Buying a home and don't know how anything works

[UnderOpenSky]

Oh FFS. Again. Vendor has engineers report done. I've referred it back to our surveyor, but it doesn't look like it covers one of the major points we were worried about. Although the rest looks OK.

 

[5t3IIa]

Right. We’ve did a load of solicitor portal-admin yesterday (ID, funds, stamp duty agent stuff). Spoke to the solicitor and have emailed some queries (there were ‘freehold or leasehold’ questions and we don’t know that for sure until the sols look at the deeds, I think?). Spoke to the estate agent to ask how many in the chain & he says ‘2 people, 1 property currently’ but said he’d call the vendor for an update. Then last night we got a message from the vendor saying they’d had an offer accepted by people who are moving for work, and already have a new house, but their previous buyer fell through.

This is starting to move, innit.

Our actions for today are to finish portal-admin, engage a surveyor and call mortgage broker for an update. Had no more queries on that so hoping no news is good news lol.

Who do we ask when about dates?
We update the sols, do we? Just an email to say ‘vendors had offer accepted’? Or do they speak to the estate agent?
What other questions must I ask? What are the unknown unknowns pls?

We have our first holiday (cottage in the Lakes) in years booked for mid-April and I just know these things are going to butt into each other

 

[moonsi til]

I don’t think you are at a stage for dates. I would do all that is being requested of you portal/solicitor wise & book a survey then you are waiting for mortgage to be approved, survey to be completed & back to you to read & solicitor to commence searches. But if I had to guess a date I would say end of April to start of May at the earliest.

From the searches your solicitor does who will be informed of anything they want to question & be prepared to be surprised by what they will. In my last house I sold I was asked about a storage drain that I had no recollection of & there it was in my garden. In the house I live in now there was a backwards & forwards between mine & vendors solicitors about right of way at back of my house which seemed to go on for weeks & was the final issue to conclude.

It’s good you know know position of vendor & how possibly how many in the chain though it’s the estate agent telling you so it’s take with a pinch of salt. Would be good to know if you can about the people your vendor is buying from & why they don’t need the sale for the next property? If they do the chain continues if they don’t such as sale after death could be a reason for no chain.

There will be a period of feeling like nothing happening which is normal after the initial flurry of activity.

 

[5t3IIa]

It’s good you know know position of vendor & how possibly how many in the chain though it’s the estate agent telling you so it’s take with a pinch of salt. Would be good to know if you can about the people your vendor is buying from & why they don’t need the sale for the next property? If they do the chain continues if they don’t such as sale after death could be a reason for no chain.

Thanks for all that Can we really grill the vendor or estate agent about those things??

 

[Boudicca]

It sounds like you are in direct contact with the vendor which is great news.

Surveys on all three properties need to be done before the chain is properly in motion.

As moonsi til says, it will take 2-3 months and will end up more like 3 months, for seemingly no good reason except solicitor procrastination.

Solicitors won't commit on dates but I've always found it useful to tell them (repeatedly) the date I am aiming for.

 

[5t3IIa]

Memorandum of sale says ‘Aim to complete by: 26/04/2022’. That’s the week after our holiday

 

[wtfftw]

Memorandum of sale says ‘Aim to complete by: 26/04/2022’. That’s the week after our holiday

Then I guess you're aiming to complete before your holiday... June it is!

 

[5t3IIa]

Then I guess you're aiming to complete before your holiday... June it is!

It’s not funny

 

[wtfftw]

It’s not funny

Absolutely not

 

[5t3IIa]

Absolutely not

It’s going to go swimmingly.

 

[wtfftw]

It’s going to go swimmingly.

Yes. It actually sounds all good so far innit. Complicated, bewildering and stressful is standard.

 

[prunus]

Thanks for all that Can we really grill the vendor or estate agent about those things??

Avoid asking the estate agent anything at all if you can ask the vendor directly. Most estate agents simply add spanners into the works. They (the vendors) won’t know the answers to everything, but if they do you’re much more likely to get useful and accurate information - and if they don’t you both know what needs to be found out. Similarly tell them to just ask you direct anything they want to know about you and where you are in the purchase process. If you can get on and co-ordinate you can smooth the process no end [for example, later in the process you’ll be able to agree on what you need to instruct the solicitors regarding some aspect - if you agree together what you both want, then both give the solicitors identical instructions, it works much better than eg you speak to your solicitor, they speak to vendors solicitor, who speak to vendors, by which time the message has been so mangled by the solicitors caveating and covering their own arses that it makes no sense, so the vendors don’t instruct their solicitors to do whatever they’re supposed to, so that comes back via your solicitor as a refusal, which gums up the works. Really - this happens all the time.]

Re: completion dates. The first step here is a chat with the vendors (again! I am going to advise this a lot ). Find out what their timescales are, any dates they can’t do (holidays or whatever), when’s the earliest they’d like, and the latest, and agree a schedule between you that suits you both. Then you both communicate that to your solicitors as the target date. Don’t let the solicitors drive the pony! They work for you I’d make it 8 weeks or more from today, otherwise it might just be a stretch too far (though it’s possible to do the whole thing start to finish in 5 days, I wouldn’t advise trying for your first go )

 

[5t3IIa]

Avoid asking the estate agent anything at all if you can ask the vendor directly. Most estate agents simply add spanners into the works. They (the vendors) won’t know the answers to everything, but if they do you’re much more likely to get useful and accurate information - and if they don’t you both know what needs to be found out. Similarly tell them to just ask you direct anything they want to know about you and where you are in the purchase process. If you can get on and co-ordinate you can smooth the process no end [for example, later in the process you’ll be able to agree on what you need to instruct the solicitors regarding some aspect - if you agree together what you both want, then both give the solicitors identical instructions, it works much better than eg you speak to your solicitor, they speak to vendors solicitor, who speak to vendors, by which time the message has been so mangled by the solicitors caveating and covering their own arses that it makes no sense, so the vendors don’t instruct their solicitors to do whatever they’re supposed to, so that comes back via your solicitor as a refusal, which gums up the works. Really - this happens all the time.]

Re: completion dates. The first step here is a chat with the vendors (again! I am going to advise this a lot ). Find out what their timescales are, any dates they can’t do (holidays or whatever), when’s the earliest they’d like, and the latest, and agree a schedule between you that suits you both. Then you both communicate that to your solicitors as the target date. Don’t let the solicitors drive the pony! They work for you I’d make it 8 weeks or more from today, otherwise it might just be a stretch too far (though it’s possible to do the whole thing start to finish in 5 days, I wouldn’t advise trying for your first go )

Thanks buddy I’ll copy this ^ into my notes to reread and absorb properly

 

[cybershot]

The house we're supposed to be buying at the moment (supposed to exchange soon) the vendor is buying a new build with a flexible completion date eg we exchange now and don't complete until whenever her new build is ready. They are predicting end of June but could be delays of course.
We've decided we're not happy to do this, and although we will wait til June, we want a fixed date in the contract. If her new build isn't ready by end of June the vendor will just have to arrange somewhere to stay.
Our solicitor just can't get her head round this at all and just says there's no point even asking for a fixed date as the developers won't agree.
But I'm not asking the developers to agree! Just our vendor!
Arrrrggghhhhhhh

I'm viewing two more houses today anyway and am just so fed up of all this.

Indeed, it's not exactly difficult. Vendor moves into some temporary accommodation, puts stuff into storage. Pain in the arse, but stops the chain falling down. I know you think they hold the cards because their house is worth more now, but if you've seriously got money to spend on more surveys, solicitor fees etc, then make the ultimatum, give them a deadline, and if no answer, pull out. The fact these things take months to sort out and may delay them moving in any longer, may encourage them to play ball.

 

[Thora]

We said we wanted to agree a completion date and she has refused and put it back on the market for £10k more. Not sure if we have done the right thing or not but it's done now

 

[cybershot]

We said we wanted to agree a completion date and she has refused and put it back on the market for £10k more. Not sure if we have done the right thing or not but it's done now

Things like this generally end up working out for the better. Good luck with your new search.

 

[moose]

Anyone got any experience of buying a lockup garage?

 

[5t3IIa]

Anyone got any experience of buying a lockup garage?

No, but keep going. It’ll make a nice diversion

 

[moose]

No, but keep going. It’ll make a nice diversion

I don't know if I can be arsed, it seems like such a faff

 

[5t3IIa]

I don't know if I can be arsed, it seems like such a faff

Do you need it for your stuff? Or, like, a car? I’m just being nosey.

 

[moose]

Do you need it for your stuff? Or, like, a car? I’m just being nosey.

I used to want it for my lovely old car, it's across the road from my house on a street with not enough parking. All the time I've lived here, I've dreamed of having a garage. But it needs loads of work doing, and I don't drive my car much post-pandemic, so I'm wondering it it's worth the hassle and cost to a) have a garage and b) have a car. And I have to let the owner know on Sunday if I'm interested, before he hands it over to an estate agent to sell.

 

[Epona]

I used to want it for my lovely old car, it's across the road from my house on a street with not enough parking. All the time I've lived here, I've dreamed of having a garage. But it needs loads of work doing, and I don't drive my car much post-pandemic, so I'm wondering it it's worth the hassle and cost to a) have a garage and b) have a car. And I have to let the owner know on Sunday if I'm interested, before he hands it over to an estate agent to sell.

I rented a garage off our local council for a while, could that be an option for a bit if you are undecided about whether to buy?

 

[xenon]

Sent more docs to wouldbe lender. Phoned this morning. Should get an update by next Thu. They've accepted proof of funds etc. Just the other thing re cladding checks. (there's no bloody cladding.)
Then will have to rearrange survey.

Worried all this delay is gonna cause vendor to lose patients. Looked on Right Move again the other day, things already seem more expensive...

 

[Thora]

Offer accepted today

Attempted house purchase number 3 is on

 

[Epona]

Offer accepted today

Attempted house purchase number 3 is on

Good luck!

 

[5t3IIa]

Contact, at 1815 on a Friday, from mortgage broker saying mortgage provider can’t do due diligence on my three accounts with the same bank as the mortgage as the addresses don’t match the application The addresses all match on the statements! Why is the application address different? It shouldn’t be!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Contact, at 1815 on a Friday, from mortgage broker saying mortgage provider can’t do due diligence on my three accounts with the same bank as the mortgage as the addresses don’t match the application The addresses all match on the statements! Why is the application address different? It shouldn’t be!

They're a fucking shambles. They wouldn't take my partners income, despite being told they would. No worries she was starting a new job. Rush to get contract. They reject it as it doesn't have her name on. It's on the first page.

 

[5t3IIa]

There a fucking shambles. They wouldn't take my partners income, despite being told they would. No worries she was starting a new job. Rush to get contract. They reject it as it doesn't have her name on. It's on the first page.

Jesus The email from the broker said I should contact the bank…I’ve replied, attaching all 3 statements, saying ‘no, you check what you’ve written on the application’

It could be that the name doesn’t strictly match as one has full name with both my middle names (lol) and the other two have middle name initials only, but that’s the name not the address

 

[WouldBe]

Wouldn't the mortgage address be that of the property you are buying? After all that's the property that the mortgage will be against.

 

[Thora]

So we had an offer accepted on Friday, the house is marked as SSTC on Rightmove, we have found a solicitor and put in the mortgage application... but apparently the vendors haven't decided on a solicitor yet??
Is it just me or is that a bit weird