Houses

[Dreadnought]

59 minutes ago, ithuriel said:

Lovely, Severn Trent Water sent me a letter saying they are going to install a water meter outside my property, not asked for one, and they will do it whether I'm there or not.

 

I got exactly the same letter. Said that they were going to do it in March. They have never been to do it. Hope it stays that way. 

[Tommy G]

How long on average these days between offer accepted and getting the keys, 3 months?

[Zear0]

Just now, Tommy G said:

How long on average these days between offer accepted and getting the keys, 3 months?

At the mercy of the speed of the shittest solicitor in the chain. Three sounds about right though. 

[Raj]

9 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

How long on average these days between offer accepted and getting the keys, 3 months?

yep, thats how long my dads sale took- gotta keep pestering the conveyancers and see what comes back from your surveys too 

[lcfc278]

3 hours ago, Tommy G said:

How long on average these days between offer accepted and getting the keys, 3 months?

 

3 hours ago, Raj said:

yep, thats how long my dads sale took- gotta keep pestering the conveyancers and see what comes back from your surveys too 

Agree with the conveyancer thing, in my experience it's whoever shouts loudest that gets sorted quicker. Chase everything and ask for regular updates, call them if you don't get answers within 24 hours and just generally keep on top of them. THose that don't chase they will just deal with it whenever but if you nicely 'pester' them you can easily save a couple of weeks over the whole process.

Edited 18 June 2024 by lcfc278

[Nalis]

6 hours ago, Zear0 said:

At the mercy of the speed of the shittest solicitor in the chain. Three sounds about right though. 

Nail on the head. You could have a really good solicitor but if someone has gone with a two bob high street conveyancer to save money for a shit service then yeah, it's pretty shit for the whole chain.

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Our chain has completely ground to a halt due to complications with probate at the very top. Just assessing our options at the moment which will most likely be telling the offending party to break the chain or we're pulling out. 16 weeks and counting. 

 

Completely agree with the comment above about being at the mercy of the cheapest solicitor. Someone is going to hold up the chain with an out of town, online only solicitor, so if we ever move again I'm going to hire one myself so at least I can chase them myself  

Edited 28 June 2024 by Sol thewall Bamba

[Xen]

Got our survey back this week (lvl 3 which was maybe slightly overkill) and theyve quoted £14k+ for work that needs doing (purchase price of £225k). Obviously some of that is over the  top and wont cost that much or isnt urgent, but other stuff is slightly concerning - some damp issues, brickwork that needs attention etc etc. May need to go back in and renegotiate.

 

Slightly concerning and need to assess our options now. Tired of the whole process after our last one fell through (no fault of our own) and really just want to get it over the line and done with. But also dont want to get saddled with an expensive money sink.

 

 

Doesnt help that we're going away on holiday this time next week, which is just going to delay everything even more 

[Izzy]

14 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Our chain has completely ground to a halt due to complications with probate at the very top. Just assessing our options at the moment which will most likely be telling the offending party to break the chain or we're pulling out. 16 weeks and counting. 

 

Completely agree with the comment above about being at the mercy of the cheapest solicitor. Someone is going to hold up the chain with an out of town, online only solicitor, so if we ever move again I'm going to hire one myself so at least I can chase them myself  

 

4 minutes ago, Xen said:

Got our survey back this week (lvl 3 which was maybe slightly overkill) and theyve quoted £14k+ for work that needs doing (purchase price of £225k). Obviously some of that is over the  top and wont cost that much or isnt urgent, but other stuff is slightly concerning - some damp issues, brickwork that needs attention etc etc. May need to go back in and renegotiate.

 

Slightly concerning and need to assess our options now. Tired of the whole process after our last one fell through (no fault of our own) and really just want to get it over the line and done with. But also dont want to get saddled with an expensive money sink.

 

Doesnt help that we're going away on holiday this time next week, which is just going to delay everything even more 

We put our house on the market last week and have got our first viewing tomorrow.

 

Reading these posts just confirms what a fvckin ball ache moving house is and why we've stayed put for the last 22 years.

 

Really not looking forward to all this hassle coming up.

 

Best of luck to you both.

[Daggers]

On 15/06/2024 at 18:18, Izzy said:

Has anyone got experience of trading in their old house for a new build?

 

Seen a new house we love but really cba putting ours on the market and all that fannying around. 

 

Would be so much easier if the builder takes it off our hands but it's clearly not their preferred option.

 

 

It was a blinding move. 
 

They agreed a price for ours, housing market tumbled, they had to honour the price. Plus, they sent a team to pack us up, move us and unpack. It was the most painless move ever. 

[Xen]

4 hours ago, Izzy said:

 

We put our house on the market last week and have got our first viewing tomorrow.

 

Reading these posts just confirms what a fvckin ball ache moving house is and why we've stayed put for the last 22 years.

 

Really not looking forward to all this hassle coming up.

 

Best of luck to you both.

Thanks.

 

Second time going through the process after our first one fell through (before the survey) but that was going better and quicker than anticipated until that point, this time its a bit more 'typical' so to speak, so hopefully we can get it all resolved without too much extra stress. Very short chain (us, our vendor and their empty onward purchase) so hopefully that gives us some bargaining power if we threaten to pull out...

 

We're still only 3 months in from the first viewing (of this house) so can't complain too much about the timescale, really!

[Sol thewall Bamba]

On 28/06/2024 at 15:44, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Our chain has completely ground to a halt due to complications with probate at the very top. Just assessing our options at the moment which will most likely be telling the offending party to break the chain or we're pulling out. 16 weeks and counting. 

 

Completely agree with the comment above about being at the mercy of the cheapest solicitor. Someone is going to hold up the chain with an out of town, online only solicitor, so if we ever move again I'm going to hire one myself so at least I can chase them myself  

Getting worse by the day at the moment.

 

Turns out the probate sale at the top of the chain is completely in the mud because the couple that lived there and passed away weren't legally married as they thought they were (couldn't fvcking write it could you), so their wills were void and the trustees can't sell the house. Our buyer is basically ready to go, been chasing via our agent for weeks to then suddenly turn around and say "sorry no idea when this will be sorted haha". Solicitor at the top is chasing but it's completely at the mercy of the crown estate deciding if they can sell and have the funds held by the solicitor until it gets sorted.

 

Our sellers (3rd out of 4, buying the probate sale), won't break the chain because she runs a business from home and needs the space. 

 

So essentially the whole thing is jammed up and I've got no idea what to do. Completely drained from the whole thing and it's taken all the excitement out of buying what should be our ideal forever home. If we pull out of buying we'd have to complete our sale and find something temporary, if we just sit here and wait for the decision we'll probably lose our buyer.

[Izzy]

21 minutes ago, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Getting worse by the day at the moment.

 

Turns out the probate sale at the top of the chain is completely in the mud because the couple that lived there and passed away weren't legally married as they thought they were (couldn't fvcking write it could you), so their wills were void and the trustees can't sell the house. Our buyer is basically ready to go, been chasing via our agent for weeks to then suddenly turn around and say "sorry no idea when this will be sorted haha". Solicitor at the top is chasing but it's completely at the mercy of the crown estate deciding if they can sell and have the funds held by the solicitor until it gets sorted.

 

Our sellers (3rd out of 4, buying the probate sale), won't break the chain because she runs a business from home and needs the space. 

 

So essentially the whole thing is jammed up and I've got no idea what to do. Completely drained from the whole thing and it's taken all the excitement out of buying what should be our ideal forever home. If we pull out of buying we'd have to complete our sale and find something temporary, if we just sit here and wait for the decision we'll probably lose our buyer.

What a fvcking nightmare.

 

I feel for you mate, I really do.

[Xen]

Currently facing the prospect of having to make calls and try to (re)negotiate whilst on holiday in Crete next week. That's going to be delightful.

 

Won't be moving again in a rush, thats for sure 

[AjcW]

34 minutes ago, Xen said:

Currently facing the prospect of having to make calls and try to (re)negotiate whilst on holiday in Crete next week. That's going to be delightful.

 

Won't be moving again in a rush, thats for sure 

I had to try and find a last minute removal company while carrying a 3 year old round legoland last week .... we shall be staying here until I die.

[VLC86]

Favourite moving story I’ve ever heard is where completion happened, the guy turns up at the new house with all of his stuff and he has to sit outside because the people hadn’t packed and were “making dinner”. 

[Stadt]

Had the level 2 survey back today for my first house.

 

Do they overegg the recommendations a little bit to cover their arses?

 

The electrics I know for a fact are absolutely fine if not a little old - but because there's no EICR it's an immediate Level 3.

[Tommy G]

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent removal company? I've done moving once with a man and a van and never again. I want someone to turn up, pack it up and take it round the corner to the new house, no messing ideally!

[Raj]

2 hours ago, Stadt said:

Had the level 2 survey back today for my first house.

 

Do they overegg the recommendations a little bit to cover their arses?

 

The electrics I know for a fact are absolutely fine if not a little old - but because there's no EICR it's an immediate Level 3.

@Strokes

[FoxesDeb]

35 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent removal company? I've done moving once with a man and a van and never again. I want someone to turn up, pack it up and take it round the corner to the new house, no messing ideally!

We used Bell and Sons years ago and couldn't fault them

 

https://www.bellandsons.co.uk/

[Sol thewall Bamba]

2 hours ago, Stadt said:

Had the level 2 survey back today for my first house.

 

Do they overegg the recommendations a little bit to cover their arses?

 

The electrics I know for a fact are absolutely fine if not a little old - but because there's no EICR it's an immediate Level 3.

Had exactly the same, they won't say it's anything other than a level three because they're not qualified to. 

[Strokes]

2 hours ago, Stadt said:

Had the level 2 survey back today for my first house.

 

Do they overegg the recommendations a little bit to cover their arses?

 

The electrics I know for a fact are absolutely fine if not a little old - but because there's no EICR it's an immediate Level 3.

Yeah, they are not qualified to do so. So will just downgrade it to cover themselves.

It’s a bit shit really, there should be a legal requirement to have had one done in the last 5 years if you sell a house in my opinion.

[Stadt]

1 hour ago, Strokes said:

Yeah, they are not qualified to do so. So will just downgrade it to cover themselves.

It’s a bit shit really, there should be a legal requirement to have had one done in the last 5 years if you sell a house in my opinion.

Yeah I agree but it just adds to the cost I guess - this one doesn’t even have an EPC because the seller’s estate agent is crap.

Edited 3 July 2024 by Stadt

[Strokes]

4 minutes ago, Stadt said:

Yeah I agree but it just adds to the cost I guess - this one doesn’t even have an EPC because the seller’s estate agent is crap.

Hopefully you got a good price?

[Stadt]

1 minute ago, Strokes said:

Hopefully you got a good price?

11k under asking, it’s only a 2 bed so any lower wasn’t very realistic imo.

 

The estate agent didn’t even put our second offer to the seller for about 3 weeks because they missed the email ffs