House Buying Is More Stressful Than Divorce, Death or Bankruptcy

[emma_p]

Oh hurrah Duo! You must be relieved.

Coal mining report? I've never heard of that! I hope you get a date soon.

Our buyers are very keen to get things sorted and our solicitor has been good so far We are seeing the wisteria house and another house with excellent potential tomorrow. We went back to the street of dreams house yesterday just to check that it would need absolutely no work doing (it doesn't). The vendors now have found somewhere they want to offer on but can't until they’re under offer (same situation we were in) and absolutely hounded the estate agent who showed us round to find out what we thought which bodes well for negotiating.

I would absolutely love it if we can get it at the right price. It is pretty much my dream house

[Ella77]

Hurrah! I hope things settle down soon.

[Cosmopolitan]

Yeah, we have this about 2 streets over, and apparently there is a disused mine shaft within 250metres of the property. The chimney is from an old smelter (I think)



Loads of coal mining under east bristol back in Victorian times, all disused now.

[smalex]

Bristol had loads of coal mining in the past, there's disused mines and shafts under loads of the city. It can be a right pain in the arse (planning apps need them sometimes). Can they sort one out quickly Cos?

eta; too late!

[emma_p]

Hope it’s not too time consuming or expensive to get done then Cos.

[Cosmopolitan]

oh, it was done within 24hrs so it's all fine and my solicitor should have everything in place now and is doing the ring round to find the right date to exchange.

[emma_p]

Great! Fingers crossed it’s soon so you can enjoy a bit of kitchen balcony action.

Do you have a new house Pinterest board?

[Cosmopolitan]

I've given up on Pinterest actually, I've moved to Houzz. I've got loads of ideas but am waiting to get in before starting anything. it'll be the first time I've lived in a 60s house and I'm intrigued. Also can't wait for the big windows.

[Kenickie]

Congrats, Duo!

[Duophonic]

I thought I'd update our situation:

We're now in the temp flat and it's a bit shit, it's ok but we're living out of boxes as the sellers are refusing to reduce the date which will mean that we're here for over two months, I know it's not a massive amount of time in the grand scheme of things but we're both working full time, seeing that Eric is settled and juggling normal day to day life. The sellers are retired but very active and able so I'm loosing the will to live with their attitude.

SO! A property went on the market yesterday, period property and in the area we were initially wanting to settle but decent properties are like hen's teeth. This place has been meticulously maintained, owner been there over 30 years, it's been marketed by the same estate agent that marketed the place we offered on. I phoned the estate agent, they can't bar us from viewing this new property but were extremely unhappy that their client might scupper the EA's hefty commission so they phoned our sellers to tell them what we were doing and to say "get your finger out or this sale will fall through".

I could see myself in either property to be honest, there are pros and cons to both although the one we've offered on has a better configuration than the new one. The new one has a nicer kitchen but have also converted their attic but it's a ladder access which I'll never use. So we'll see.

TL;DR - we're viewing more properties to try and bluff our sellers.

[Beena]

Good. Hopefully it will make them think on, Duo. Why are they dragging their heels?

[Duophonic]

Their response has been 'we've nowhere to go' and my response has been. 'I'm pouring money down the drain with rent and storage rental'.

We offered a date of 4th Sept from the get go to meet them halfway and still be generous but they dismissed it instantly.

From offer acceptance to moving in if the original date is honoured will be over 13 weeks. It's a fucking joke!

[smalex]

How come you aren't committed already in the normal Scottish (incredibly sensible) way?

13 weeks wouldn't be too bad down here

[Duophonic]

We haven't concluded Missives yet. My solicitor has completed the conveyancing on our part and they're sitting with the sellers to provide affidavits that the loft conversion was done prior to them moving in, the evidence points to the conversion being done early 80s but it's to cover us if we sell.

So due to all that either party can pull the plug. Most times the Missives aren't concluded until a week or so of exchange. Our flat they were done same day last Friday.

The majority of purchases are done here in 6-8 weeks. Everyone up here keeps asking and saying "how long?!"

[smalex]

Oh I see. Fingers crossed they pull their finger out now, anyway.
I don't think it should take 13 weeks anywhere really!

[Cosmopolitan]

I don't think it should take 13 weeks anywhere really!

I agree (after having all offers accepted in early April) and still not having exchanged. Ideally we will this week though and move next week. I hope.

[Beena]

Are you all ready to go, Cos?

We are moving 2 weeks today. I am starting to panic* a little. I need a checklist I think. Preferably one that doesn't make me feel wholly inadequate.

*Panicking for me is sitting quietly in a corner, thinking 'fuck, fuck, fuck'. If one more person says 'ohhhh exciting' or 'I wouldn't be that calm', I may have to lamp them.

[Duophonic]

It's a massive change, good luck Beena.

[emma_p]

I didn't realise your offer was accepted back in April Cos! Fingers crossed you're in there soon.

I really feel for you Beena, how about breaking it up into several smaller lists/tasks? I had a notebook with different categories each time we did our big moves but I found that easier than one huge one.

We saw two houses in our area of choice on Saturday and one could be a possibility but it needs quite a lot of work as the current owner fosters cats and has basically turned the whole house into a cat hotel. He's French and leaving because of the uncertainty of Brexit It has huge potential and could be a truly amazing house and I would be very happy to have it as a back up.

But seeing these pushed us to up our offer on the street of dreams which needs no work today. I really, really hope it's enough

[Cosmopolitan]

Are you all ready to go, Cos?

We are moving 2 weeks today. I am starting to panic* a little. I need a checklist I think. Preferably one that doesn't make me feel wholly inadequate.

https://www.reallymoving.com/help-and-a ... -checklist was quite a useful thing for me. I just picked off all the important ones to me.

We are ready to go. I haven't had any email from my solicitor today.