Moving house.

FML....What a colossal ball ache!
I last moved house back in 2001 and can't remember nowhere near the amount of issues I've had this time, nowhere near the amount of forms and paperwork and nowhere near the amount of time it's taken to get to where we are now. Why in this day and age where virtually everything is digital does it take so long? I've got a theory and that it's all a big conspiracy between solicitors and the time is protracted to justify the amount of money they charge.
So far the solicitors have lost vital paperwork which they were in receipt of weeks previously where we've recieved email confirmation of it being in their possession. They failed to send out paperwork which required signing, in a word blamed us for not recieveing it and then took over a week to resend.
We used this particular solicitor because they were in our home town and assumed that it would be simple to pop in and sort issues out as they arise.....no. They didn't tell us the conveyancing was done in another branch and so all paperwork given to them has to be sent to their sister branch about 10 miles away which for some reason takes 4 days to get there. You pay these clowns a large amount of money only to end up having to chase them at virtually every stage. I've got to ring them today, wonder what's next!
If you're also moving house and are in similar circumstances you have my sympathy.

I feel your pain. We are in the same boat with absolutely crap solicitors...and just to top it off our buyers have just pulled out 😒

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Originally Posted by Ghost Chilli

I feel your pain. We are in the same boat with absolutely crap solicitors...and just to top it off our buyers have just pulled out 

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Also happened to us with the first buyer, devastating thing to happen especially when you've got the new house in site.

We moved house in 2012 and was bracing myself for the sort of nightmares you have had, in our case it went pretty smoothly, the solicitors had a very good digital platform that had a rolling progress bar, most documents could be uploaded / downloaded and certainly seemed to be efficient, there were one or two docs that had to be physically signed but not many.
I have a mate who is also moving at the moment and he's almost having to 'project manage' the process himself with daily calls and close monitoring to keep things on track!
Good luck and I hope it all works out in the end.

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Originally Posted by Franky Four Fingers

I've got a theory and that it's all a big conspiracy between solicitors and the time is protracted to justify the amount of money they charge.

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It must be, you could buy a £100k in hours, a £100k watch in minutes. A £100k takes weeks or months. Searches and Transfer of title doesn’t need to take a long time at all.

I last moved house in 2009 and actually, the conveyancing and all that was not that bad. It's the upheaval that puts me off, all the packing and unpacking and moving things around. I still have stuff in cardboard boxes. I'm not doing it again.

Last move for me was two weeks ago, before that 1986! Two things gave gone well. 1 we moved into rented to break the chain, 2 our solicitor ( name can be provided if requested in the North West) was superb.

I contrast that to when I sold my dads house and the solicitor ( mid 30’s) went off with stress causing me monumental stress and issues!

I feel your pain.

We nearly lost the house we’re in now because of solicitors basically not getting on with the job. There is no comeback with them unfortunately.

Solicitors are the biggest pain in the behind when it comes to buying a house. Agents get a lot of stick but in my opinion a good one is worth their weight in gold to ensure a chain doesn't collapse.

The house I moved into now was part of a 7 person chain. Was horrendously stressful!

All of the above grief is made worse by the fact that it just doesn't need to be that way.

The whole method of buying/selling property in England and Wales is atrocious and needs a thorough reform to bring it more up to date.

The Scottish system is a step in the right direction, as it cuts out a lot of the time waters, but is still far from perfect.

In my experience, most estate agents are little more than incompetent unqualified 'dating agents' for properties and most live up to their XR3i driving wide-boy image and the amount of very poor solicitors around is simply shocking. I do agree though, a decent estate agent and solicitor make a huge difference - if you can find them!

We moved a few months back and the chain was simple - our buyers were first time buyers, and the house we were buying was owned by someone who had already moved to a retirement flat. The process was a complete nightmare. The sellers previous solicitor has lost his deeds which massively elongated the process, our buyers were slow to the point of no communication. Our sanity was only preserved by our excellent estate agents (Haus in Sheffield) and solicitors.

The Scottish System is awful. Offers over are a nightmare leading to people offering 15-20% over valuation.

I’ve just completed today- I had the offer accepted 7 months ago. 2 houses in the chain - can it really be that hard???
It only happened today as my mortgage offer expired tomorrow
Now the hard work starts- a complete refurb, that should take my mind of the breakdown of my marriage
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f61354a3_z.jpg1EF34461-9255-41BE-A946-07E060FF7C61 by biglewie, on Flickr

I’ve been looking to move for the last 3-4 years, I have a 4 bed detached house on a typical modern development with too many houses all crammed in together. Noisy neighbours and kids playing out spoil it for me, I love the house but dislike the position, I can’t enjoy the outside space in summer and that’s a big factor for a retiree.

A nice 80s 3 bed detached bungalow has come up for sale locally, with a big garden and a good degree of privacy, so I’ve agreed to buy it. It ticks the boxes, bungalows are in big demand in my area, so I'm buying it before selling my own house. This will involve some financial pain but I reckon it’s worth it to secure the move. Hopefully the move will be stress- free, owning two properties for a short while has drawbacks but at least I won’t be in a ‘ chain’. Worst that can happen is that my house takes longer to sell than I’d wish, but I think that’s unlikely. I’ll use a local Estate Agent with a good reputation, and a local solicitor who can easily be ‘encouraged’ if necessary. That’s one advantage with being retired, you have the time to put the legwork in when required and do the chasing, dealing with local folks also makes it easier and I much prefer face to face communication because it’s generally more effective.

It all sounds like a good plan, should be a nice smooth move.........but I’m sure there will be problems somewhere along the line! Moving house is always stressful to a greater or lesser extent.

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Originally Posted by lewie

I’ve just completed today- I had the offer accepted 7 months ago. 2 houses in the chain - can it really be that hard???
It only happened today as my mortgage offer expired tomorrow
Now the hard work starts- a complete refurb, that should take my mind of the breakdown of my marriage
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f61354a3_z.jpg1EF34461-9255-41BE-A946-07E060FF7C61 by biglewie, on Flickr

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All the best Lewie, looks like a great place for you to make a fresh start.

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Originally Posted by lewie

I’ve just completed today- I had the offer accepted 7 months ago. 2 houses in the chain - can it really be that hard???
It only happened today as my mortgage offer expired tomorrow
Now the hard work starts- a complete refurb, that should take my mind of the breakdown of my marriage

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Best of luck. Hopefully by the time it's all done your mind will have better things to occupy it. In the meantime gutting a house is enough to take your mind off anything.

I am sitting here typing this surrounded by boxes having moved in on Monday. It's a nightmare but I just keep thinking we'll get there eventually. EVENTUALLY!!!!

Currently going through this process too, it’s like pulling teeth chasing solicitors taking forever, I suppose they have to drag it out months to justify how much they charge


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh god, shouldn’t have opened this thread. Just started the process due to a split from the Mrs. House went up for sale (cheapisish) on a Wednesday, 3 viewings two offers. Took the one who’s already sold and his buyers moved back with parents until the sale completed (so desperate) Ex & I both got offers in on houses, mine empty hers sellers desperate to move as they have somewhere else already bought. All mad keen to move before Christmas until our buyer decides he wants to move in February cos he’s got a got fixed rate and can’t port it until then FFS

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Originally Posted by Franky Four Fingers

We used this particular solicitor because they were in our home town and assumed that it would be simple to pop in and sort issues out as they arise.....no. They didn't tell us the conveyancing was done in another branch and so all paperwork given to them has to be sent to their sister branch about 10 miles away which for some reason takes 4 days to get there. You pay these clowns a large amount of money only to end up having to chase them at virtually every stage.

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Let me guess - you must be using Bevirs. :la:

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Originally Posted by Seiko7A38

Let me guess - you must be using Bevirs. :la:

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The thought crossed my mind but was talked out of it by the EA, no the other guys

We're doing the same, but moved into rental a few months back to be a stop gap, as we've been in the chain of doom a couple of times in the past. Big difference in moving this time is all the additional scrutiny, you went for a mortgage or the likes in the 2000s and you'd get it all done in minutes, now it's properly scrutinised, as is all the signing of paperwork like stating you are not, or don't know any PEPs and so on!

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Originally Posted by Argee1977

We're doing the same, but moved into rental a few months back to be a stop gap, as we've been in the chain of doom a couple of times in the past. Big difference in moving this time is all the additional scrutiny, you went for a mortgage or the likes in the 2000s and you'd get it all done in minutes, now it's properly scrutinised, as is all the signing of paperwork like stating you are not, or don't know any PEPs and so on!

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Ive got no real problem with the scrutiny however I don't really see why telling me that that a planning application was approved on the land back in 1977 is any help when it was never built on. A new planning application was approved 41 years later and it's those new houses we'll be moving in to. Totally pointless and mindless waste of everyone's time.

Lets take yesterdays latest. All of our searches have come back now and the solicitor has highlighted an issue where she'd like to know why when the application was granted it was done so with conditions.
She said she would need to write to the the builders solicitor to obtain the conditions and understand them before telling us to proceed. Expect about a week apparently......oh frigging really!!
5 minutes this morning on the local councils website, pulled up the application and found the conditions which were needed to be met.
It really doesnt need to take as long as it does and I stand by my original post that the time is protracted to justify the amount of money they charge you.

edit.....in fact all you have to do is enter the application number in google and it takes you to the page within the councils website to view the document. GRRRRRGHHH

I feel your pain. We finally completed at the end of August after basically the whole summer of waiting. We used Purple Bricks to sell which, contrary to many people's advice went very smoothly and suited us very well. The problem was however that I missed the small sentence in the t&C's that said if you defer the fee you are tied to using their conveyancing service.

Big mistake as they were hopeless, communication was via email only with no phone call to explain so if (and when) the email went into the Junk folder it just sat there. I ended up using a different solicitor for our subsequent purchase whom I have used before and they were excellent.

I would not advise using 2 solicitors at the same time though - very stressful.

Ours was a nightmare due to a financial adviser that we decided to use due to neither of us having bought a house before, the adviser won financial advisor of the year award and he was just a bullshitting spiv and the conveyancers made a massive cock up 3 days before we completed and it was too late to do anything about it