The nervous wait to exchange....

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ChrisD. said:
There will be an ONT in the house already and it will be connected up. There's a serial number on the ONT that you give to BT when you order and they can remotely activate it. Between VM and FTTP I'd be choosing FTTP every time.
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Yeah this is what BT asked for, I think, and coincidentally we're visiting the house today anyway, so gonna note it down if I can find it and then I can give it to BT.

What's your reason for FTTP over VM? I know there's a difference in the technology used, I just didn't think as an end user I'd notice a difference as I'm not wanting max fibre speeds of 900mbps or whatever my limit is. Is there a difference in stability or anything?

So in the end I just went for whatever was a better deal at the time. Also not had the best customer experience with BT in the past so thought VM was worth a try. My recent interactions with VM haven't exactly been good though...
 
With VM there are a few issues, their customer service is renowned to be quite frankly terrible, their network is known to suffer congestion in areas and of course the the Puma chipset and now UDP issues. You might be fine, but it's a gamble and IMO should only be taken by those with no FTTP option.
 
Can you get broadband install scheduled before exchange? What's the ETA for BT to do it?

I know the property I'm buying has virgin media, but apparently BT broadband does up to 300mb to the property and that's who I'm currently with (have the router plus mesh WiFi boosters)
 
My street made it onto Watchdog earlier in the week because of Virgin issues. It has been literally unusable until this week which is presumably due to school holidays.
 
I think VM really depends on your location. In my last property i never had a single problem with VM apart from the odd outage and the prices were much cheaper in comparison to FTTP. Im now on FTTP due to property move and literally had FTTP installed last week after a 3 month waiting list....... Speeds are good but its not really value compared to VM.
 
ChrisD. said:
With VM there are a few issues, their customer service is renowned to be quite frankly terrible, their network is known to suffer congestion in areas and of course the the Puma chipset and now UDP issues. You might be fine, but it's a gamble and IMO should only be taken by those with no FTTP option.
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Fair enough. Thanks for the advice.

Buffman said:
Can you get broadband install scheduled before exchange? What's the ETA for BT to do it?

I know the property I'm buying has virgin media, but apparently BT broadband does up to 300mb to the property and that's who I'm currently with (have the router plus mesh WiFi boosters)
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BT said it really depends on what area you're in and what equipment you already have.

I originally placed an order with VM in January before we exchanged, but rang up and told them to push back the date as completion hadn't been scheduled yet. They initially gave me ~4 week lead time I think. Called them up on Tuesday and they gave me 16th March for install, which was another 4 weeks.

BT said that they couldn't give me an estimated install date over the phone unless I placed a dummy order with them but didn't want to waste the time, and I'd call back once I got our serial numbers etc.. The guy I spoke to said it could be anything from a week to 3 months depending on the situation though.

From my experience so far with VM, I'd say don't bother and just switch over with BT, especially if you already have the mesh and stuff. Some details here: https://www.bt.com/manage/moving-home/
 
happy_2008 said:
I think VM really depends on your location. In my last property i never had a single problem with VM apart from the odd outage and the prices were much cheaper in comparison to FTTP. Im now on FTTP due to property move and literally had FTTP installed last week after a 3 month waiting list....... Speeds are good but its not really value compared to VM.
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They've shown their true colours in this WFH period. Basically fobbing everyone off to 'wait it out'.
 
happy_2008 said:
I think VM really depends on your location. In my last property i never had a single problem with VM apart from the odd outage and the prices were much cheaper in comparison to FTTP. Im now on FTTP due to property move and literally had FTTP installed last week after a 3 month waiting list....... Speeds are good but its not really value compared to VM.
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Moving with VM next week. It's been absolutely fine in current location for many years, just keeping my fingers crossed it will be alright in the new area code.

Only alternative in new place would be FTTC so ~10x slower bandwidth.
 
Finally got some movement on the solicitor front today, a ton of files uploaded into the portal thingy they are using which is good to see some progress. Draft contract in duplicate, Replies to requisitions – only to be effective from exchange of contracts, Official copy title and filed plan. Fittings and Contents form, Building regulations compliance certificate re boiler, Certificate of roof space insulation works, NICEIC electrical installation certificate and EPC cert.
I have been asked to sign and date 'the contract and 'the transfer deed tr1' form.

I am not sure if this means we are making good progress or not, will have to try chase it up with them. A few are dated from August 2020 as thats when the house was actually sold and going through before someone pulled out.

I am still torn on if its worthwhile going for a survey, my dad is a builder and has given it the once over a couple times already himself so we are confident in the property based off that. Currently a big waiting time for a survey so don't want that to be the downfall of the sale/push me over the stamp duty break.
 
Buffman said:
Can you get broadband install scheduled before exchange? What's the ETA for BT to do it?

I know the property I'm buying has virgin media, but apparently BT broadband does up to 300mb to the property and that's who I'm currently with (have the router plus mesh WiFi boosters)
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Yes, you need the serial off the BT open reach box, ours is under the stairs
 
Mortgage offer received and my broker says its all good, has been provided to the solicitors. Local searches expected to be completed in the next week or so. I think we are making good progress.

Decided to cancel the homebuyers survey, for me it seems like what they offer isn't going to tell me anything I don't know and will only lengthen the process if the searches all come back and people are ready to go.

Moneybox confirmed they have started the withdrawal process also for my LISA so hopefully that doesn't hold anything up.
 
Amazing just how long it takes for sales to go through at the moment. Property came on to market 12th June, offer accepted 48 hours later and we finally completed yesterday!
 
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We signed our first reservation form on 9th November, completing on Thursday 25th Feb. That's 3 and a half months for a FTB new build, so no chain, with HTB, LISAs etc. Definitely could have been under 3 months if not for the lender screwing us around at the end. Overall though, fairly pleased with how long it took.
 
LiamJ said:
We signed our first reservation form on 9th November, completing on Thursday 25th Feb. That's 3 and a half months for a FTB new build, so no chain, with HTB, LISAs etc. Definitely could have been under 3 months if not for the lender screwing us around at the end. Overall though, fairly pleased with how long it took.
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That's how I bought my current house 6 years ago and the process took under 3 weeks.
 
Daft question here - going ahead with a mortgage application after having an offer accepted and all that jazz. They need contact details to get the survey / valuation done, Is this the homeowner or should it go through the solicitors?

As I said, daft question, go easy on me I'm overthinking :D
 
UnworthyBean said:
Daft question here - going ahead with a mortgage application after having an offer accepted and all that jazz. They need contact details to get the survey / valuation done, Is this the homeowner or should it go through the solicitors?

As I said, daft question, go easy on me I'm overthinking :D
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Estate agent
 
So, we're in a chain of 5 and it's pretty much complete, the people we're buying off have agreed a moving date and this looks to be agreeable all the way down the chain to the initial buyers... but we're awaiting confirmation of this. We have found this sale quite difficult as the solicitor for our buyers, by pure coincidence, bought our old house (we part ex'd, so technically he bought off the developer).
He was EXTREMELY challenging and in the morning on the day of our last move, was waiting on our doorstep as we were still getting the truck loaded up. We think this solicitor is dragging his heels as the upward side of the chain has been flawless and communicated very well, but any time we've requested an update, it's been waiting on this guy.

If the moving date is agreeable with all parties, it's literally 3 weeks away. We're working to that date, but you'd really think they would have a bit of urgency about them to get it moving.

I hate moving house.
 
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