The nervous wait to exchange....

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Skillmister said:
Bit of an eek moment as this is potentially coming back to us after the previous people who had their offer accepted pulled out because of bad survey. We know it needs tons of work so knowing that potentially doesn't change much unless there was something major revealed in the survey that we couldn't tell from viewing. We also know that it didn't go for as much as we thought which means I'm wary about overpaying especially as there are signs the market is cooling off (houses staying up for longer before going STC, some being reduced etc).

But oh lord the potential of the house is eating away at me
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Haha, I think 'overpay' if that is what is it worth to you. We certainly did on ours. The house next door is near identical with a more sensibly sized workshop - went for £740k and it was tidy inside. The one a few doors down had full side and rear extension and sold for £880k. I paid £860k for a dump with none of the extensions. But ca la vie.

The issue is that if this house falls through then I will never find another house like it :cry:

W.r.t. to the economic/housing headwinds, I say start the process now and if the market hasn't binned by the time you are ready to exchange, then it was meant to be.

I bought my house just before Brexit thinking the world was going to end and it has gone up £75k.
 
Skillmister said:
It's a multi month long process and despite what people say there is an awful lot going on behind the scenes so it often doesn't feel like much happens. Solicitors all work differently too, some send piecemeal reports along the way some literally wait until everything is resolved and send one report with contracts to sign. That could be 3 months down the line depending on how searches and enquiries go but might feel to you like nothing at all has happened in the meantime.

It's a **** process for everyone involved believe me those on the legal side wish it wasn't as protracted too..
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I get it’s a protracted process but this is why they should set my expectations on how they work and when/how often I’d get updates then I’d not worry about a lack of updates or know to check in after x time.
 
traveyb said:
Never thought I would buying a place but made it a goal at the start of the year. I originally loved the idea of moving up north (from Greater London) as I can WFH, however changed my mind on this as we are going through some structure changes at work and just in the off chance things change and I need to be in the office 3 days a week - I don't fancy a 6 hour commute each day.

The house I've had an offer accepted on is classed as a "Modern Method of Construction/Eco Home" which was rather interesting Mortgage wise (timber frame, no bricks etc.) so only had a handful to pick from (and only have a 5% deposit).

Mortgage application submitted to having an offer has been exactly 7 days which is crazy (haven't seen the offer yet so could be a pile of pants) - but impressed with my broker and Nationwide.

Timeline so far:

28th August - Viewed Property
31st August - Offer Made
2nd September - Counter Offer and Accepted
10th September - Appointed solicitors forms filled etc.
13th September - Mortgage Application Submitted
17th September - Mortgage Application Accepted
20th September - Valuation Booked
24th September - Valutation Accepted and Offer Issued
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Well today is finally the day! 8 months after my offer was accepted, 2 mortgage applications due to the original one expiring and various issues (including the upper chain collapsing) - we've finally exchanged today with completion on Friday.

I think the last 7 days have been the most stressful out of the entire process (and also my entire life).

I can't fault my solicitors at all, they have been amazing through the entire process (might add that they were via the EA and not local). The other side had a local solicitor and had a very bad time (they went through 3 solicitors at the same firm and also were also the reason for the onward chain collapsed).

I seriously don't want to ever move again unless the process is changed.
 
traveyb said:
Well today is finally the day! 8 months after my offer was accepted, 2 mortgage applications due to the original one expiring and various issues (including the upper chain collapsing) - we've finally exchanged today with completion on Friday.

I think the last 7 days have been the most stressful out of the entire process (and also my entire life).

I can't fault my solicitors at all, they have been amazing through the entire process (might add that they were via the EA and not local). The other side had a local solicitor and had a very bad time (they went through 3 solicitors at the same firm and also were also the reason for the onward chain collapsed).

I seriously don't want to ever move again unless the process is changed.
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Congrats! That's a hell of a wait!

We're hoping to hear this week about our deed of variation coming in, then we only need 5-ish working days for our lender to release the cash. Knowing our luck so far, something will cause further issues, or the variation will take weeks to come back :(
 
traveyb said:
Well today is finally the day! 8 months after my offer was accepted, 2 mortgage applications due to the original one expiring and various issues (including the upper chain collapsing) - we've finally exchanged today with completion on Friday.

I think the last 7 days have been the most stressful out of the entire process (and also my entire life).

I can't fault my solicitors at all, they have been amazing through the entire process (might add that they were via the EA and not local). The other side had a local solicitor and had a very bad time (they went through 3 solicitors at the same firm and also were also the reason for the onward chain collapsed).

I seriously don't want to ever move again unless the process is changed.
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Congrats, we had a painful experience too last year. 8 months later we are well settled and the house is coming on nicely :)
 
jonneymendoza said:
Does it typically take 8 months ?

Should i expect a similar timeline when i eventually put in an offer and its accepted?
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Mines on track to take about 5 and a half months from offer accepted, but its a cash purchase with no upward chain, so about as simple as it gets. Would have been more like 4.5 months but the seller wanted to complete a bit later.

So it depends on how complex the purchase is really, and of course both sides solicitors being on the ball too. For example I had to go back to my solicitor with some questions over some things from the vendor, so that probably added a week or two as my solicitor asks the questions to thier solicitor, then thier solicitor gets a reply from the seller, and relays tje info back through...

8 months sounds like it's on the longer side, but I don't really have many points of reference.
 
The house I am in now took 10 weeks including a LISA. I used the infamous Premier Property Lawyers. No chain.
 
jonneymendoza said:
Does it typically take 8 months ?

Should i expect a similar timeline when i eventually put in an offer and its accepted?
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We're coming up to 4 months since offer accepted (13th Jan) with no date set but that's been a lot of kerfuffle from the estate's management company and the vendors' solicitor (the infamous PPL), which I think has probably added a month or so on. We're chain-free buyers of an empty house too... :(
 
squerble said:
We're coming up to 4 months since offer accepted (13th Jan) with no date set but that's been a lot of kerfuffle from the estate's management company and the vendors' solicitor (the infamous PPL), which I think has probably added a month or so on. We're chain-free buyers of an empty house too... :(
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Its so funny I hear of all these PPL nightmares and my example above, 10 weeks - with a LISA redemption - was all done by PPL. Chain-free on a simple freehold, mind.
 
My solicitor added a nice touch, they provided me with a flow chart of milestones toward completion, which is only a small thing but really helps you visualise where you are at in the process.
 
squerble said:
We're coming up to 4 months since offer accepted (13th Jan) with no date set but that's been a lot of kerfuffle from the estate's management company and the vendors' solicitor (the infamous PPL), which I think has probably added a month or so on. We're chain-free buyers of an empty house too... :(
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What's a ppl?
 
jonneymendoza said:
What's a ppl?
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I'd guess Premier Property Lawyers...at a guess an online convayancy firm?

I'd always suggest shopping around local firms too, they are often very competetive and added bonus you can go and see them to drop papers off etc, and if I phone them, I speak directly to my conveyance solicitor, or her PA.
 
mattyfez said:
I'd guess Premier Property Lawyers...at a guess an online convayancy firm?

I'd always suggest shopping around local firms too, they are often very competetive and added bonus you can go and see them to drop papers off etc, and if I phone them, I speak directly to my conveyance solicitor, or her PA.
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I used an online firm for about 2 days and the person I am buying from called and said it is a big red flag for them. So don't just go on "cost", go on appearances as well - especially whilst the market is a bit tricky.
 
dLockers said:
I used an online firm for about 2 days and the person I am buying from called and said it is a big red flag for them. So don't just go on "cost", go on appearances as well - especially whilst the market is a bit tricky.
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Agreed, but my local 'bricks and mortar' firm I'm using seem both cheap (well not cheap but no more expensive than 'online' solicitors) and responsive. Maybe I got lucky.

EDIT The costs are pretty much fixed as its a well defined process you have to go through. Things like searches will always cost say "£300" and land registy change of ownership will always cost "£100" as they are fixed costs. The solicitors 'labour charge' for doing it all will be pretty much fixed too, unless things get silly and complicated.
 
mattyfez said:
I'd guess Premier Property Lawyers...at a guess an online convayancy firm?

I'd always suggest shopping around local firms too, they are often very competetive and added bonus you can go and see them to drop papers off etc, and if I phone them, I speak directly to my conveyance solicitor, or her PA.
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Strike sub-contract to PPL (Premier Property Lawyers) as "Strike Conveyancing" and in two attempted house purchases they've been incompetent.
 
squerble said:
Strike sub-contract to PPL (Premier Property Lawyers) as "Strike Conveyancing" and in two attempted house purchases they've been incompetent.
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I suspect they are a bit like interflora for flower deliveries, in that you commission the work online and they just punt out the job to solicitors who are on thier books, and take a cut, so it's kinda like adding a middle man?
 
mattyfez said:
I suspect they are a bit like interflora for flower deliveries, in that you commission the work online and they just punt out the job to solicitors who are on thier books, and take a cut, so it's kinda like adding a middle man?
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Na they are just 'rack and stack' volume conveyancers. They follow a script to the letter. When the script goes off it all goes wrong.
 
mattyfez said:
I suspect they are a bit like interflora for flower deliveries, in that you commission the work online and they just punt out the job to solicitors who are on thier books, and take a cut, so it's kinda like adding a middle man?
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I imagine so. They get plenty of "ins" thanks to Strike being a free, online-only EA, and then offer out "cheap" conveyancing so it seems like the whole package is super-cheap. Which it is... but it's also sub-par. But people are cheap af.
 
Yeh I agree with both the above.
Employing a local solicitor, assuming they are good (always Google reviews) might be a tad more expensive, but an extra hundred quid for a service that's gonna cost you a grand+ anyway is neither here nor there, as you'll get a much more personal responsive service (in theory).

My local solicitors for example are charging me £600 for the work. (that's just thier administration /labour fees).

That's not including search fees, land registry fees etc. But they are all defined fixed costs that my solicitor sorts out anyway.
 
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