressure on the estate agent brought forward another buyer who was able to buy our place and I thought I finally had this sorted.

Contracts exchanged and a date for completion/move was set, not the best of dates though as my missus had just given birth to our daughter who was 2 weeks on this moving date.

All the usual steps were taken (house insurance/utility cutovers set) and on the day we ready to go, house emptied and everything stuffed into the moving van and we were just sitting around waiting for the funds to transfer.

After a couple of hours of waiting to hear good news hear from the solicitor I chased her again only to be hit with the mother of all bombshells, our mortgage offer had been cancelled!!! Why? Because some **** at the Woolwich didn’t think it was needed anymore as things had been quiet since it was given, regardless of whether it was not due for expiry or that our solicitor had submitted a request for them to release funds which they didn’t get back to us on.

To say we were a little distressed was an understatement, in fact that’s probably one of the hardest days of my life looking back on it, having to tell others in the chain that things had gone pear shaped, having to get all our belongings back into the house, having to juggle loads of paperwork and on top of this we had a 2 week old baby to deal with.

But somehow we managed to pick ourselves up again and carried on the fight, following week we rained hell on the solicitor and the Woolwich and managed to get everything back in place whilst keeping everyone else in the chain involved and ensuring that all the extra hassle they had was taken care of.

A week and a half later after the failed move we attempted it again and this time everything went though and we finally moved.

I’ll end things here as I’m sure if anyone is still reading this they must be very bored by now, but the hassles didn’t end there as the **** we bought the house off of tried to take us to court.

All in all it was one hell of a year that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, things just got worse and worse. I suppose we should take some pride in the fact that no matter how bad it did get we never let it beat us and kept fighting until we came out on top.

But the moral of this story is…….

Never move house, never never never!!!!

 

[sunama]

That is a very interesting story.

I noticed that u managed to get your mortgage approved (the second time) very quickly, in near record time. They mightve screwed up initially, but they seemed to pull out all the stops to sort out their mistake.

One more question though: why did the seller of the house u r currently in, want to take u to court? I thought that once the house sale goes through, there is scarcely any reason for the buyer and seller to even remain in contact.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

One more question though: why did the seller of the house u r currently in, want to take u to court? I thought that once the house sale goes through, there is scarcely any reason for the buyer and seller to even remain in contact.

I was handling the Woolwich and making sure that all those that were put out got all their extra costs back but the numb nuts thought he could make some money out of the whole thing by raising a no win no fee case against me and I ended up with a CCJ raised against me.

Caused me no end of grief and hassle getting it cleared up, but in the end I went to court and laid out what happened and where the actual blame laid, they agreed it was never my fault and kicked his case out with him having to pay fees etc, and on a plus note with all the paper generated by his claim I ended up with his new address.

 

[sunama]

Thanks for telling me your story. It just shows how complicated the house buying process is.

 

[Mat]

Me and mine have just started looking but we're first time buyers so it should be slightly easier this time...

Do you have a list of things that you need to do / check before you move as never having done this before its a bit daunting tbh...