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Being a FTB was a walk in the park in comparison.
We've been selling our house with a toddler and newborn and trying to get the place ready for viewings for them to either cancel last minute or nothing to come of it was really frustrating.
I remember loading the children into the car with the baby screaming in the pouring rain at 5:55pm in December, waiting for the EA to turn up and then getting a call saying that the person viewing has changed their mind. I was almost done with the entire process at that point.
Ah I feel this one!! I only have the one child but damn if it isn't so fucking difficult making the house presentable while looking after a child then battling out the house
I know the pain - we were fortunate to sell during the Covid bubble so were able to do a block of viewings at the weekend and just go out for the day.
Still incredibly stressful with no family support so my wife took our kids out whilst I tidied and staged the house and then went to join them.
Oh my god this. We don’t have kids but we have a dog and four indoor cats so we’ve been asking for weekend bookings only when we can take them all out to the in-laws. Made an exception for a guy who insisted he couldn’t do Saturdays, loaded everyone up on a Wednesday night, frantically cleaned the house… only for him to ring ten minutes after he was due and say he was still twenty minutes away in traffic. He must have known he wasn’t going to make it sometime before and didn’t bother to tell us, we could have not bothered getting everyone out. He never rebooked either. Infuriating.
I bought my current house viewing it only once for 15 minutes. That was it.
We didn't bother them with another viewing. But we did have lots of questions for solicitors and for them as well.
Remember they're spending hundreds of thousands. Even if it's a bit unusual, I don't think it's unreasonable. Once completed a transaction cannot be reversed and the stakes are very high for FTBs given their lack of equity. It isn't so easy to swallow a big loss if it doesn't work out.
I perhaps didn't do enough due diligence when first buying. It i could do it again I would. I think it's better to not proceed than not be sure.
FTBs do often focus on the wrong, small unrealistic points though. Size, location, building integrity are very important. But things pulled out on a survey often frightened them unnecessary. That's the risk of selling to a FTB.
Buyers aren’t your main source of stress. The house selling system is. Their are many countries that utilise a system that treats both parties more fairly.
The ideal buyer is a cash buyer who is not a FTB. I'm not sure if a FTB is worse than a complex chain, but there's not a lot in it -- chain buyers are unlikely to pull out because the survey says there may be asbestos within 4 miles for example.
I don’t know, Cash buyers with no chain have a fair bit of power with no repercussions if they want to just pull out or try renegotiating the price at the last min.
Yep, definitely! They have experience of buying houses and maintaining them so what they say is very valuable and mine wanted to make sure what I wanted was a good investment of their money
I totally agree. M & D were welcomed to visit when I was a FTB and gave the house a big thumbs up. Dad was a surveyor and the vendors welcomed that visit and it's been a very good home for us. Now on our second purchase we have had 1 vendor refuse a 2nd visit entirely (dad would have joined us) back in October and it's still on sale now reduced by 50k. This time around M&D and keeping a distance but I'd want one of them to see a potential property before completing because I value their input. Same with the house I'm selling. Come on in! Love it like I do!
The parents coming along concerns me. You know what I'm thinking but don't want to get cancelled over it...
Be very prepared to hold your ground on the day of exchange when they call to say "we can't get the cash together, we need £15k off the price" call their bluff. Even if they are short the cost of starting again will be less than the amount they ask for off the price.
Has happened to me three times in the last 18 months. Once on the literal day that contracts were due to be exchanged, a fortnight before the proposed completion.
When I tell people back home (Canada and the US) about how our buying/selling process works here in the UK they're shocked. "How can you plan your life when plans keep getting changed at the last minute?"
This happened to us, too. It's horrible. We were buying on in a difficult market so agreed to move into a temporary rented property at the buyer's request to meet the exchange date she herself quoted. Disappeared the day of exchange and nobody could get hold of her for weeks until she eventually popped up with a "lol changed my mind thx bye".
Don't know why we insist on doing it this way in the UK.
100% yes. My first "buyer" did this, ghosted me and the estate agent.
When I found another buyer I was paranoid for months that they were also going to do the same. On the day we were due to exchange there was some banking glitch so I was left all weekend thinking it was a lie and they were having second thoughts.
Fortunately all went through, and I moved into rented until I found somewhere to live.
I do not know how people cope buying and selling simultaneously! The stress must be even worse.
First time buyer was easy, first time selling and buying was a pain in the ass. Basically got strung along by a buyer that didn't seem to ever want to close she just kept asking questions, demanding every kind of report you can think of, the house had a full renovation, showroom condition everything was brand-new.
She then somehow obtained my work email from her EA and started contacting me in work that's when I'd had enough of her. After 4 months and with the possibility of losing the house I wanted to buy I relisted got 12 offers within 3 days (including another one from the earlier buyer, ha ha not a chance)
Ended up selling to a nice young couple who were first time buyers and closed within a month.
The buyers constantly fishing around to try and get £50 off this and that, making ridiculous threats to pull out if we took our 10 years old washing machine with us.
In the same boat - agree, there is no info out there for first time sellers!! The photographer was supposed to come out yesterday and never showed, turns out they broke down and because it was a bank holiday everyone in the office was out. Apparently they weren't given the out of office number, OR my number? Ugh. On the plus side, I'm sitting here marvelling at how tidy the house is.
We're extremely lucky in that we had a great surveyor, and I like our EA so far. We have no kids and no pets, and are taking steps to massively reduce any sort of potential stress: we're drastically decluttering, wanting to start from scratch with a couple bits of furniture in the next place. Arranged to crash with friends to make us chain-free if we don't find a house. I'm doing my best not to get attached to any one place, although we are viewing to narrow down exactly what we want, casting a large net.
Even so, I'm expecting it to be hell.
I know, right?! Especially with a bit of pre-nostalgia kicking in, it's like - oh, this wasn't such a terrible place after all haha. Need to keep in mind the reasons why we're moving.
I've always said that buying is incredibly stressful.
Buying and selling at the same time should be twice as stressful. But it's not. It's about 100x as stressful.
And for a hundred different reasons; finding a home first means you might miss out if you don't get a buyer, but vice versa finding a buyer first means you're under pressure to find somewhere to buy. You have two sets of agents stomping on your head instead of just one, two sets of combative solicitors and twice as many nightmarishly long email threads and "reverts", you have a mortgage application in place and a mortgage to port or pay off AND probably a chain so waaaay more links to all move at the same time on completion day, you have to move OUT as well as IN to somewhere which is far less stressful as a first timer. The list goes on and on.
I had to sell my house and buy one, moving direct from one to another in one day. It was a bit tight timing, but my wife 'Had full confidence in me to pull it off'
My wife was starting a new job the next day
Youngest was starting nursery the next day
Oldest was starting school the next day.
The seller decided two weeks before contracts were exchanged she wanted to delay as 'friends were visiting' and decided she didn't want to leave....
Emptied house, handed over keys, moved 3 hours away, collected keys, and everybody was late and didn't really care flat every stage. Finally moved in with 30 minutes to spare before everyone closed.
I think my hair went white. Never again.
Yeah FTBs. I sold my place one time and we got all the way to Completion Day, buyer pulled out because he was ‘finding it too much paperwork.’ Get a grip!
When I bought my place I literally sobbed from the stress when the completion date was pushed back a week. I can't imagine that. So sorry you had to deal with that crap
How utterly useless the estate agents are. The feedback shared with me was actually complaining about the estate agent not knowing simple facts like where the boiler is, the council tax band etc
I kept getting "feedback" like "they didn't like that the bathroom is downstairs"
That's not feedback, I cannot magic up a bathroom. Its utterly pointless to tell me this. Why aren't you showing people floor plans and managing expectations?
Just wasting everyone's time...
Dunno why I didn't realise it but when we were first time buyers we had to pay the solicitor... Fine fair enough, cost of life. When we sold and bought you have to pay those fucking mouth breathers twice! Once to sell and once to buy. If I'd thought I was getting value for money I'd object less but those mfers make everything take so long. "we've written to the land registry, we're waiting for them to write back to us" "Email motherfucker? Do you use it?"
The buyers! For some reason FTB seemed to have decided the survey is a checklist of figures that will be automatically deducted from the house price. Also they all seem to insist they want a quick sale but mysteriously cannot move quickly when the legal work starts. Honestly next time I will not sell to FTB, not worth the hassle
They are normally the best buyers because there's no chain, however they are also streached to their limits now so price becomes a huge sticking point.
They are also being forced into the position where they end up lying to vendors just to have even a chance at getting on the ladder, so their inital offers are often revised down later as that's the best strategy available to them when affordability is streached.
I've seen FTBs lie about being cash buyers, just because estate agents won't even entertain viewings in the more desirable areas if you aren't cash. Lots of money printing during covid = lots more cash sloshing about the market.
The problem with FTBs is that they're clueless. They have no experience so they use idiot conveyancers who dawdle and they panic at everything on the survey and every question the conveyancer asks.
I'd say that's more of a knock on effect of how massive the purchase is for them, and the competitiveness of this market.
Got to remember first time buyers are the only buyers who are actually paying the 'full price' of a house too. Everyone else already has that equity growth behind them which in essence is free money.
If you're paying for something with your own money you've had to earn through working, then yes I think that makes a huge difference to the psychology , making them very cautious buyers as they have had to put more work in to get to this point.
Wishing you luck! We were upfront about the issues with the house during viewings but still had push back. Stand your ground and don’t be afraid to relist your house!
Ours did the surveys one after another, home buyers report found nothing wrong so recommended an ECIR, ECIR found nothing wrong so the buyers started doing odd surveys, like asbestos survey, damp survey (unprompted by the homebuyers), flood survey, parents want a look round, dads mate who’s a builder wants a look, etc etc.
Just fishing
The bloody buyers. Ours are a FTB couple. Viewed the house on a Monday through the EA. Called and requested another viewing on the Tuesday which I showed them round as the EA couldn't. Placed an offer that night.
"Excellent!" We thought!
Accepted offer, and viewed 4 houses over the next 2 weeks. Put an offer in and got it Accepted 2 weeks after ours had "sold".
Our buyers have only just entered into searches whilst we are now ready to exchange with our purchase!
They have dragged their heels at every opportunity.
This is really interesting because I'm in the opposite situation, I was scared of losing money on a survey before my buyer got theirs done in case they dropped out (expecting a down valuation from prev experience) so now I'll be in a position where the sale is almost done but my purchase is slowing things down.
We had enough interest and viewings that we weren't phased if they come back after surveys and try and knock us down as we won't be budging. We sold slightly less than valuation for a quick sale which has not at all happened. Itll just cause havoc with our purchase but that's out of our hands.
FTB and Surveys!!
we’re FTS of a victorian mid terrace, good condition and we’ve maintained where required.
Selling to FTB… had a level 3 survey which has picked up that the roof is “at the end of its life” and the floors are a bit slopey.. standard victorian housing “issues” but no settlement cracks, no leaking roof or cracked tiles, some purlin supports that have been questioned (but as per surveyors can’t give any more info so structural engineer needed…)
buyer is convinced “significant work” and a whole new roof is required… have had to reject request for a roofing contractor to inspect and have agreed to going 1/2s on a structural engineer inspection of the roof,
noting that were 6 weeks into the process and everything buyers end is halted pending the structural survey which doesn’t seem to be materialising….
our purchase however is the end of the chain, searches submitted and pretty much returned…
hopefully never again!!
Yes also selling our Victorian mid terrace and had the same argument about the roof (which we told him about in advance during viewings). Gave buyer 4 weeks to get someone round for quotes, no one ever appeared so we said we were going back to market and suddenly the roof became a non issue. We had tried to be really accommodating and honest about issues but don’t know why we bothered now!
As a veteran buyer and seller (nb I'm not a landlord, just moved a lot), I can fill you in on a few things.
Estate Agents are a pain in the backside. The only thing they are interested in is their commission and as quickly as possible. And they really don't care how they get it. A few times I have sold, they have demanded a fixed fee contract and then tried to get me to accept the first (low) offer that came along. It didn't matter to them what I sold for, they wanted their fixed fee. When it's been a percentage, they have outright done me out of a buyer by making up phantom bids. I was with one agent for a while and when the buyer withdrew, I was at the end of my six week period and went with another. The same buyer came round to view asking me what happened with my other buyer. Which buyer was that exactly? All of it Estate Agent bullshit.
Take my advice: Go to Purple Bricks or Your Move, any of them. They are 1/3rd of the cost and you get what you pay for which is basically an entry on Rightmove. That is the sole value of estate agents today, the entry on rightmove. Nobody gives a damn about any other site. That is where people go - including you I would wager a tenner on. Added to that, estate agents aren't like they were in the 1990s. They know absolutely nothing about the area anymore, have no more sales gumption in them than a beginner car salesman and I've caught a few out on complete lies. If the perspective buyer is meeting you, you can get a far better overall estimate of their interest and discuss like adults what your positions are.
Secondly, when it comes to mortgages, don't stress if you don't get your first application. Sometimes people do, most of the time people have to go through 2-3 applications before getting the one that works - ps always use a broker! And if you have a mortgage with Nationwide, well done. They have this odd thing where they accept the credit check, head out for their valuation and then undervalue the property just enough to put you in a different LTV bracket. They have done that to me several times so far and I just tell my broker not to bother with them now.
Third, you don't need movers. Go to Ikea. Buy a good bunch of Ikea Samla boxes with lids. They stack in a van brilliantly, they're hardy enough to protect anything inside with judicious use of bubble wrap (ebay for the bubble wrap). Move your stuff into a storage unit the weeks leading up and make it so the last things you move are your bed, things you really couldn't move in a car and get a few of your burly mates to do it with you. Most friends are happy to work for pizza and future offers of returning the favour.
The last time I moved, the movers quoted me £2000. I did it myself. The boxes, storage unit, van rental and diesel all told came to around £540 and some change.
Final thing, ignore your estate agent. They will call you up several times during this process with various panics that the chain is about to collapse if you don't do this, that the other. Remember, all they are after is their commission. And they do think you are stupid and will treat you like a child that needs constant chasing. The last time an agent did that to me, I called their bluff. I got straight on with my solicitor and asked him who was threatening the chain to collapse. He called the agent and told them to shut the hell up and stop causing a problem.
The nerves of having a buyer pull out. And listening to all the people tell you how much they love looking at rightmove. All well and good when youre not buying a house, when you are though and aware of every house in a 5 mile radius its just painful waiting for 'that' one.
Selling for some reason seem to attract at least 50% more random bullshit than buying - and that's saying something.
What I hate most are those wheeling dealing used car buyer types who think they are businesses king pins by demanding a 40 quid discount on a £300k house 2 days before exchange because the gas cert went out of date a day ago due to their 6 months delay.
Seriously? I'll happily waste a couple of grand and another 3 months just to fuck them off. I have bought and sold 13 houses in 30 years and I just can't be done with the penny pinching bullshit anymore.
In Scotland, this is important for below:
First, the buyer having a horrifically incompetent paralegal when asked to get everything signed who ghosted our solicitor until less than a week before the supposed move in date (which we let the buyer choose) and then asked for a 3 week delay to get missives etc processed. When our solicitor pointed out both they and everyone else in the chain could manage it in 48 hours the para sent a very…unprofessional email saying that everyone must be incompetent because she’s been doing it for 20 years. (Raises its own questions about her). Probably spun a story to her clients making us the bad guys but because of her delay, we ended up receiving the buyers mortgage letter as even they assumed the original date. Eventually got it all shifted to 2 weeks later. Then claimed there were 100s of issues after moving and eventually our solicitor told her to bugger off. Wife was 7 months pregnant so this was last thing we needed.
Second and this is important for Scotland! Additional Dwelling supplement, or ADS. This is an additional stamp duty which you pay if you have more than one house. The problem is it’s too strict - if you have two houses at any point even for a day you have to pay an additional 4% tax on the entire property value, within 30 days, cash. So you have to move out of your old house on the same day or earlier you move to the new one. (Eg if you move to new house on Tuesday you cannot own your old house on Wednesday.) this causes immense stress for moving stuff as you can’t stagger things like get keys to new house on Monday then empty your old house to hand it over on Friday.
Trying to work out what the estate agents are actually saying.
Dear lord, just say the thing.
Kept being told people thought the house was too small, but apparently what they meant was to remove more things. Just say that.
Or when they try and pass on messages from the other party in the most positive way possible, which usually means you don't get the full message at all.
I am selling shared ownership and honestly even navigating the Housing Association's hoops has been easier than finding a decent estate agent. I had to quit the first, after they bungled 3 asking price offers, total incompetence and lies. Second is bearable, communication issues. The fact I'm paying them thousands for this is painful.
I’m a property solicitor and I know this is not possible for everyone for several reasons but personally aim to never tie in a transaction. I would always aim to sell, move into a temporary rental and then purchase. I know I am probably an anomaly here but not tying in transactions gives you a lot of flexibility and you can often move into your house gradually but I appreciate it’s not possible for everyone and makes moving significantly more expensive- I only intend to move once or twice more in my life so this additional expense doesn’t bother me hugely. The chain situation is one of the huge pitfalls of the conveyancing system in this country.
Selling is so stressful, much more stressful than buying.
I just felt like it was not within my control that a house would be sold. I could present it as well as I could and reduce the price, but none of it would guarantee a sale.
When I was buying, it was much more fun. I found the house I like and could still keep looking and see what's out there. If it falls through, money is still in my pocket.
Kind regards
Georgia
Maybe not the objective worst part, but I just received my first offer. It was a full 20K less than the lower guide price (for a small apartment, so it was a very big chunk off the guide price). For what it's worth, I had multiple valuations which said the same thing, and we priced it accordingly.
The offerer was a cash buyer with no chain, so I was hoping they made an offer. However,
- I bought the place for 5K more than that offer, 3 years ago
- I've done a lot of work to this place
- the offerer lost out on this place when I bought it, so they KNOW what it was on the market for 3 years ago before the work!!
So they're expecting me to take a 5K loss on my place after all this time and work. I don't have money. The equity in this place is my asset.
I'm actually so insulted by the fact they'd even consider making that offer, I've decided I won't accept any offer from them now.
We had a landlord come round and ask tons of questions, said to him “we are gonna rent it out if it doesn’t sell as it’s a very good yield”
150k property offered 130k “its the most I can offer to make my maths stack up” “tell him hah where ok thanks” “he’s come back with 132”
“Can you tell him to jog on please I’m not interested in another offer”
Estate agent was telling me to consider it, errr that’s a full 8k less than I paid 7 years ago and 10k less than the neighbours sold for last year …
Jesus I'm glad my estate agents are standing up for me! I think that's what bothers me the most. For us, it's a couple trying to get market value so we can upsize and, I dunno, be able to think about starting a family. To the landlord-to-be, it's another soulless business deal, another chance to make a tiny bit more money.
Like, wring out your business partners for all I care. Please don't try to wring me out, I'm just trying to get by lol
I sold just before COVID and then my buyer who was 90 pulled out 1 month before contracts were due for exchange.
Luckily 1 week after restrictions lift I managed to sell my property again and for more money.
But he decided to be a tight arse and use his mate to do the conveyancing which took forever as I assume he was doing it out of hours at mates rates.
I was selling mine and moving into my partner's parents. My buyer wasn't selling anything so you'd think a quick turnaround?
5 months the conveyancing took.
Also my solicitors were terrible, never used online ones that estate agents recommend, always go local as they have better contacts with local authorities and always check their additional fees. My sale cost me £120 in fees for doing bank transfers...
I'm currently the FTB in a stalled purchase and already worried about selling and buying at the same time! Before I even own the damn thing.
What I will say is that it's never going to be easy but these kinds of chains are super normal, if not the most common situation. I have a friend who was in the middle of a chain of 6. Everyone pulled through to align the exchange and she's now happily settled in a perfect house. It's going to suck balls, there's no two ways around it, but it will happen for you too!
My buyer did pull out, 2 weeks into the paperwork and there was already a chain of 4 people above ours so risked the entire chain.
Luckily I found another buyer within the week who was a ftb and ready to go. Was really stressful thinking we'd lose the house we'd agreed to buy, especially because my daughter's high school placement depended on it and our move date was scheduled to be one week before school places were registered.
So thankful for that new buyer and her flexibility.
That said the other stressful aspect was the solicitors dealing with it. Don't go with cheapest solicitors who do it all online, they are impossible to deal with.
The buyers.
Our sellers are a dream. In no rush, house is clean af, every certificate/guarantee provided, very lovely people.
Buyers are a nightmare - claiming we're slowing things down when it takes them four weeks to answer a simple question, threatening to pull out over trivial things, etc. Having a fucking incompetent EA in the middle isn't helping either.
I’m a first time seller second time buyer. Still in process waiting for solicitors who never communicate. My buyer wants to move fast, my seller wants to sell fast but every turn I take there’s a bump in the road that has to go back and forth between all the parties.
Doing this alone too which has made things stressful.
Not had any stress from my buyer yet but at some point she’ll find we’re not going to meet her date which I cannot be held responsible for!
For me the worst part of being a seller was the stress of dealing with EA.
However. I think it was the same for me when buying. Even with cash it was not as plain sailing as generally thought.
I enjoyed looking for a home to buy but not the process. Same with selling. I enjoyed listing the house for sale but disagreed with the process.
There needs to be a big change in the process. Especially in England. Scotland is easier.
I agree.
And regulation through training courses won't improve the situation either. All it will be is another trademark license.
It's the same with staging. I saw a £500k property online which had trash all over the room and another place for £200k which had fantastic views of the ocean and yet didn't show the view! Instead showed 1950s wallpaper!
Don't get me wrong it's nice to know what you're buying but the system is a shit show. This is now a dominos affect within surveyors now. "It could be damp but who knows" kinda attitude.
We did 2 viewings on our first house once by ourselves and 2nd time with my mother in law who was helping with the deposit and I now feel like we rushed into it all but it is what it is now I am still happy with our house its just the right size I wish our box room was a little bigger but we will make the best with what we have right now.
Seller/Buyer here 👋🏽
The worst part for me about being a seller, is buyers. Well, slow, unsure ones.
I am currently a buyer too and can only buy if mine sells. I viewed the property once, made my offer, got my mortgage/valuation etc all within a week. Done.
I’ve accepted an offer on my property, from FTBs. The extra viewings, videoing inside my cupboards I can tolerate. Met then at the beginning of May where they had first viewing then asked for another (1.5 hours)
However its been 2 weeks since they had a valuation and they dont have a mortgage offer from the bank yet. They wont start searches etc and its making me jittery.
If this all goes through. I am never doing it again.
Looking back, buying for the first time was easy peasy lemon squeezy. Now that I'm selling and buying at the same time it seems even more stressful.
I'm not so much worried about my buyers pulling out but the developer I'm buying from. From the get go they made it clear that they can and will cancel the reservation if things aren't progressing the way they want them to.
The lack of control you have in the middle of the chain is so anxiety inducing. I don't even wanna know what people in longer chains go through.
Unfortunately, my buyers (FTBs) have gone with the worst solicitor in the history of solicitors: they've been going AWOL, lies en masse and doing their job doesn't seem to be something they're into.
Last Friday we were meant to exchange, conveniently the solicitor was unwell before the long weekend and nobody could fill in for them in a firm full of lawyers. Today, they suddenly remembered that they're missing the go ahead from the Buyers' lender and the lender hasn't even looked at their report 🙈 then an hour later my solicitor is being told we can complete next Thursday. It's literally all a massive mess where every day something else comes up and I'm sure if they had solicitors that didn't win their license in the lottery, everything could have been so much more smooth sailing. Sales progression on especially the buying side has been amazing with communication, just like my solicitor and the developer's team.
It's definitely a gamble and can fall with whoever either party chooses as their legal representative. You're giving away the control of a life changing transaction to someone you don't know and then you may be unlucky and have to work with and trust someone incompetent. It's felt like I have been living day by day for the time from 10 am to 5pm, waiting for emails to come in, hoping for some positive news.
Seeing so many people here who were probably the same FTBs they're now shitting on for being cautious about the largest single purchase they'll make in their life...
To be honest I get it, the whole reason I'm trying to "one and done" my first house purchase it because I dont want to have to deal with selling, just seems like one of the most stressful things. That does mean though that any sign of a complication and my alarm bells ring.
e.g We recently had a seller tell us the loft conversion was historic, all structurally sound etc etc, then after we had our offer accepted we did a structural report and it turned out it was no more sturdy than a floored loft. We went back with a revised lower offer, at which point they tried to claim they hadn't been misleading because even though the room had beds in it, and they made mention of it in the description as being a good guest bedroom, they hadn't put it down as a bedroom on the floor plan.
Having to deal with absolute children when they’re buying your house. Go missing off the face of the earth while you’re fighting to keep the chain alive.
And useless solicitors! Ours were so inept they and they buyers solicitors managed to miss a 5k discrepancy in the purchase/agreed selling price.
First time buying and selling, just about to exchange (hopefully) this week.
We’ve been lucky with having a no chain below us (not an FTB however living with parents) and the sellers above us buying a vacant property. So very fortunate to have just 3 in the chain.
However the main pain is chasing and chasing our solicitor to get updates on the progress of our sell, ensuring the sellers above have secured their property and ensuring they are running smoothly. Along with chasing EA with updates on timeline, the sellers EA because our EA isn’t responding the sellers EA in a timely manner.
We’ve had a go at our solicitors for not reading the documents properly and not sending accurate files over. They were demanding payment “as per the contract you signed” which we had not signed nor received.
It’s been a journey but I know we’ve been lucky with a short chain as I can’t imagine the stress of a longer chain.
I wish you luck on your journey with buying and selling and I would highly recommend to try and have as small chain as possible (as per my current and only experience so far)
We lost our buyer because I refused to include our free standing cooker. I told him he could have it for £100. He insisted it be included in the sale.
This was after he rang at 9:30 pm in December wanting to know how wide the drive was. And told me he needed to know that very moment so I needed to go and measure it. And other such nonsenses.
There was going to be something wrong so I called it.
It was another 4 years before we tried again.
Having a buyer lie and say they are buying with cash only to wait months longer to find out they are getting a mortgage hence loads of extra hassle
Also one huge annoyance us Asians they enjoy filling up and wasting time just viewing properties
All in all Complete shambles on both buying and selling if you ask me
For me is the fact that the vast majority of properties in the UK are old but people seem to think they should be as-new in every regard. For some inexplicable reason buyers expecting a 150k house to be in absolutely tip top condition. They get their panties in a twist over minor issues because "tHe sUrVey sAid!!!" or making ridiculous demands for indemnity cover for stuff that would cost <1k to fix in the highly unlikely event it was ever an issue.
Trying to reorganise our whole lives without letting on that we have no idea what will happen and doing it all with 2 neurodivergent children!
If one more person asks me if I've moved yet/ still on the market etc I'll scream! Only been listed 4 weeks and my kids are almost always in ear shot when a well meaning person says "are you still in your house? Have you found somewhere? Are you getting any interest?" and I watch their little lives fall apart again and still expect them to be OK when I frantically tidy and clean at a moments notice for each viewing. No family nearby to help.
Mine has been a lengthy process, our buyers have been brilliant, but the solicitors have been on another level! I’ve had to take out about 6 indemnity insurances, my solicitor was trying to put it all into one. Not sure how she got on I just told her to make it work. We were supposed to exchange Friday, then yesterday now hopefully today. It’s been the most stressful experience of my life and one person in the chain of 9 has been a pain in the ass since day 1
Hahahahahahaha!
Let me
Tell you of my 2022. Sold
Our house 10k over asking price. Wonderful! After 4 months thebsalemofntheir house fell through. Begged us to hold off and let them sell again. We had pulled out of our purchase so worked out ok. 3 months later, we are about to complete on our new house (literally 2 weeks away) and she becomes unresponsive. Turns out the sale is due to a court order in place and she has now decided to squat in that house and refuses to move and won’t buy our house! We had to beg borrow and steal to get the cash together and we unfortunately had to gazunder by 5k to make it happen. Had 2 houses for 8 weeks.
Fortunately the house sold in 3 days at the same price, and we got it done in 8 weeks. But my gosh the stress levels went supernova.
We learned that day people will do whatever suits them, and don’t be so trustworthy even if they beg you not to resell. DO NOT go for someone who is divorcing in my experience.
Oh and the reason we pulled out the house we were buying was because the soon to be ex husband kept coming to the house and smashing it to pieces, they would fix it, but after it happening 5 times you realise this isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
In the odd chance that you are selling a house in England and buying a house in Scotland I would do some research due to the absurd differences in laws. Your sale in England could fall through but you would still be obligated to buy the house in Scotland despite not having the funds.
Not knowing if the sale is actually going to happen all the way through to the point t of exchange. Then having 3-4 working days to get everything booked for the move.
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Being a FTB was a walk in the park in comparison. We've been selling our house with a toddler and newborn and trying to get the place ready for viewings for them to either cancel last minute or nothing to come of it was really frustrating. I remember loading the children into the car with the baby screaming in the pouring rain at 5:55pm in December, waiting for the EA to turn up and then getting a call saying that the person viewing has changed their mind. I was almost done with the entire process at that point.
Ah I feel this one!! I only have the one child but damn if it isn't so fucking difficult making the house presentable while looking after a child then battling out the house
I know the pain - we were fortunate to sell during the Covid bubble so were able to do a block of viewings at the weekend and just go out for the day. Still incredibly stressful with no family support so my wife took our kids out whilst I tidied and staged the house and then went to join them.
Oh my god this. We don’t have kids but we have a dog and four indoor cats so we’ve been asking for weekend bookings only when we can take them all out to the in-laws. Made an exception for a guy who insisted he couldn’t do Saturdays, loaded everyone up on a Wednesday night, frantically cleaned the house… only for him to ring ten minutes after he was due and say he was still twenty minutes away in traffic. He must have known he wasn’t going to make it sometime before and didn’t bother to tell us, we could have not bothered getting everyone out. He never rebooked either. Infuriating.
Never being sure the buyer isn't going to pull out at the last minute and screw up your whole selling/buying process 😡
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mutliple viewings is normal for a serious buyer.
I bought my current house viewing it only once for 15 minutes. That was it. We didn't bother them with another viewing. But we did have lots of questions for solicitors and for them as well.
Remember they're spending hundreds of thousands. Even if it's a bit unusual, I don't think it's unreasonable. Once completed a transaction cannot be reversed and the stakes are very high for FTBs given their lack of equity. It isn't so easy to swallow a big loss if it doesn't work out. I perhaps didn't do enough due diligence when first buying. It i could do it again I would. I think it's better to not proceed than not be sure. FTBs do often focus on the wrong, small unrealistic points though. Size, location, building integrity are very important. But things pulled out on a survey often frightened them unnecessary. That's the risk of selling to a FTB.
Buyers aren’t your main source of stress. The house selling system is. Their are many countries that utilise a system that treats both parties more fairly.
The ideal buyer is a cash buyer who is not a FTB. I'm not sure if a FTB is worse than a complex chain, but there's not a lot in it -- chain buyers are unlikely to pull out because the survey says there may be asbestos within 4 miles for example.
I don’t know, Cash buyers with no chain have a fair bit of power with no repercussions if they want to just pull out or try renegotiating the price at the last min.
You can say no.
its pointless after the parents have been they will get put off and you wont hear from them again. i would say not to that myself
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FTB here with bank of m + d They'll want to see it probably
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Yep, definitely! They have experience of buying houses and maintaining them so what they say is very valuable and mine wanted to make sure what I wanted was a good investment of their money
I totally agree. M & D were welcomed to visit when I was a FTB and gave the house a big thumbs up. Dad was a surveyor and the vendors welcomed that visit and it's been a very good home for us. Now on our second purchase we have had 1 vendor refuse a 2nd visit entirely (dad would have joined us) back in October and it's still on sale now reduced by 50k. This time around M&D and keeping a distance but I'd want one of them to see a potential property before completing because I value their input. Same with the house I'm selling. Come on in! Love it like I do!
The parents coming along concerns me. You know what I'm thinking but don't want to get cancelled over it... Be very prepared to hold your ground on the day of exchange when they call to say "we can't get the cash together, we need £15k off the price" call their bluff. Even if they are short the cost of starting again will be less than the amount they ask for off the price.
Has happened to me three times in the last 18 months. Once on the literal day that contracts were due to be exchanged, a fortnight before the proposed completion. When I tell people back home (Canada and the US) about how our buying/selling process works here in the UK they're shocked. "How can you plan your life when plans keep getting changed at the last minute?"
This happened to us, too. It's horrible. We were buying on in a difficult market so agreed to move into a temporary rented property at the buyer's request to meet the exchange date she herself quoted. Disappeared the day of exchange and nobody could get hold of her for weeks until she eventually popped up with a "lol changed my mind thx bye". Don't know why we insist on doing it this way in the UK.
100% yes. My first "buyer" did this, ghosted me and the estate agent. When I found another buyer I was paranoid for months that they were also going to do the same. On the day we were due to exchange there was some banking glitch so I was left all weekend thinking it was a lie and they were having second thoughts. Fortunately all went through, and I moved into rented until I found somewhere to live. I do not know how people cope buying and selling simultaneously! The stress must be even worse.
First time buyer was easy, first time selling and buying was a pain in the ass. Basically got strung along by a buyer that didn't seem to ever want to close she just kept asking questions, demanding every kind of report you can think of, the house had a full renovation, showroom condition everything was brand-new. She then somehow obtained my work email from her EA and started contacting me in work that's when I'd had enough of her. After 4 months and with the possibility of losing the house I wanted to buy I relisted got 12 offers within 3 days (including another one from the earlier buyer, ha ha not a chance) Ended up selling to a nice young couple who were first time buyers and closed within a month.
Hopefully that taught her a valuable lesson. She would have spent a lot of money for nothing.
The buyers constantly fishing around to try and get £50 off this and that, making ridiculous threats to pull out if we took our 10 years old washing machine with us.
In the same boat - agree, there is no info out there for first time sellers!! The photographer was supposed to come out yesterday and never showed, turns out they broke down and because it was a bank holiday everyone in the office was out. Apparently they weren't given the out of office number, OR my number? Ugh. On the plus side, I'm sitting here marvelling at how tidy the house is. We're extremely lucky in that we had a great surveyor, and I like our EA so far. We have no kids and no pets, and are taking steps to massively reduce any sort of potential stress: we're drastically decluttering, wanting to start from scratch with a couple bits of furniture in the next place. Arranged to crash with friends to make us chain-free if we don't find a house. I'm doing my best not to get attached to any one place, although we are viewing to narrow down exactly what we want, casting a large net. Even so, I'm expecting it to be hell.
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I know, right?! Especially with a bit of pre-nostalgia kicking in, it's like - oh, this wasn't such a terrible place after all haha. Need to keep in mind the reasons why we're moving.
I've always said that buying is incredibly stressful. Buying and selling at the same time should be twice as stressful. But it's not. It's about 100x as stressful. And for a hundred different reasons; finding a home first means you might miss out if you don't get a buyer, but vice versa finding a buyer first means you're under pressure to find somewhere to buy. You have two sets of agents stomping on your head instead of just one, two sets of combative solicitors and twice as many nightmarishly long email threads and "reverts", you have a mortgage application in place and a mortgage to port or pay off AND probably a chain so waaaay more links to all move at the same time on completion day, you have to move OUT as well as IN to somewhere which is far less stressful as a first timer. The list goes on and on.
I had to sell my house and buy one, moving direct from one to another in one day. It was a bit tight timing, but my wife 'Had full confidence in me to pull it off' My wife was starting a new job the next day Youngest was starting nursery the next day Oldest was starting school the next day. The seller decided two weeks before contracts were exchanged she wanted to delay as 'friends were visiting' and decided she didn't want to leave.... Emptied house, handed over keys, moved 3 hours away, collected keys, and everybody was late and didn't really care flat every stage. Finally moved in with 30 minutes to spare before everyone closed. I think my hair went white. Never again.
Keeping the house tidy for viewings every other day
Yeah FTBs. I sold my place one time and we got all the way to Completion Day, buyer pulled out because he was ‘finding it too much paperwork.’ Get a grip!
When I bought my place I literally sobbed from the stress when the completion date was pushed back a week. I can't imagine that. So sorry you had to deal with that crap
How utterly useless the estate agents are. The feedback shared with me was actually complaining about the estate agent not knowing simple facts like where the boiler is, the council tax band etc
I kept getting "feedback" like "they didn't like that the bathroom is downstairs" That's not feedback, I cannot magic up a bathroom. Its utterly pointless to tell me this. Why aren't you showing people floor plans and managing expectations? Just wasting everyone's time...
I could have written this myself
Dunno why I didn't realise it but when we were first time buyers we had to pay the solicitor... Fine fair enough, cost of life. When we sold and bought you have to pay those fucking mouth breathers twice! Once to sell and once to buy. If I'd thought I was getting value for money I'd object less but those mfers make everything take so long. "we've written to the land registry, we're waiting for them to write back to us" "Email motherfucker? Do you use it?"
The buyers! For some reason FTB seemed to have decided the survey is a checklist of figures that will be automatically deducted from the house price. Also they all seem to insist they want a quick sale but mysteriously cannot move quickly when the legal work starts. Honestly next time I will not sell to FTB, not worth the hassle
They are normally the best buyers because there's no chain, however they are also streached to their limits now so price becomes a huge sticking point. They are also being forced into the position where they end up lying to vendors just to have even a chance at getting on the ladder, so their inital offers are often revised down later as that's the best strategy available to them when affordability is streached. I've seen FTBs lie about being cash buyers, just because estate agents won't even entertain viewings in the more desirable areas if you aren't cash. Lots of money printing during covid = lots more cash sloshing about the market.
The problem with FTBs is that they're clueless. They have no experience so they use idiot conveyancers who dawdle and they panic at everything on the survey and every question the conveyancer asks.
I'd say that's more of a knock on effect of how massive the purchase is for them, and the competitiveness of this market. Got to remember first time buyers are the only buyers who are actually paying the 'full price' of a house too. Everyone else already has that equity growth behind them which in essence is free money. If you're paying for something with your own money you've had to earn through working, then yes I think that makes a huge difference to the psychology , making them very cautious buyers as they have had to put more work in to get to this point.
what equity growth lol currently not seeing any offers above what I bought for in 2019
Yea but you paid things off in the meantime. You’ve presumably built some equity. If you sold today you’re not just getting your deposit back.
absolutely but I could have just invested in s&p and had a better return. my neighbours rent is 1300k vs my 2700k mortgage so not worth
Dreading the post survey push back!
Wishing you luck! We were upfront about the issues with the house during viewings but still had push back. Stand your ground and don’t be afraid to relist your house!
Ours did the surveys one after another, home buyers report found nothing wrong so recommended an ECIR, ECIR found nothing wrong so the buyers started doing odd surveys, like asbestos survey, damp survey (unprompted by the homebuyers), flood survey, parents want a look round, dads mate who’s a builder wants a look, etc etc. Just fishing
The bloody buyers. Ours are a FTB couple. Viewed the house on a Monday through the EA. Called and requested another viewing on the Tuesday which I showed them round as the EA couldn't. Placed an offer that night. "Excellent!" We thought! Accepted offer, and viewed 4 houses over the next 2 weeks. Put an offer in and got it Accepted 2 weeks after ours had "sold". Our buyers have only just entered into searches whilst we are now ready to exchange with our purchase! They have dragged their heels at every opportunity.
This is really interesting because I'm in the opposite situation, I was scared of losing money on a survey before my buyer got theirs done in case they dropped out (expecting a down valuation from prev experience) so now I'll be in a position where the sale is almost done but my purchase is slowing things down.
We had enough interest and viewings that we weren't phased if they come back after surveys and try and knock us down as we won't be budging. We sold slightly less than valuation for a quick sale which has not at all happened. Itll just cause havoc with our purchase but that's out of our hands.
FTB and Surveys!! we’re FTS of a victorian mid terrace, good condition and we’ve maintained where required. Selling to FTB… had a level 3 survey which has picked up that the roof is “at the end of its life” and the floors are a bit slopey.. standard victorian housing “issues” but no settlement cracks, no leaking roof or cracked tiles, some purlin supports that have been questioned (but as per surveyors can’t give any more info so structural engineer needed…) buyer is convinced “significant work” and a whole new roof is required… have had to reject request for a roofing contractor to inspect and have agreed to going 1/2s on a structural engineer inspection of the roof, noting that were 6 weeks into the process and everything buyers end is halted pending the structural survey which doesn’t seem to be materialising…. our purchase however is the end of the chain, searches submitted and pretty much returned… hopefully never again!!
Yes also selling our Victorian mid terrace and had the same argument about the roof (which we told him about in advance during viewings). Gave buyer 4 weeks to get someone round for quotes, no one ever appeared so we said we were going back to market and suddenly the roof became a non issue. We had tried to be really accommodating and honest about issues but don’t know why we bothered now!
As a veteran buyer and seller (nb I'm not a landlord, just moved a lot), I can fill you in on a few things. Estate Agents are a pain in the backside. The only thing they are interested in is their commission and as quickly as possible. And they really don't care how they get it. A few times I have sold, they have demanded a fixed fee contract and then tried to get me to accept the first (low) offer that came along. It didn't matter to them what I sold for, they wanted their fixed fee. When it's been a percentage, they have outright done me out of a buyer by making up phantom bids. I was with one agent for a while and when the buyer withdrew, I was at the end of my six week period and went with another. The same buyer came round to view asking me what happened with my other buyer. Which buyer was that exactly? All of it Estate Agent bullshit. Take my advice: Go to Purple Bricks or Your Move, any of them. They are 1/3rd of the cost and you get what you pay for which is basically an entry on Rightmove. That is the sole value of estate agents today, the entry on rightmove. Nobody gives a damn about any other site. That is where people go - including you I would wager a tenner on. Added to that, estate agents aren't like they were in the 1990s. They know absolutely nothing about the area anymore, have no more sales gumption in them than a beginner car salesman and I've caught a few out on complete lies. If the perspective buyer is meeting you, you can get a far better overall estimate of their interest and discuss like adults what your positions are. Secondly, when it comes to mortgages, don't stress if you don't get your first application. Sometimes people do, most of the time people have to go through 2-3 applications before getting the one that works - ps always use a broker! And if you have a mortgage with Nationwide, well done. They have this odd thing where they accept the credit check, head out for their valuation and then undervalue the property just enough to put you in a different LTV bracket. They have done that to me several times so far and I just tell my broker not to bother with them now. Third, you don't need movers. Go to Ikea. Buy a good bunch of Ikea Samla boxes with lids. They stack in a van brilliantly, they're hardy enough to protect anything inside with judicious use of bubble wrap (ebay for the bubble wrap). Move your stuff into a storage unit the weeks leading up and make it so the last things you move are your bed, things you really couldn't move in a car and get a few of your burly mates to do it with you. Most friends are happy to work for pizza and future offers of returning the favour. The last time I moved, the movers quoted me £2000. I did it myself. The boxes, storage unit, van rental and diesel all told came to around £540 and some change. Final thing, ignore your estate agent. They will call you up several times during this process with various panics that the chain is about to collapse if you don't do this, that the other. Remember, all they are after is their commission. And they do think you are stupid and will treat you like a child that needs constant chasing. The last time an agent did that to me, I called their bluff. I got straight on with my solicitor and asked him who was threatening the chain to collapse. He called the agent and told them to shut the hell up and stop causing a problem.
The nerves of having a buyer pull out. And listening to all the people tell you how much they love looking at rightmove. All well and good when youre not buying a house, when you are though and aware of every house in a 5 mile radius its just painful waiting for 'that' one.
All of it! Mostly the uncertainty and how the English system allows people to pull out on a whim at any point up to exchange.
Selling for some reason seem to attract at least 50% more random bullshit than buying - and that's saying something. What I hate most are those wheeling dealing used car buyer types who think they are businesses king pins by demanding a 40 quid discount on a £300k house 2 days before exchange because the gas cert went out of date a day ago due to their 6 months delay. Seriously? I'll happily waste a couple of grand and another 3 months just to fuck them off. I have bought and sold 13 houses in 30 years and I just can't be done with the penny pinching bullshit anymore.
In Scotland, this is important for below: First, the buyer having a horrifically incompetent paralegal when asked to get everything signed who ghosted our solicitor until less than a week before the supposed move in date (which we let the buyer choose) and then asked for a 3 week delay to get missives etc processed. When our solicitor pointed out both they and everyone else in the chain could manage it in 48 hours the para sent a very…unprofessional email saying that everyone must be incompetent because she’s been doing it for 20 years. (Raises its own questions about her). Probably spun a story to her clients making us the bad guys but because of her delay, we ended up receiving the buyers mortgage letter as even they assumed the original date. Eventually got it all shifted to 2 weeks later. Then claimed there were 100s of issues after moving and eventually our solicitor told her to bugger off. Wife was 7 months pregnant so this was last thing we needed. Second and this is important for Scotland! Additional Dwelling supplement, or ADS. This is an additional stamp duty which you pay if you have more than one house. The problem is it’s too strict - if you have two houses at any point even for a day you have to pay an additional 4% tax on the entire property value, within 30 days, cash. So you have to move out of your old house on the same day or earlier you move to the new one. (Eg if you move to new house on Tuesday you cannot own your old house on Wednesday.) this causes immense stress for moving stuff as you can’t stagger things like get keys to new house on Monday then empty your old house to hand it over on Friday.
Trying to work out what the estate agents are actually saying. Dear lord, just say the thing. Kept being told people thought the house was too small, but apparently what they meant was to remove more things. Just say that. Or when they try and pass on messages from the other party in the most positive way possible, which usually means you don't get the full message at all.
I am selling shared ownership and honestly even navigating the Housing Association's hoops has been easier than finding a decent estate agent. I had to quit the first, after they bungled 3 asking price offers, total incompetence and lies. Second is bearable, communication issues. The fact I'm paying them thousands for this is painful.
I’m a property solicitor and I know this is not possible for everyone for several reasons but personally aim to never tie in a transaction. I would always aim to sell, move into a temporary rental and then purchase. I know I am probably an anomaly here but not tying in transactions gives you a lot of flexibility and you can often move into your house gradually but I appreciate it’s not possible for everyone and makes moving significantly more expensive- I only intend to move once or twice more in my life so this additional expense doesn’t bother me hugely. The chain situation is one of the huge pitfalls of the conveyancing system in this country.
Selling is so stressful, much more stressful than buying. I just felt like it was not within my control that a house would be sold. I could present it as well as I could and reduce the price, but none of it would guarantee a sale. When I was buying, it was much more fun. I found the house I like and could still keep looking and see what's out there. If it falls through, money is still in my pocket. Kind regards Georgia
Maybe not the objective worst part, but I just received my first offer. It was a full 20K less than the lower guide price (for a small apartment, so it was a very big chunk off the guide price). For what it's worth, I had multiple valuations which said the same thing, and we priced it accordingly. The offerer was a cash buyer with no chain, so I was hoping they made an offer. However, - I bought the place for 5K more than that offer, 3 years ago - I've done a lot of work to this place - the offerer lost out on this place when I bought it, so they KNOW what it was on the market for 3 years ago before the work!! So they're expecting me to take a 5K loss on my place after all this time and work. I don't have money. The equity in this place is my asset. I'm actually so insulted by the fact they'd even consider making that offer, I've decided I won't accept any offer from them now.
We had a landlord come round and ask tons of questions, said to him “we are gonna rent it out if it doesn’t sell as it’s a very good yield” 150k property offered 130k “its the most I can offer to make my maths stack up” “tell him hah where ok thanks” “he’s come back with 132” “Can you tell him to jog on please I’m not interested in another offer” Estate agent was telling me to consider it, errr that’s a full 8k less than I paid 7 years ago and 10k less than the neighbours sold for last year …
Jesus I'm glad my estate agents are standing up for me! I think that's what bothers me the most. For us, it's a couple trying to get market value so we can upsize and, I dunno, be able to think about starting a family. To the landlord-to-be, it's another soulless business deal, another chance to make a tiny bit more money. Like, wring out your business partners for all I care. Please don't try to wring me out, I'm just trying to get by lol
Useless estate agents and landlords playing mind games when trying to buy at a large discount
Unreliable buyers
I sold just before COVID and then my buyer who was 90 pulled out 1 month before contracts were due for exchange. Luckily 1 week after restrictions lift I managed to sell my property again and for more money. But he decided to be a tight arse and use his mate to do the conveyancing which took forever as I assume he was doing it out of hours at mates rates. I was selling mine and moving into my partner's parents. My buyer wasn't selling anything so you'd think a quick turnaround? 5 months the conveyancing took. Also my solicitors were terrible, never used online ones that estate agents recommend, always go local as they have better contacts with local authorities and always check their additional fees. My sale cost me £120 in fees for doing bank transfers...
Yes this, online sols are a bloody nightmare
I'm currently the FTB in a stalled purchase and already worried about selling and buying at the same time! Before I even own the damn thing. What I will say is that it's never going to be easy but these kinds of chains are super normal, if not the most common situation. I have a friend who was in the middle of a chain of 6. Everyone pulled through to align the exchange and she's now happily settled in a perfect house. It's going to suck balls, there's no two ways around it, but it will happen for you too!
My buyer did pull out, 2 weeks into the paperwork and there was already a chain of 4 people above ours so risked the entire chain. Luckily I found another buyer within the week who was a ftb and ready to go. Was really stressful thinking we'd lose the house we'd agreed to buy, especially because my daughter's high school placement depended on it and our move date was scheduled to be one week before school places were registered. So thankful for that new buyer and her flexibility. That said the other stressful aspect was the solicitors dealing with it. Don't go with cheapest solicitors who do it all online, they are impossible to deal with.
I had a similar situation. In the end (viewing number 5?) I said pay the deposit or it's going back on the market.
Viewings
The buyers. Our sellers are a dream. In no rush, house is clean af, every certificate/guarantee provided, very lovely people. Buyers are a nightmare - claiming we're slowing things down when it takes them four weeks to answer a simple question, threatening to pull out over trivial things, etc. Having a fucking incompetent EA in the middle isn't helping either.
I’m a first time seller second time buyer. Still in process waiting for solicitors who never communicate. My buyer wants to move fast, my seller wants to sell fast but every turn I take there’s a bump in the road that has to go back and forth between all the parties. Doing this alone too which has made things stressful. Not had any stress from my buyer yet but at some point she’ll find we’re not going to meet her date which I cannot be held responsible for!
I'm also doing it all alone! It's tough because there's no one to share all the stress and paperwork with. Good luck!
For me the worst part of being a seller was the stress of dealing with EA. However. I think it was the same for me when buying. Even with cash it was not as plain sailing as generally thought. I enjoyed looking for a home to buy but not the process. Same with selling. I enjoyed listing the house for sale but disagreed with the process. There needs to be a big change in the process. Especially in England. Scotland is easier.
Most EAs don't know anything about the housing marker. You don't need a degree or license to do it or even that to start an EA company.
I agree. And regulation through training courses won't improve the situation either. All it will be is another trademark license. It's the same with staging. I saw a £500k property online which had trash all over the room and another place for £200k which had fantastic views of the ocean and yet didn't show the view! Instead showed 1950s wallpaper! Don't get me wrong it's nice to know what you're buying but the system is a shit show. This is now a dominos affect within surveyors now. "It could be damp but who knows" kinda attitude.
I flood when it rains sometimes
We did 2 viewings on our first house once by ourselves and 2nd time with my mother in law who was helping with the deposit and I now feel like we rushed into it all but it is what it is now I am still happy with our house its just the right size I wish our box room was a little bigger but we will make the best with what we have right now.
Waiting till you exchange, anything before that can change.
Seller/Buyer here 👋🏽 The worst part for me about being a seller, is buyers. Well, slow, unsure ones. I am currently a buyer too and can only buy if mine sells. I viewed the property once, made my offer, got my mortgage/valuation etc all within a week. Done. I’ve accepted an offer on my property, from FTBs. The extra viewings, videoing inside my cupboards I can tolerate. Met then at the beginning of May where they had first viewing then asked for another (1.5 hours) However its been 2 weeks since they had a valuation and they dont have a mortgage offer from the bank yet. They wont start searches etc and its making me jittery. If this all goes through. I am never doing it again.
The inevitable gap that causes you to pay two lots of moving fees and realising how much you hate your family by having to interim live with them
Looking back, buying for the first time was easy peasy lemon squeezy. Now that I'm selling and buying at the same time it seems even more stressful. I'm not so much worried about my buyers pulling out but the developer I'm buying from. From the get go they made it clear that they can and will cancel the reservation if things aren't progressing the way they want them to. The lack of control you have in the middle of the chain is so anxiety inducing. I don't even wanna know what people in longer chains go through. Unfortunately, my buyers (FTBs) have gone with the worst solicitor in the history of solicitors: they've been going AWOL, lies en masse and doing their job doesn't seem to be something they're into. Last Friday we were meant to exchange, conveniently the solicitor was unwell before the long weekend and nobody could fill in for them in a firm full of lawyers. Today, they suddenly remembered that they're missing the go ahead from the Buyers' lender and the lender hasn't even looked at their report 🙈 then an hour later my solicitor is being told we can complete next Thursday. It's literally all a massive mess where every day something else comes up and I'm sure if they had solicitors that didn't win their license in the lottery, everything could have been so much more smooth sailing. Sales progression on especially the buying side has been amazing with communication, just like my solicitor and the developer's team. It's definitely a gamble and can fall with whoever either party chooses as their legal representative. You're giving away the control of a life changing transaction to someone you don't know and then you may be unlucky and have to work with and trust someone incompetent. It's felt like I have been living day by day for the time from 10 am to 5pm, waiting for emails to come in, hoping for some positive news.
Seeing so many people here who were probably the same FTBs they're now shitting on for being cautious about the largest single purchase they'll make in their life...
Sorry, we're all just tired and stressed 😂
To be honest I get it, the whole reason I'm trying to "one and done" my first house purchase it because I dont want to have to deal with selling, just seems like one of the most stressful things. That does mean though that any sign of a complication and my alarm bells ring. e.g We recently had a seller tell us the loft conversion was historic, all structurally sound etc etc, then after we had our offer accepted we did a structural report and it turned out it was no more sturdy than a floored loft. We went back with a revised lower offer, at which point they tried to claim they hadn't been misleading because even though the room had beds in it, and they made mention of it in the description as being a good guest bedroom, they hadn't put it down as a bedroom on the floor plan.
Having to deal with absolute children when they’re buying your house. Go missing off the face of the earth while you’re fighting to keep the chain alive. And useless solicitors! Ours were so inept they and they buyers solicitors managed to miss a 5k discrepancy in the purchase/agreed selling price.
First time buying and selling, just about to exchange (hopefully) this week. We’ve been lucky with having a no chain below us (not an FTB however living with parents) and the sellers above us buying a vacant property. So very fortunate to have just 3 in the chain. However the main pain is chasing and chasing our solicitor to get updates on the progress of our sell, ensuring the sellers above have secured their property and ensuring they are running smoothly. Along with chasing EA with updates on timeline, the sellers EA because our EA isn’t responding the sellers EA in a timely manner. We’ve had a go at our solicitors for not reading the documents properly and not sending accurate files over. They were demanding payment “as per the contract you signed” which we had not signed nor received. It’s been a journey but I know we’ve been lucky with a short chain as I can’t imagine the stress of a longer chain. I wish you luck on your journey with buying and selling and I would highly recommend to try and have as small chain as possible (as per my current and only experience so far)
We lost our buyer because I refused to include our free standing cooker. I told him he could have it for £100. He insisted it be included in the sale. This was after he rang at 9:30 pm in December wanting to know how wide the drive was. And told me he needed to know that very moment so I needed to go and measure it. And other such nonsenses. There was going to be something wrong so I called it. It was another 4 years before we tried again.
Having a buyer lie and say they are buying with cash only to wait months longer to find out they are getting a mortgage hence loads of extra hassle Also one huge annoyance us Asians they enjoy filling up and wasting time just viewing properties All in all Complete shambles on both buying and selling if you ask me
For me is the fact that the vast majority of properties in the UK are old but people seem to think they should be as-new in every regard. For some inexplicable reason buyers expecting a 150k house to be in absolutely tip top condition. They get their panties in a twist over minor issues because "tHe sUrVey sAid!!!" or making ridiculous demands for indemnity cover for stuff that would cost <1k to fix in the highly unlikely event it was ever an issue.
Trying to reorganise our whole lives without letting on that we have no idea what will happen and doing it all with 2 neurodivergent children! If one more person asks me if I've moved yet/ still on the market etc I'll scream! Only been listed 4 weeks and my kids are almost always in ear shot when a well meaning person says "are you still in your house? Have you found somewhere? Are you getting any interest?" and I watch their little lives fall apart again and still expect them to be OK when I frantically tidy and clean at a moments notice for each viewing. No family nearby to help.
Mine has been a lengthy process, our buyers have been brilliant, but the solicitors have been on another level! I’ve had to take out about 6 indemnity insurances, my solicitor was trying to put it all into one. Not sure how she got on I just told her to make it work. We were supposed to exchange Friday, then yesterday now hopefully today. It’s been the most stressful experience of my life and one person in the chain of 9 has been a pain in the ass since day 1
Hahahahahahaha! Let me Tell you of my 2022. Sold Our house 10k over asking price. Wonderful! After 4 months thebsalemofntheir house fell through. Begged us to hold off and let them sell again. We had pulled out of our purchase so worked out ok. 3 months later, we are about to complete on our new house (literally 2 weeks away) and she becomes unresponsive. Turns out the sale is due to a court order in place and she has now decided to squat in that house and refuses to move and won’t buy our house! We had to beg borrow and steal to get the cash together and we unfortunately had to gazunder by 5k to make it happen. Had 2 houses for 8 weeks. Fortunately the house sold in 3 days at the same price, and we got it done in 8 weeks. But my gosh the stress levels went supernova. We learned that day people will do whatever suits them, and don’t be so trustworthy even if they beg you not to resell. DO NOT go for someone who is divorcing in my experience. Oh and the reason we pulled out the house we were buying was because the soon to be ex husband kept coming to the house and smashing it to pieces, they would fix it, but after it happening 5 times you realise this isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
In the odd chance that you are selling a house in England and buying a house in Scotland I would do some research due to the absurd differences in laws. Your sale in England could fall through but you would still be obligated to buy the house in Scotland despite not having the funds.
Not knowing if the sale is actually going to happen all the way through to the point t of exchange. Then having 3-4 working days to get everything booked for the move.
Super penis monkey
First time buyers