House Buying/Selling - unnecessary stress?

House buying/selling is honestly a right nightmare IMO. It seems you're having to deal with various groups of people who are all incredibly slow at their job.

I've been trying to 10 days just to speak to someone but you can't get through to them - they have to ring you. It's only a simple 'yes/no' question then I can or can not proceed with something so really annoying me now.

My last purchase earlier this year was for a 2nd property but it was from family and only took about 3-4 weeks to complete. We just purchased it for 50% of the valuation price which was what they owed on the mortgage.

However, we are now looking to part-ex ours, move into a new build, sell the 2nd home, then buy a small flat to rent out to a family member. By the end of the process we'll have a massive, new house with a small mortgage, and a flat being paid for by someone else so I'm very eager to just crack on and get it all sorted out.
Our house though is bought on a shared equity scheme and I'm trying to find out if I can pay the 25% back early so I can then part-ex it to Baratt. (who's offering price is more than I'd get on the market most likely).



The process is very simple - it's just that you have to deal with a less than fully compontent bunch of people to get it done.
 
Just in the process of selling/buying nyself atm, Sold my house within a week of being on the market, reserves my new build home (whoch is built already) and jave chose my tiles and floor etc etc.

I am at the top of a 6 house chain, so it is taking quote a while to progress. Lovell expect us to mpve into the new build a week into December! But so far no surveyor has come to my house.

It seems to be a very long process! Whwn I first bought this house as a first time buyer it took 8 weeks!
 
blitzwing85 said:
However, we are now looking to part-ex ours, move into a new build, sell the 2nd home, then buy a small flat to rent out to a family member. By the end of the process we'll have a massive, new house with a small mortgage, and a flat being paid for by someone else so I'm very eager to just crack on and get it all sorted out.
Our house though is bought on a shared equity scheme and I'm trying to find out if I can pay the 25% back early so I can then part-ex it to Baratt. (who's offering price is more than I'd get on the market most likely).



The process is very simple - it's just that you have to deal with a less than fully compontent bunch of people to get it done.
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Don't forget to factor in your capital gains tax on that lot, you'll find your due to be relieved a large amount of profit you would have made on the second home.

Having a bit of a mare with our current purchase as the sellers have not got all their paperwork in order a bit ironic really seeing as it was their agent chasing us to get moving as we entered the chain late when were actually waiting on them. I wouldn't call it stressful but I am just bored of the process of trying to phone people constantly.
 
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Meridian said:
Were you buying a new-build though? That is much simpler. Indeed, many building companies only give you a month to complete or the deal is off.
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Nope. Was an older house. Deal was done and everything moved swiftly after this. Lucky I guess.
 
TBH, I had a good solicitor which is what kept momentum going. The couple of times I heard from the sellers estate agents, I phoned my solicitor to get the next steps going and he was already doing it as I was phoning.

The best thing you can have for house purchases is a good efficient solicitor.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Don't forget to factor in your capital gains tax on that lot, you'll find your due to be relieved a large amount of profit you would have made on the second home.
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He'll get about £21k of the gain tax free first, after that it's 18% or 28% depending on his level of income.
 
Estate agents isn't it, useless middlemen who find a house, pass your money over to the sellers, hand you the keys and take a horrendous amount of commission for it.
 
All I can say is that me and my partner have just done exactly what you described, as buyers. I mean exactly. We had to wait for several weeks before the mortgage survey was carried out - it's all organised by the bank, so you're beholden to them. And then you're all beholden to the EAs and solicitors and SEARCHES etc. and all the other stuff.

We've just exchanged yesterday (woohoo!) so it's all worked out, but it was a HUGE stress. Really took its toll on us physically and emotionally. Very hard time for us, but worth it in the end, we hope...

My advice is to get onto your EA/solicitor and get them to find out what's happening as a matter of urgency. You shouldn't assume that your buyers are faffing you around because there are just so, so many things happening that rely on other people doing their job quickly and properly, and we all know most people don't. (Our experience with the EAs and solicitors was pretty poor to say the least).

Good luck with it.
 
pitchfork said:
Estate agents isn't it, useless middlemen who find a house, pass your money over to the sellers, hand you the keys and take a horrendous amount of commission for it.
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Lol you clearly have absolutely no idea as to just how much diplomacy, forward thinking, problem solving and ego deflating an estate agent has to go through with both vendors and buyers before they hang over the keys.

On several occasions the ONLY reason a sale has gone through is because there was a decent agent involved.

Don't become one of those daily mail stereotype believers.

I grant you there are crap agents too - of course there are.
 
Going through the process ourselves from the first time buyers prospective.

Our bank initially quoted 6-8 weeks for the valuation survey on the property, luckily they managed to do it within 5 days.

Our solicitor recommended a local surveyor who again has been really good chasing up the estate agent in order to gain access to the property for the full structural survey.

The process itself has been relatively painless so far......... However the biggest headache is potentially still to come. The property is currently let to the local council and the tenant has been in the property for a year. We've talked to them (as they showed us around the property) and whilst they seemed happy about moving out I'm not counting my chickens just yet.

It's been made clear to the owner however that completion is based on the property being vacant as we are not going through the hassle of evicting the tenant. The estate agent has confirmed the tenant has been given their 60 day notice and they had already started packing their stuff into boxes when we viewed the property, so you never know
 
fastwunz said:
Lol you clearly have absolutely no idea as to just how much diplomacy, forward thinking, problem solving and ego deflating an estate agent has to go through with both vendors and buyers before they hang over the keys.

On several occasions the ONLY reason a sale has gone through is because there was a decent agent involved.

Don't become one of those daily mail stereotype believers.

I grant you there are crap agents too - of course there are.
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I have dealt directly with approximately 14 estate agents over the years I've rented, and most recently purchased, properties. I can say without hesitation that every single last one of them was 100% out there for themselves and their commission and either made no effort whatsoever to help me or, in many cases, acted directly against my interests for their own benefit or those of their other clients/business. They have a terrible reputation because, in my experience, the *vast* majority of them are really quite awful people. Genuinely awful, rude, greedy, and often just plain lazy people. As soon as they've got your signature on a bit of paper they often just dump you and let you get on with it, with no help at all. I've approached EAs before about really serious matters such as verbal abuse from landlord and property manager or leaking bathtubs and been ignored. Just "sorry that's not my job - you'll need to write to head office". And this is with a mixture of small/local EAs and the big names. It doesn't matter who they are or how big.

I'm not "out to get" estate agents, as much as it sounds like I might be, but I can only speak from experience, and I have dealt with a *lot* of them over the years, and my experience has been very, very poor with every last one. And it's not just me - my folks, my sister, my mates and colleagues. All of them have way more horror stories about EAs than positive ones. That says a huge amount about that industry, its practices and the people that work in it. It's basically one massive exploitation racket. I'm not anti-capitalist at all, by the way, but I do feel very strongly that businesses should seek to look after their customers. EAs have a reputation for giving not one tiny **** about theirs, and that is due to people's actual, real experience, not "daily mail scaremongering".

The whole concept that, as a buyer, you have to approach/ask/beg your vendor's estate agent to have them drop the price or make reductions for problems is totally and completely insane. The EA in this instance is acting not only on your behalf but completely *against* it. So when they approach the vendor of course they're not going to be persuasive at all. I'm quite sure they will simply say "the buyer has asked XYZ be deducted - recommend you say no". This is, of course, in a sellers' market, but the concept remains the same at other times. Solicitors need to take over this process so that you have proper representation and umph behind your requests/demands. Without that the buyer will always be powerless. In all other industries the customer is always right - in conveyancing this is not the case.

I passionately hate this industry and the principal reason for that is the frankly ****-poor behaviour of estate agents.

/rant
 
fastwunz said:
Lol you clearly have absolutely no idea as to just how much diplomacy, forward thinking, problem solving and ego deflating an estate agent has to go through with both vendors and buyers before they hang over the keys.

On several occasions the ONLY reason a sale has gone through is because there was a decent agent involved.

Don't become one of those daily mail stereotype believers.

I grant you there are crap agents too - of course there are.
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My personal point of view going through the process at the moment is that it is the estate agent which has been the weak link the majority of the time.

The current one has been excellent so far to be fair, but they seem to have been the exception rather than the rule.

Issues we have come up against just trying to view properties have included.

*Not getting call backs despite several voicemail messages and emails being sent.
*Being told conflicting information on whether properties were still on the market depending on the individual we spoke with.
*Being shown properties which do not fit our basic requirements, despite being very clear what we wanted. It's not like our requirements are that hard to work with either as they are simply a house with at least 2 bedrooms. So why the estate agent thought it was a good idea to show us a 1 bed flat I will never know.
*One estate agent refusing to work with us until we had seen their financial advisor (which I'm lead to believe is actually illegal under the estate agents act).
*The wide boy the estate agent sent to show people around the property during the open day not knowing basic information about the property in question. What was really funny was he didn't even offer to find out the information and just kept saying 'don't know mate' to the questions being asked.
*Property descriptions claiming such benefits as off street parking, despite the property not having a dropped kerb so technically no right to access the 'off street parking'.
 
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Were also just starting the process off buying a house, offer accepted the estate agent id very keen to get it all moving and in fact she doesn't seem to bad.

Solicitors are a bit weird however, chosen through word of mouth / quote cost they have been instructed to act and yet haven't really told me anything. The estate agent has everything so here's to hoping there efficient or simple don't care lol..
 
Was a first time buyer 2 years ago. Sellers agent called me and my solicitors every day if not twice a day. That made me chase up the bank and my solicitors. In hind sight he did a great job for the seller. Apply pressure get deadlines in place. most will not be met but at least something will be happening.
 
Agreed about putting the pressure on - when we were FTB (no chain, mortgage agreed, hot to trott etc) everything seemed to be going at snails pace until the vendors said "complete by the end of week or you lose your contribution towards required works" at which point the solicitors finally got their arses in gear and sorted things out.

At the end of the day solicitors will be dealing with dozens of cases at any one time and unless pressure is applied you will always be bottom of the pile. Just remember in their eyes despite being the client, you are VERY small fry and barely worth giving the time of day to as they will not be making a fortune from your business. Their goal is to complete the deal with minimal effort and whether it takes 4 weeks or 4 months is no great concern of theirs.
 
HangTime said:
Agreed about putting the pressure on - when we were FTB (no chain, mortgage agreed, hot to trott etc) everything seemed to be going at snails pace until the vendors said "complete by the end of week or you lose your contribution towards required works" at which point the solicitors finally got their arses in gear and sorted things out.

At the end of the day solicitors will be dealing with dozens of cases at any one time and unless pressure is applied you will always be bottom of the pile. Just remember in their eyes despite being the client, you are VERY small fry and barely worth giving the time of day to as they will not be making a fortune from your business. Their goal is to complete the deal with minimal effort and whether it takes 4 weeks or 4 months is no great concern of theirs.
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Ahh, so the pressure is more for the sake of the Mortgage company/Solicitors than anything within the control of the FTBs?
 
mothermachine said:
I have dealt directly with approximately 14 estate agents over the years I've rented, and most recently purchased, properties. I can say without hesitation that every single last one of them was 100% out there for themselves and their commission and either made no effort whatsoever to help me or, in many cases, acted directly against my interests for their own benefit or those of their other clients/business. They have a terrible reputation because, in my experience, the *vast* majority of them are really quite awful people. Genuinely awful, rude, greedy, and often just plain lazy people. As soon as they've got your signature on a bit of paper they often just dump you and let you get on with it, with no help at all. I've approached EAs before about really serious matters such as verbal abuse from landlord and property manager or leaking bathtubs and been ignored. Just "sorry that's not my job - you'll need to write to head office". And this is with a mixture of small/local EAs and the big names. It doesn't matter who they are or how big.

I'm not "out to get" estate agents, as much as it sounds like I might be, but I can only speak from experience, and I have dealt with a *lot* of them over the years, and my experience has been very, very poor with every last one. And it's not just me - my folks, my sister, my mates and colleagues. All of them have way more horror stories about EAs than positive ones. That says a huge amount about that industry, its practices and the people that work in it. It's basically one massive exploitation racket. I'm not anti-capitalist at all, by the way, but I do feel very strongly that businesses should seek to look after their customers. EAs have a reputation for giving not one tiny **** about theirs, and that is due to people's actual, real experience, not "daily mail scaremongering".

The whole concept that, as a buyer, you have to approach/ask/beg your vendor's estate agent to have them drop the price or make reductions for problems is totally and completely insane. The EA in this instance is acting not only on your behalf but completely *against* it. So when they approach the vendor of course they're not going to be persuasive at all. I'm quite sure they will simply say "the buyer has asked XYZ be deducted - recommend you say no". This is, of course, in a sellers' market, but the concept remains the same at other times. Solicitors need to take over this process so that you have proper representation and umph behind your requests/demands. Without that the buyer will always be powerless. In all other industries the customer is always right - in conveyancing this is not the case.

I passionately hate this industry and the principal reason for that is the frankly ****-poor behaviour of estate agents.

/rant
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They are no different to any of these kind of middlemen type industries (recruitment agents etc). You just have to understand their job, their motivations and which buttons to push.

They have (if you are a buyer) absolutely ZERO responsibility to represent your interests. Not one iota - so if you approach things from the POV they are there to help you, you are always going to come away with a bitter taste in your mouth. They are there to collect their commission by selling their clients house, at the highest price possible to boost their fee - they are not there to help you drop the price if you feel like you have reasonable grounds to think they should, or indeed anything that involves you unless its getting you involved in whatever stage the process is, to move things along.

The best motivator in these things is money, and as a buyer that is your only bargaining chip, either through the fear of it being removed if you pull out of the deal prior to exchange , or the greed of thinking they will get their commission faster if you get things done quickly. Fear and greed always wins the day so you just have to non aggressively (it upsets everyone) assert this to get what you want. The ideal scenario is to have the vendor/agent in mortal fear of you pulling out (they can sniff out people who will never follow through on threats almost instantly), while at the same time you moving like lightning - they will be trying to keep YOU happy that way.

The worst position to be in, in any negotiating situation is trying to get something in return for nothing. By that, if you are making demands of an estate agent without it being worth their while (fear or greed) then you are destined for a frustrating time as all you have is an expectation in your mind on how things will go, which most of the time is not how it ends.

It's no difference to any contract, except people get emotionally involved in it, rather than adopting a cold/aloof approach which you'd get if you were negotiating a contract for 1000 rubber bands and a wholesale bag of teabags for your employer.

Anyways, wish me luck - I'm in the middle of buying my first house and i've found it pretty straight forward so far. You have to get all your ducks in a row, keep everyone in the loop and have plan A, B, C ... Z in place to cover every eventuality rather than be outcome dependant on getting THAT house in THAT way.
 
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Only problem i'm having is trying to book an appointment at my local natwest! Offer accepted on the house, ring up and there is a 2-3 week wait! We were only in on Saturday and had everything sorted and in place and now we'll have to wait because its clogged up with help to buyers inquiring. its either pay extra through my broker or look elsewhere!

2 weeks shouldn't affect much i wouldn't have thought? solicitors have been told to act and are in contact with the estate agent and the couple in the house currently haven't found anywhere to move to as of yet..?

I HATE not being in control!
 
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