The nervous wait to exchange....

  • Thread starter Thread starter noj
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I hear where you're coming from, I really do - but both myself and the Mrs really cannot see it getting any better tbh - we clearly didn't do our research with this place, and went with hearts over heads - I mean; the thing that sold it to us was a bloody suite at the top of the house! We never gave a second thought to having a busy residential road out the front, being in another terrace and having the faff of getting from drive/garage (at the rear) into the home with a newborn, and the fact that for the majority of the year, we probably wouldn't use any of the rooms on the first floor.

Not to mention that a recent change of neighbours, has highlighted how bad the place is built - paper thin walls (all of which have a plasterboard layer), and the front windows let so much noise in, I have checked more than once to see if the Wife left them open!

I appreciate that making such a huge decision so soon, is rash to say the least - but from a financial aspect, we will be fine - if house prices go up, then all the better (as we'll get stamp duty this time!!); and it may take us many moths to sell it anyway - but we have had so many discussions about it, we literally feel that the house isn't right for us - and see no point in wasting a year+ hoping something might just click.

First world problems eh!
Surely if the house prices go up it'll also make where you want to buy more expensive? And surely having to pay Stamp Duty is a negative thing? Another cost on top?
 
Surely if the house prices go up it'll also make where you want to buy more expensive? And surely having to pay Stamp Duty is a negative thing? Another cost on top?

It may do, but if we look at other areas/a cheaper property - it may work in our favour and possibly lessen the hit of stamp duty. It's all speculative at the point, the financials - as we need to wait the 6 month period, then chat to the bank - see what we can do about Porting; and then make plans for the next place besed on that, and what additional funds we can add.
 
It's been a long time since I went through the home purchasing process but how soon should you make a full mortgage application?

I have a Mortgage in Principle approved, which expires at the end of Feb 2021. We've had an offer accepted last week for the house we wish to purchase.

I'd like to apply now for the full application as the rate is good for the mortgage product we want and given the economic uncertainties for early next year, I'd be comfortable knowing that we have it in place.

However, given that we don't have an exchange/completion date (could be March 2021?), can we make that full application now?
 
It's been a long time since I went through the home purchasing process but how soon should you make a full mortgage application?

I have a Mortgage in Principle approved, which expires at the end of Feb 2021. We've had an offer accepted last week for the house we wish to purchase.

I'd like to apply now for the full application as the rate is good for the mortgage product we want and given the economic uncertainties for early next year, I'd be comfortable knowing that we have it in place.

However, given that we don't have an exchange/completion date (could be March 2021?), can we make that full application now?

Your mortgage offer will be valid for 6 months, so not much point in waiting I'd say.

Me and the other half are in the process of buying our first home, new build, first time buyers, all that jazz. Our mortgage app went in the day after we reserved the plot last month.

We ended up with a new build plot that someone else backed out of, so was already almost built by the time we reserved it. Luckily they went with almost exactly the customization options we would have chosen! Price was okay, house is plenty for the short term, but location was the real key factor. We're relocating down south to be nearer to family, so being close enough to them, and new place of work was the most important thing.

Now the house is done, developers were hoping to squeeze in our exchange and completion before Christmas, but everyone knows what solicitors are like... Literally everything is ready to go, house, mortgage, HTB, but solicitors couldn't seem to give a damn. They were highly recommended by a friend of ours, but it takes them a week and several follow ups just to reply to an email! :rolleyes:

Fingers crossed we'll be in soon, hopefully January, maybe February.
 
Now the house is done, developers were hoping to squeeze in our exchange and completion before Christmas, but everyone knows what solicitors are like... Literally everything is ready to go, house, mortgage, HTB, but solicitors couldn't seem to give a damn. They were highly recommended by a friend of ours, but it takes them a week and several follow ups just to reply to an email! :rolleyes:

Ours came highly recommended from family who live in the area that we're moving too. Being a local solicitor was also a plus for me and the fact that local estate agents had nothing but good words to say about them.

However, they have realistically set our expectation that they are extremely busy, due to the rush of purchase and sales that people are trying to get done before the end of March 2021 when the stamp duty holiday ends.

I'll check to see how long the full application mortgage decision is valid for. If it's something like 6 months, then I'll get it done now to lock in the rate that we're applying for.
 
It's been a long time since I went through the home purchasing process but how soon should you make a full mortgage application?

I have a Mortgage in Principle approved, which expires at the end of Feb 2021. We've had an offer accepted last week for the house we wish to purchase.

I'd like to apply now for the full application as the rate is good for the mortgage product we want and given the economic uncertainties for early next year, I'd be comfortable knowing that we have it in place.

However, given that we don't have an exchange/completion date (could be March 2021?), can we make that full application now?

Get it is as soon as you can, ours is taking longer than anything else to go through. From talking to EA and solicitors they have both said that mortgage apps have been holding things up for a lot of sales
 
Been in my new house for almost 2 weeks now and originally it was a bit daunting seeing everything the way it was. However, we have already painted all the rooms and its starting to look like our own home :). Its the very small bits that make me glad i moved from 2 bed mid terrace to a 3 bed detached:

- I have a big driveway now but old habits mean i still fold my mirrors in electronically when i park up :D
- I forget i don't have to be as quiet now that we're in a detached house.
 
Offer accepted on new house Dec 7th and we have to complete before 24th Feb as that's when our mortgage deal expires. No chain involved as we are first time buyers and the sellers are moving into a rental. They want to move as quickly as possible as do we.

Existing mortgage offer amended subject to valuation. Draft contract already received by our solicitor. Building survey booked for 12th Jan. As soon as the valuation comes back, hopefully in the next few days, we pay for the local authority searches.

It's going to be tight with lots of anxiety ahead, but I believe it's possible. Fingers crossed!
 
Surely if the house prices go up it'll also make where you want to buy more expensive? And surely having to pay Stamp Duty is a negative thing? Another cost on top?
People are so focused on "saving" on stamp duty they are completely missing the fact they are overpaying on the property itself. I'm seeing people overpaying by 5+% on 500k+ houses in order to "save" 15k on stamp duty
 
People are so focused on "saving" on stamp duty they are completely missing the fact they are overpaying on the property itself. I'm seeing people overpaying by 5+% on 500k+ houses in order to "save" 15k on stamp duty

Cash is king. Saving on stamp duty is direct in your pocket. Overpaying for your house you don't really notice it over the term on your mortgage.. Until someone points it out eek
 
Offer accepted on new house Dec 7th and we have to complete before 24th Feb as that's when our mortgage deal expires. No chain involved as we are first time buyers and the sellers are moving into a rental. They want to move as quickly as possible as do we.

Existing mortgage offer amended subject to valuation. Draft contract already received by our solicitor. Building survey booked for 12th Jan. As soon as the valuation comes back, hopefully in the next few days, we pay for the local authority searches.

It's going to be tight with lots of anxiety ahead, but I believe it's possible. Fingers crossed!

I really would get the local authority searches started immediately if you're in a hurry. It's very likely that'll be the thing you end up waiting for.
 
I really would get the local authority searches started immediately if you're in a hurry. It's very likely that'll be the thing you end up waiting for.

This x1000 - our local authority is taking 8 weeks to return searches at the moment (we moved three weeks ago, and this was one of the delays we had on our buyers end). Luckily we were able to get a councillor involved to speed things up, still took a good 5 weeks though.
 
I really would get the local authority searches started immediately if you're in a hurry. It's very likely that'll be the thing you end up waiting for.

This x1000 - our local authority is taking 8 weeks to return searches at the moment (we moved three weeks ago, and this was one of the delays we had on our buyers end). Luckily we were able to get a councillor involved to speed things up, still took a good 5 weeks though.

This is my worry but surely it'll be stupid of me to pay for the searches before the lender even completes the valuation? If the valuation comes back lower than our offer it could throw everything off. That's £220 down the drain.

On the house we had to pull out of back in November, our solicitor submitted the searches on 11th September and we had them back by the 17th - a lot quicker than anticipated.

EDIT: If we have to pull out of the house because we can't come an agreement following the valuation, then losing £220 is the least of our worries.
 
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The sale I was doing completed today at 2pm and money in my bank 5pm

used an online solicitors called Optimal, about 400 quid all in and no hassle at all
 
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