Is anyone moving now?
Discussion
Level 3 survey (a.k.a structural survey) could be useful if you are buying to make extensive refurbishments. But in general, I mean for at least prime areas especially in London, your property value is simply the 'land'. You like the area? than that's it, the rest is just bunch of old bricks and timber work happen to be onsite and resembling some sort of shelter... 
Fast Bug said:
I had an off the record chat with the guy that did the survey on other house we bought. He said that the survey would be an arse covering exercise (more so as we bought a victorian house). I just don't think they want to liable when some plum doesn't understand that houses need maintenance
I’ve had two done as the buyer. One for a small maisonette that didn’t have to worry about the roof. One for a 5 bed townhouse. The reports were almost carbon copies. f
king nonsense. And don’t get me started on the people paying for independent valuations from people that just phone the agent.
solo2 said:
This thread is not encouraging me to move. I don't want to move as I am very happy in this house and been here 23 years but it is a move of necessity to a bungalow as I have a disabling condition that means stairs are almost impossible for me and I might end up in a wheelchair. I'm South London, why are bungalows so damn expensive compared to a house!
Went to see a bungalow last weekend which was ok, cannot get excited about it but it is the best I can get for the money. I have an Agent coming to value this place soon. I've had two valuations in the past 18 months, £475k when the market was up and £525k about 9/12 months later when the market had dropped so will be curious to see how much this third one comes out at. I've always thought £500k was the price so those two meet nicely in the middle.
How much are Agents charging you to sell these days, is it still a percentage of the sale fee?
Why not fit a stair lift? For around £2000 you get to stay in your own house. Went to see a bungalow last weekend which was ok, cannot get excited about it but it is the best I can get for the money. I have an Agent coming to value this place soon. I've had two valuations in the past 18 months, £475k when the market was up and £525k about 9/12 months later when the market had dropped so will be curious to see how much this third one comes out at. I've always thought £500k was the price so those two meet nicely in the middle.
How much are Agents charging you to sell these days, is it still a percentage of the sale fee?
993BPT said:
solo2 said:
This thread is not encouraging me to move. I don't want to move as I am very happy in this house and been here 23 years but it is a move of necessity to a bungalow as I have a disabling condition that means stairs are almost impossible for me and I might end up in a wheelchair. I'm South London, why are bungalows so damn expensive compared to a house!
Went to see a bungalow last weekend which was ok, cannot get excited about it but it is the best I can get for the money. I have an Agent coming to value this place soon. I've had two valuations in the past 18 months, £475k when the market was up and £525k about 9/12 months later when the market had dropped so will be curious to see how much this third one comes out at. I've always thought £500k was the price so those two meet nicely in the middle.
How much are Agents charging you to sell these days, is it still a percentage of the sale fee?
Why not fit a stair lift? For around £2000 you get to stay in your own house. Went to see a bungalow last weekend which was ok, cannot get excited about it but it is the best I can get for the money. I have an Agent coming to value this place soon. I've had two valuations in the past 18 months, £475k when the market was up and £525k about 9/12 months later when the market had dropped so will be curious to see how much this third one comes out at. I've always thought £500k was the price so those two meet nicely in the middle.
How much are Agents charging you to sell these days, is it still a percentage of the sale fee?
gmaz said:
Similar here, but instead they renegotiated the £5K off the price, because an electrical check said that it needed an urgent full rewire at £5-6K. I can't see why, the only problem I knew of was that the plastic cover on the CU was broken. I guess electricians want to get some work coming in.
We are two weeks from completion and the buyers have booked in a Gas & Electric check on our house next week. Not sure why they've suddenly decided they want this done
Jaska said:
Solicitors or parents probably. But most likely the solicitors sending an email like 'please note we are proceeding without the gas and electric checks'
No issues with wiring, all up to spec, except for the fuse box which was a little outdated and requires a new one to be fitted. Our buyers are pushing for a midweek date that myself and my partner are both unable to do due to work commitments (I work away from home and am away three days around the dates they've proposed and she has work commitments on the proposed date).
Frustrating also that the date (and the week) that they are pushing for means I won't have access to the work transit van which will make things a little awkward.
From my understanding they are pushing for this particular date as this is when their rental agreement ends.
NomadicTurbo said:
No issues with wiring, all up to spec, except for the fuse box which was a little outdated and requires a new one to be fitted.
Our buyers are pushing for a midweek date that myself and my partner are both unable to do due to work commitments (I work away from home and am away three days around the dates they've proposed and she has work commitments on the proposed date).
Frustrating also that the date (and the week) that they are pushing for means I won't have access to the work transit van which will make things a little awkward.
From my understanding they are pushing for this particular date as this is when their rental agreement ends.
Update on this, everyone in the chain has agreed the date we have put forward (May 10th).Our buyers are pushing for a midweek date that myself and my partner are both unable to do due to work commitments (I work away from home and am away three days around the dates they've proposed and she has work commitments on the proposed date).
Frustrating also that the date (and the week) that they are pushing for means I won't have access to the work transit van which will make things a little awkward.
From my understanding they are pushing for this particular date as this is when their rental agreement ends.
Contracts to be exchanged in the coming days.
I'm still no closer, my solicitors are proving beyond useless since they keep claiming the seller's firm hasn't sent the information which they have and aren't replying to email or answering the phone. Emailed them to ask what the delay was and expressing my dissatisfaction, which they didn't bother to reply to.
CT05 Nose Cone said:
I'm still no closer, my solicitors are proving beyond useless since they keep claiming the seller's firm hasn't sent the information which they have and aren't replying to email or answering the phone. Emailed them to ask what the delay was and expressing my dissatisfaction, which they didn't bother to reply to.
Standard MO. When was your offer accepted?Edited by normalbloke on Saturday 27th April 17:27
Hustle_ said:
Hustle_ said:
Had offer accepted early July. Now finally have a complete chain. I’m at the bottom of the chain, FTB with mortgage. Four other parties in the chain, all paying cash, with the people at the top moving into new build. Eight months in and chain stress may finally begin 
Learned on Friday that build is complete 
As you can imagine I really want everyone to get a move on.
We’ve been on the market to sell now since Christmas.
Edited to add it was listed this time last year too with all chancers again but personal circumstances meant we had to take it off after 6 weeks as we couldn’t deal with people coming round at that time.
Love the house and area, 70s semi near town but small ish plot no scope to extend and poor primary schools.
Some real low ball offers but loads of viewings, mostly chancers, clean and get out every Saturday.
Our next door neighbours in the adjoined semi just listed theirs and it sold for asking after a week.
Not sure why, both places in good order, same sq footage, we have newer windows, flooring, drive, loft, bathroom, theirs is open plan kitchen taking out some of the integral garage so assuming people prefer this layout.
We also had an offer over asking accepted on a place we liked but turns out is STC on Rightmove to someone else and we were not told!
This weekends viewings got us our best offers so far but still £15k below next doors and we’ve now lost the house we want.
Mrs wants to pack it in now and just stay, send the kid to private primary school instead. It is a minefield we feel like we’ve been through all the motions every Saturday since Christmas looking at places and cleaning etc with a small child in tow.
Might be time to just enjoy what we have and buy a 911.
Anyone else feeling the pain, we genuinely don’t know what to do now, other places in our road have gone for the same as our offer that need full refurbs.
We only have until November to be moved to get the right area for a better school.
Edited to add it was listed this time last year too with all chancers again but personal circumstances meant we had to take it off after 6 weeks as we couldn’t deal with people coming round at that time.
Love the house and area, 70s semi near town but small ish plot no scope to extend and poor primary schools.
Some real low ball offers but loads of viewings, mostly chancers, clean and get out every Saturday.
Our next door neighbours in the adjoined semi just listed theirs and it sold for asking after a week.
Not sure why, both places in good order, same sq footage, we have newer windows, flooring, drive, loft, bathroom, theirs is open plan kitchen taking out some of the integral garage so assuming people prefer this layout.
We also had an offer over asking accepted on a place we liked but turns out is STC on Rightmove to someone else and we were not told!
This weekends viewings got us our best offers so far but still £15k below next doors and we’ve now lost the house we want.
Mrs wants to pack it in now and just stay, send the kid to private primary school instead. It is a minefield we feel like we’ve been through all the motions every Saturday since Christmas looking at places and cleaning etc with a small child in tow.
Might be time to just enjoy what we have and buy a 911.
Anyone else feeling the pain, we genuinely don’t know what to do now, other places in our road have gone for the same as our offer that need full refurbs.
We only have until November to be moved to get the right area for a better school.
Edited by six port on Monday 29th April 21:56
We've had our London house on the market for a month or so now, and barely a sniff.
It's a mews house in the heart of West Hampstead, small of course, but the living and bed rooms are decently spacious, lots of loft space, and it's got an enormous garage (which is why we bought it) with a mezzanine. It's in move-in condition, nicely decorated, and it's so quiet there you wouldn't think for a moment you're moments away from the high street, and even a 50% share in the mews itself is part of the deal.
I figure if it was just the price people would make an offer, but nothing. We're not even getting viewings.
I'm not really sure how we sell it.
It's a mews house in the heart of West Hampstead, small of course, but the living and bed rooms are decently spacious, lots of loft space, and it's got an enormous garage (which is why we bought it) with a mezzanine. It's in move-in condition, nicely decorated, and it's so quiet there you wouldn't think for a moment you're moments away from the high street, and even a 50% share in the mews itself is part of the deal.
I figure if it was just the price people would make an offer, but nothing. We're not even getting viewings.
I'm not really sure how we sell it.
Our purchase side is progressing nicely: only one search to come back; the survey has been done; and pre contract enquiries have been sent.
Alarmingly on our buyers side things have not progressed at all. Our buyers solicitors have confirmed that they have been instructed but seem to have done very little else. Our buyers have not organised their survey yet (presuming that they will be having one).
I'll be ringing our solicitors this morning to discuss.
Luckily we are buying a vacant possession so no chain. Hopefully the sellers of that will be patient.
Alarmingly on our buyers side things have not progressed at all. Our buyers solicitors have confirmed that they have been instructed but seem to have done very little else. Our buyers have not organised their survey yet (presuming that they will be having one).
I'll be ringing our solicitors this morning to discuss.
Luckily we are buying a vacant possession so no chain. Hopefully the sellers of that will be patient.
normalbloke said:
CT05 Nose Cone said:
I'm still no closer, my solicitors are proving beyond useless since they keep claiming the seller's firm hasn't sent the information which they have and aren't replying to email or answering the phone. Emailed them to ask what the delay was and expressing my dissatisfaction, which they didn't bother to reply to.
Standard MO. When was your offer accepted?Edited by normalbloke on Saturday 27th April 17:27
lizardbrain said:
six port said:
!
This weekends viewings got us our best offers so far but still £15k below next doors and we’ve now lost the house we want.
What is the sqft of habitable space for each house? Perhaps your house is worth 15k less? Is the difference worth not moving for?This weekends viewings got us our best offers so far but still £15k below next doors and we’ve now lost the house we want.
We still wanted a proper garage and separate kitchen.
I guess the preference is now open plan though.
We have accepted the offer today however there’s not much available now we’ve lost the other house and to add a little extra stress my mrs is 11 weeks pregnant so it will likely coincide with a move date!
We are going to wait for maximum 1 month to find somewhere otherwise it all gets canned for a couple of years now.
Craigyboy143 said:
the house we are buying has a site fee/management cost, all i read online about it is bad things, its £400 a year which seems heavy.
has anyone experience of this? would it but you off buying a house??
It’s pretty much a given on any newer developments these days.has anyone experience of this? would it but you off buying a house??
Many are privately run and privately in my view should be seen as risky and dangerous.
I wouldn’t buy a property with a private 3rd party having claws into my deeds.
Some are RMC (not to be confused with RMG), and as such the management company is owned by the owners of the development (residents management company) and so is much more transparently operated vs the private types… and so costs should be more reasonable or easily seen by checking the company accounts on companies house.
I own a property with an RMC and it’s about £220/yr.
There are three small car parks, a marsh land of about 1/4 acre to manage, a suds, some grounds to garden, and a sewage pumping unit at the low end of the site.
I’ve seen similar sized sites with a patch of grass on top of a suds wanting £500/yr under private management, to put costs into perspective.
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