Fodder Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 I hate this waiting game. What I hate most about buying a house is the constant chasing of the solicitors. Its as if they are next to useless and sit there waiting for you to call them before they actually do anything. ^^ this. The thing is they're getting paid no matter what and they prioritise who chases them the most. Lee on at them, follow up on survey requests etc. Also get the estate agent to do the same on the vendors behalf so both sides are getting pushed, typically the estate agent are already doing this as they want their fee/commission but still keep on those guys too. If you're in the chain get the vendor doing the same on the property they are buying. It silly that you need to do this but the solicitors are normally the road block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBorehamUK Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 Yeah, my solicitor wasn't even aware she had my case until I phoned her to ask for an update.. Been waiting on the bank, all paperwork submitted last Monday and told we'd hear from them today but can't get through to case manager at all(Trying on several days!) Turns out it's just gone to underwriters today, they've booked valuation and we'll be hearing from them tomorrow now.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodder Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 You're doing the right thing. Make a note of dates/times of who you speak to and also dates when they promise stuff.... you will have to remind them of these dates Exciting times but stressful as hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Well, at least you're on the right path and it's only a waiting game. In my case it suddenly became funny, very funny. The lender changed its mind as the house we had the offer accepted has 2 kitchens. That's right, this is the reason, 2 kitchens is a big NO, NO?!!@WTF!?! Broker found 2-3 alternatives, I should hear from him again tomorrow. Good luck and hope you'll be in the new house very soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBorehamUK Posted March 14, 2017 Author Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) Well, at least you're on the right path and it's only a waiting game. In my case it suddenly became funny, very funny. The lender changed its mind as the house we had the offer accepted has 2 kitchens. That's right, this is the reason, 2 kitchens is a big NO, NO?!!@WTF!?! Broker found 2-3 alternatives, I should hear from him again tomorrow. Good luck and hope you'll be in the new house very soon! Wow that's pretty crap of them, did they provide any reason why they came to that decision? Is the second kitchen in a standalone part of the house? Only thing I can think of is that they'd be assuming the extra kitchen would indicate it being for more than use by 1 family? Edited March 14, 2017 by TomBorehamUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Two kitchens aren't allowed?? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Two kitchens aren't allowed?? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of! You'd think it's only a particular case... http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4199801 https://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jun/18/will-a-second-kitchen-cut-our-chances-of-getting-a-mortgage http://www.ns-fs.co.uk/MORTGAGE-ON-A-PROPERTY-WITH-TWO-KITCHENS.html http://www.homemove.co.uk/forums/peculiar-reason-for-declining-a-mortgage-3395.html http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2511281#5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) Wow that's pretty crap of them, did they provide any reason why they came to that decision? Is the second kitchen in a standalone part of the house? Only thing I can think of is that they'd be assuming the extra kitchen would indicate it being for more than use by 1 family? It's a huge house with 2 entrances, 2 kitchens, it makes it very easy to make it as 2 separate houses and rent half of it out. I even made plans to convert one kitchen into utility room and the other to combine it with one sitting room into one large open plan kitchen. Both kitchens are also big-ish, fully equipped backing into each other. Edited March 14, 2017 by Adrian@TORQEN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Whale oil beef hooked. That's insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 I hate this waiting game. If it makes you feel better we are in the same position. We are itching to exchange contacts, so is our buyer and the vendor. But incomplete legal paperwork from our side holding things up, paid for a big named solicitor this time round, so at least getting a constant flow of updates of where things are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBorehamUK Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) Wow that's pretty crap of them, did they provide any reason why they came to that decision? Is the second kitchen in a standalone part of the house? Only thing I can think of is that they'd be assuming the extra kitchen would indicate it being for more than use by 1 family? It's a huge house with 2 entrances, 2 kitchens, it makes it very easy to make it as 2 separate houses and rent half of it out. I even made plans to convert one kitchen into utility room and the other to combine it with one sitting room into one large open plan kitchen. Both kitchens are also big-ish, fully equipped backing into each other. Well, fingers crossed for you Adrian! Edited March 15, 2017 by TomBorehamUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 The lender changed its mind as the house we had the offer accepted has 2 kitchens. When I bought my current place my lender changed their mind at the last minute also. The problem I had is that in order to make moving house easier as I have so many toys/cars/motorbikes etc, I decided the best way was to buy the new house, move my stuff over, then sell my old one. Initially the lender had no problem with this, then they got all cold feet about me having 2 mortgages. It made me laugh. the total mortgages outgoing was less than I had been paying just for the one mortgage and would be something like 1/4 of my monthly incoming. So it was hardly a case of not being able to afford it. But, they (and a lot of the other lenders I subsequently tried) just had a policy about someone having 2 mortgages and potentially an empty house waiting to be sold. In the end I found a decent financial adviser who managed to get me a mortgage with some obscure bank/building society, but it gave me a few grey hairs right at the final stage of trying to buy the property. That and the fact the property wasnt on the land registry website so they had to workout the "official" boundaries and add it manually to the electronic system.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBorehamUK Posted March 15, 2017 Author Share Posted March 15, 2017 (edited) Well I get an update finally from the case manager, the update is that there is no update Valuation is all booked as I was aware, however the case is going to the underwriter tomorrow now and they are 4+ days behind on their workload so I'm looking at next week before a decision from the bank...again. Edited March 15, 2017 by TomBorehamUK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 It's crazy, so many silly rules and policies... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Does make you laugh that you can walk into a car showroom and drive out 30 minutes later with a £250k car, but it takes months to buy a £150k house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 It's crazy, so many silly rules and policies... Not to mention anything the survey might flag. My house survey said that the consumer unit wasnt up to modern standards. Which of course it wasnt as it was fitted back in 1970 and whilst it wasnt the same as what they would fit now it was perfectly fine. However, the mortgage company demanded that I have a separate full electrical survey of the house done because of this. Likewise, the house survey flagged that there was a bit of damp in the old lean-to on the side of the house. Again of course there was, it was a f**king lean-to separate to the house and there was no damp in the actual house. But sigh, the mortgage company then demanded a full damp test of the whole house. etc. etc. etc. Not wanting to put the OP off mind you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Does make you laugh that you can walk into a car showroom and drive out 30 minutes later with a £250k car, but it takes months to buy a £150k house. Because that 150k house you end up paying nearer 290k for it in the end and until its paid (25 or so years later) its not yours. Plus the initial 150k used to buy the house, is not your own money. But at a glance, i see what you mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Our survey flagged up that the bannister rails could allow a child to fall through them (we have no kids, and the current owners had had three of their own grown up there!) and that the water main stop valve was showing signs of leaking (erm, its bone fricking dry you muppet). Waste of time, which annoyed me as I paid for the decent one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 OK, if its a £1m used Ferrari bought with some finance involved which will be worth £50m in 25 years time - the system is the same. Hell people pay for stuff worth millions in an auction and walk away with it as an owner, houses included. What we found when we sold a place last year was that the total time required to sell/buy a house is probably no more than two days work, however solicitors juggle hundreds of clients at one time, so you have a two-three week lead time on them to simply answer an email and the whole process drags out - we had to call both of them on a conference call because it was getting something like this: Solicitor one: Did you receive the offer to renovate the roof prior to purchase Solicitor two (two weeks later): Yes, but what about clause 2, can we change that? Solicitor one (one week later): Yes, what do you want to change it to ...and so on My brother bought an empty house last year, took a matter of weeks to buy, check over, pay the deposit, secure the loan and move in. I found things take ages because of too many people in the process who take too long to do things who take too much money to do something relatively easy. Sorry if that offends any estate agents on here! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 we're also in the process of buying a house - admittedly its a little more complicated as its my second property, but the waiting with solicitors is a bit annoying... its the not knowing that gets me! but hopefully will keep progressing, there is no chain to buy, both purchase mortgage and remortgage have been agreed, so think we're just waiting to exchange. Its also stressful because the house was a repossession so everything is public knowledge, so until we exchange contracts, someone could potentially swoop in with a bigger offer and we might get turfed out the deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian@TORQEN Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Just heard from the 2nd broker, no lender will consider the house until 1 kitchen has been removed. Not even the existing lender where the current owner has his mortgage from, Santander. Great. Ball is now with the seller, if he agrees to take one kitchen off, then we can proceed, if not the house will never sell, basically. Stupid policies and regulations! Argh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Our survey flagged up that the bannister rails could allow a child to fall through them... hmmmm.... we have those same death trap banisters (god knows what they were thinking of doing them like that) and they werent flagged up on my survey. I feel ripped off now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Our survey flagged the house had stairs, which a child could fall down... ...also that it had a garden that a child could get rained on. Astonishing in this day and age the process is so long, overpriced, convoluted when the rest of the world has moved on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richf Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 When we bought our house we discovered that the solicitors we used had had a falling out with the solicitor the vendor used and would only communicate by formal letter , no emails, no phone calls . Took weeks and weeks, neither of us were in a chain and we had the funds in place , in the end I phoned the vendor directly and told him to get his solicitor to pull his finger out or I would withdraw from the sale , once the solicitors could see their fees disappearing it was amazing how fast things could move, it was sorted within days 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted March 15, 2017 Share Posted March 15, 2017 Just heard from the 2nd broker, no lender will consider the house until 1 kitchen has been removed. Not even the existing lender where the current owner has his mortgage from, Santander. Great. Ball is now with the seller, if he agrees to take one kitchen off, then we can proceed, if not the house will never sell, basically. Stupid policies and regulations! Argh! Well that's just daft. Question is though, when is a kitchen not a kitchen? What's the minimum you can remove before it's not a kitchen any more? I'd say a sink & cooker really, so just pull those out. store in the garage and suddenly it's nothing more than a utility room... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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