The nervous wait to exchange....

[IvanDobskey]

Lets put it this way... I wish my mortgage was only 75k

I assume you must have had a sizeable deposit or equity from a previous sale?

I have money from selling current property, plus redundancy payout, plus Mrs savings. Stretching a little on the mortgage considering we are both pushing 50 though

 

[Skillmister]

We have been looking for our first house purchase and seen a place we really liked.
Made an offer, after a few back and forth negotiated a deal.

Environmental search came through and there are couple of issues raised for flood and ground instability which is making me uneasy.
It says
potential risk of surface water and river flooding within 250m of the
property
But no historic flood events since 1992
Low risk of Groundwater Flooding within 250m of the property

potential for natural ground instability in the area within
50m of the property - Moderate


Flood issue is not a big problem i think but the ground instability concerns me. Thinking of getting a full survey done.

An awful lot of environmental searches come back with both of those issues. Flooding is extremely common but if it is only a risk within 250m rather than the smaller radius (25m or 50m I can't remember despite seeing these daily ) I wouldn't be worried. It will say there's a risk even if it's a 1 in 1000 year event or something ridiculous!

Ground instability is also quite common but depending on area I guess. . May be worth getting a mining search for like an extra 50 quid just to make sure there are no mineshafts in the vicinity will also tell you whether there have been any mining related subsidence claims in the area.

 

[Skillmister]

Mortgage is for 75k over 18 years. So can make 7.5k overpayment in first year, but obviously less each subsequent year.

Only matters for the first 2 years anyway so you can make substantial overpayments then get a much smaller mortgage next time around?

 

[Skillmister]

The problem with conveyancing (I don't practice in this area, but I am going through a purchase/sale of my own) is that solicitors charge very little for the service and indemnity they provide. If it goes wrong, solicitors not agents pay the price through their insurance. This means that more often than note the quality of service has taken a bit of a dive as the costs/profits have been taken out. This would be the same in any business.

Funny because people didn't think of this consequence when they made conveyancers race to the bottom with fees over the years I still get people moan about fees even though they will happily pay agents 4 if not 5 figures for doing far less work! Mental.

Not that it should affect the service people get but like any other service you get the good and the bad but with it being such a high stress/ pressure situation the negatives are greatly amplified.

It's an extremely difficult thing from the other side of the fence too when there is a delay and absolutely nothing you can do about it. I've had someone agree to 4 different move dates this month and each time we get to a couple of days before and someone down the massive chain decides they can't move then anymore . Still get it in the neck as though it's my fault though

 

[Rroff]

As a solicitor I can promise you that we are one of the most (if not the most) regulated profession in the UK. The SRA (our regulator) happily strike off solicitors at regularly intervals. Estate agents are the "profession" with very little regulations...

If you can prove a solicitor is lying then they will subject to an investigation and potentially struck off. Please see this. https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/handbook/code/content.page

The problem with conveyancing (I don't practice in this area, but I am going through a purchase/sale of my own) is that solicitors charge very little for the service and indemnity they provide. If it goes wrong, solicitors not agents pay the price through their insurance. This means that more often than note the quality of service has taken a bit of a dive as the costs/profits have been taken out. This would be the same in any business.

That wasn't quite the way I was meaning with regulation.

Was more the last bit of your post - they are supposed to be probably the most professional organisation in the chain but so often the experience is of borderline incompetence, lots of unnecessary delays and poor organisation, etc. so many times things stalled and when contacting the solicitor their reply was they were waiting on information about X but had neither made any effort to communicate that to us and also the information was there amongst the information submitted to them collated to their specification already - then more delay then asking you to re-submit the information seemingly because they couldn't be bothered to search for it in the stuff you'd already sent them, etc. on the day of exchanging there was a 2 hour delay (which actually worked in our advantage but still) because the person dealing with it was nowhere to be found and our estate agent had to kick up a fuss to get them to pull someone else in on the case so we could complete.

 

[toshj]

We mentioned to the estate agent that we were thinking of asking for a two month delay as a cut in stamp duty would have a major impact on our finances, but I specifically asked him not to go to the vendor and tell them that we were demanding it.

A day later we get an email from the EA saying how disappointed the vendor was in us but that they'd reluctantly agree to our demands... Whilst it's good news for us, it's put the whole relationship under a fair but of unnecessary strain. I don't really mind, but my wife has been quite upset and stressed about it. All very annoying.

I'm somewhat annoyed in myself for not expanding our search areas that little bit more, as we've since found a few properties in a neighbouring area that, while costing a little bit more, offer quite a bit of extra space (detached/semis, bigger garden, etc). At the moment there's sweet **** all on the market in our price range. I'm certainly not disappointed about the place we're buying and can't wait to see what it looks like once all the renovations are done, but my wife is more than a little nervous about the sheer scope of the works required.

 

[Avathar77]

Cut in stamp duty!! Is that a done deal?

 

[IvanDobskey]

Cut in stamp duty!! Is that a done deal?

Not as far as I know?

 

[b0rn2sk8]

It's speculation at the moment, but it does sound like they will be visiting the magic money tree over the next few months. Election anyone?

 

[toshj]

Cut in stamp duty!! Is that a done deal?

No. There's a chance something could be announced in Brexit related emergency budget. But there's a chance it won't. To push our completion back by six weeks on the off chance that we could save a bundle, I felt it was something we had to consider. But the estate agent handled it with the grace of a clumsy rhino...

 

[Mysterae_]

No. There's a chance something could be announced in Brexit related emergency budget. But there's a chance it won't. To push our completion back by six weeks on the off chance that we could save a bundle, I felt it was something we had to consider. But the estate agent handled it with the grace of a clumsy rhino...

It could be something entirely different:

"The Times also reported that Mr Javid is considering switching the burden of stamp duty from buyers to sellers, meaning first-time owners would never pay the tax." Source BBC.

That won't be good for people downsizing but quite good for first time buyers.

 

[IvanDobskey]

I wouldn't be delaying a house purchase on the off chance of saving a few grand.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

It could be something entirely different:

"The Times also reported that Mr Javid is considering switching the burden of stamp duty from buyers to sellers, meaning first-time owners would never pay the tax." Source BBC.

That won't be good for people downsizing but quite good for first time buyers.

It seems like an incredibly short sighted idea and completely discounts customer behaviour.

That will completely discourage people from downsizing when they no longer need a larger home. It’s really common to do that when children leave home and get settled. It will end up stopping growing families from obtaining larger properties at a sensible prices because people higher up the ‘ladder’ don’t want to take the hit.

it also pushes up costs for lenders as it asks greater risks to repossession, that will translate to higher rates for everyone.

EDIT: I think it’s fairly obvious the effect it will have on the market when you consider new builds, put it this way the developer isn’t going to take the hit.

It will also culminate in FTB going back to paying it by proxy when purchasing a new build but that wouldn’t offset the losses due to people holding onto larger homes they don’t want or need.

 

[Mysterae_]

It seems like an incredibly short sighted idea and completely discounts customer behaviour.

That will completely discourage people from downsizing when they no longer need a larger home. It’s really common to do that when children leave home and get settled. It will end up stopping growing families from obtaining larger properties at a sensible prices because people higher up the ‘ladder’ don’t want to take the hit.

it also pushes up costs for lenders as it asks greater risks to repossession, that will translate to higher rates for everyone.

EDIT: I think it’s fairly obvious the effect it will have on the market when you consider new builds, put it this way the developer isn’t going to take the hit.

It will also culminate in FTB going back to paying it by proxy when purchasing a new build but that wouldn’t offset the losses due to people holding onto larger homes they don’t want or need.

Looks like it not happening after all. More back peddling than a tory on a unicycle going backwards down a hill!

 

[toshj]

I wouldn't be delaying a house purchase on the off chance of saving a few grand.

It depends on how much that saving would be. For us, it amounts to a not-so-insignificant amount of cash. There's a load of risk by delaying for us - as well as for the vendor - but as thing stand I can't imagine us not holding up our end of the bargain.

 

[montymint]

Good news for me, had a visit on my property last Friday and the buyer has offered over what I thought the house would sell for (I listed slightly high to allow for negotiation down to what I actually wanted).

This weeks job for me is not to secure my new mortgage and to let my solicitor deal with getting the sale and purchase of the property I offered on through.

Now the sorting of 13 years of 'Stuff' (read: crap) begins!

 

[EGuitarStar]

Ahhhhhhh, should be exchanging by the end of the week with a move in date of 20 September. I'm more scared than excited, I finally feel like a grown up

I'm glad Amazon cancelled my new camera order got so many expenses coming up.

This is our first home I have no clue about what I should be prepping for, arranging etc... Help!

 

[IvanDobskey]

Ok, got a tricky form to fill in now, shared ownership. Me and my partner are engaged, so should we be joint tenants or tenants in common? I'll be putting in 75% of funds.

 

[Kill_Phil]

@Skillmister you seem to know your stuff about indemnity insurance and building regs. Our survey was completed today and it's been highlighted the conservatory doesn't comply with building regs due to not having independent heating. The surveyor has verbally recommended getting the vendor to pay for indemnity insurance; that I get but he was saying it will invalidate any house/building insurance without it...

Of course I'm gonna get legal advice but it's a worry

 

[ShadowMan]

Looking through this thread thought it a good place to put questions.

In a position to start looking at moving on from the first home we bought. Bought this in 2009 on a shared ownership scheme as I was the only one working at the time. Now we want to move on we have hit the wall of social housing companies having everything their way. We have to give them 8 weeks to sell the property share before we can list with a local agent. Their nominated agent is national with no history of selling in this area.

We found a home we like the look of. Went to view and spoke to EA who said it had an offer on but buyer hasn’t sold. Explained our situation as we not in a position to offer yet. EA had asked us to get permission to sell ours for us as they have 2 buyers looking for Shared Ownership locally. Social landlord won’t release us for 8 weeks. It’s like being stuck in limbo.

EA has said that if it doesn’t sell in 8 weeks they can probably get in done in a few days once they can list.

Question is, as a seller would you accept an offer of near/at asking if you knew there could be a minimum 8 week delay on us selling?

Having only ever bought once I am not sure if people put in offers without having sold. Clearly someone has on the one we want (unless EA lied) but I don’t know what their offer is.

The house we want is a 1970s house that appear to have not been decorated since new. It’s very tired and needs work. The seller has inherited it and it is vacant. It has been up for 4 months and had a price drop already. It’s costing them nothing to hold on to buy assume they want their money. I’m just not sure I’m in a position to offer or if I should risk it. House is up at 300, if I had sold I would be offering around 280 but tempted to offer 285/290 if they can wait and will take it off market. They may just wait for full asking though from someone who has sold.

Hate house buying already.