Currently buying/selling a house? How is it going? READ MOD NOTE POST #1

cnocbui

I would say one of the prime reasons for vendors delaying is them trying to sort somewhere to move too. Then of course this is the silly season as well.

Meraf

During the pre-purchase checks it appears that EA / vendor provided incorrect BER rating B2 instead C1 and 80m2 instead 70m2 for apartment. There is a sale agreed in place but no contract signed yet.

Interesting is that bank valuation done with incorrect data on the paper (B2 and 80m2), and survey done. Nothing was highlighted by any of them.

What would you do you were me:
Try to negotiate new price ?
Walk away ?

klose

Currently in the last few steps however at the signing of contracts today I noted to the solicitor the garage had been converted to a 4th bedroom/en suite and utility. This was news to him as he said he had not been told by the vendors solicitor about it and now has to enquire about it being up to building regulations when it was completed, if it is its all OK and above board that's great, and if not it could be quite the issue, anyone any experience with anything like this?

tianna

Meraf wrote: »

During the pre-purchase checks it appears that EA / vendor provided incorrect BER rating B2 instead C1 and 80m2 instead 70m2 for apartment. There is a sale agreed in place but no contract signed yet.

Interesting is that bank valuation done with incorrect data on the paper (B2 and 80m2), and survey done. Nothing was highlighted by any of them.

What would you do you were me:
Try to negotiate new price ?
Walk away ?

I would try to negotiate the price. The property is still the same size as when you viewed it but obviously the BER rating will impact energy costs.

Out of interest how did you find out the mistake if neither the bank nor surveyor noticed?

Meraf

tianna wrote: »

I would try to negotiate the price. The property is still the same size as when you viewed it but obviously the BER rating will impact energy costs.

Out of interest how did you find out the mistake if neither the bank nor surveyor noticed?

Initially asked my solicitor for a copy but they didn't have it from vendor solicitor. I've asked EA for a copy of original BER certificate, and floor size is registered on SEAI website since is required for calculations

JimmyVik

Meraf wrote: »

During the pre-purchase checks it appears that EA / vendor provided incorrect BER rating B2 instead C1 and 80m2 instead 70m2 for apartment. There is a sale agreed in place but no contract signed yet.

Interesting is that bank valuation done with incorrect data on the paper (B2 and 80m2), and survey done. Nothing was highlighted by any of them.

What would you do you were me:
Try to negotiate new price ?
Walk away ?

Similar situation myself.
BER said C2. It was actually lower by two stops.
The area measurement was 25M2 less than quoted.
I think both of those scenarios are quite common.
I decided i was happy with it when i made the offer anyway, so knowing its less area isnt a problem. Also I know how off the wall BER measurements are from lots of past experience. I take no notice of BER at all nowadays tbh.

So I went ahead and closed. Had house sales fall through in the past when looking for reduction. Vendors just called my bluff and and said we will get back to you. Then went to underbidders and got offers better than mine i guess.

goingagain

Sale agreed in early August, first viewed house in February. Signed for the sale of ours 3 weeks ago, people we are buying off finally signed today . Closing mid January. People we are buying off are downsizing and I thought maybe they were getting cold feet, but all seems to be going ahead.

If we close mid January as planned the whole process has taken a year. We initially made first contact with the estate agent about selling ours last year at the end of January.

We plan to buy and sell the same day

cubatahavana

goingagain wrote: »

We plan to buy and sell the same day

Stressful, but it can be done. We did it 3 weeks ago (4th December)

Closed our sale around 12 mid-day and closed our purchase one hour later. The purchaser’s solicitor forgot to add all the searches with the paperwork and that’s why it took until 12 to close

goingagain

cubatahavana wrote: »

Stressful, but it can be done. We did it 3 weeks ago (4th December)

Closed our sale around 12 mid-day and closed our purchase one hour later. The purchaser’s solicitor forgot to add all the searches with the paperwork and that’s why it took until 12 to close

We could stay with family for a night or 2, but it really adds on the costs with the moving company for storage and redelivery . Hopefully it’ll go smoothly.

How is the new house? Have you much work to do to it?

cubatahavana

goingagain wrote: »

We could stay with family for a night or 2, but it really adds on the costs with the moving company for storage and redelivery . Hopefully it’ll go smoothly.

How is the new house? Have you much work to do to it?

It could add up to 1-1.5k if not done on the same day, as you’d need storage and they’ll charge another unloading and loading of the truck.

New house is fantastic, very warm new build. A bit of work went in (floors and other small bits), but the foreman let us put the floors before moving in. Mainly it has been finishing snags for the first week and now we are waiting for furniture to come (we still need to buy a lot).

GrumPy

GrumPy wrote: »

Here is our latest timeline. As you can imagine, we are beyond exhausted, mentally & physically! The vendor solicitor has been an absolute nightmare, and delays with the land registry are still a huge problem for us. We were told on Monday, that the outstanding instrument document *might* be made available on Friday... It will probably be another 4 weeks at this rate before we get sight of keys.

We moved out of our apartment on Oct 31st, staying with friends for 2 weeks, thinking that would be sufficient. We had a buffer of 4 weeks, which we fully utilised, before moving back in with my parents.

Torture, every step of the process has been unnecessarily convoluted, had incompetent people and delay after delay after delay. Nothing worse when you are in a process that you have no control over. It's beyond frustrating, and me & my fianceé are at our wits end. Thank god it's almost Christmas and we have some down time to try and breath.

Looking for thoughts on our situation from other buyers. Most people are back to work from Jan 4th. What steps would you take to try and put a rocket under the vendors solicitors arse?

1) Give them a deadline to answer pre-contractual questions or threaten that we will pull out?
2) Keep the faith, and just keep hammering the agent to chase for updates?
3) Other options?

Rocket99

Hi all,

I have had my contracts signed so now looking for life and house insurance.

Do I need to add mortgage protection too?

Meraf

Rocket99 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have had my contracts signed so now looking for life and house insurance.

Do I need to add mortgage protection too?

Mortgage protection is also considered as life insurance. If you are taking mortgage then yes you will need one

Smiley11

GrumPy wrote: »

Looking for thoughts on our situation from other buyers. Most people are back to work from Jan 4th. What steps would you take to try and put a rocket under the vendors solicitors arse?

1) Give them a deadline to answer pre-contractual questions or threaten that we will pull out?
2) Keep the faith, and just keep hammering the agent to chase for updates?
3) Other options?

To be perfectly honest with you, its a sellers market & I don't think deadlines mean anything in a market like this. Frustrating as it may be, my advice would be to bite your tongue & bide your time. You may cut off your nose to spite your face if you try to lay down the law. Realistically, they have nothing to lose. You walk, they re-market & quite possibly get more money.

I'd love to be in your position but its not going to happen at this rate for quite some time. Hang in there. If you love the house, weather the storm. Best of luck with it!

Littleredcar

Went sake agreed on 17/10/2020, pension company buying the house , paid property tax . House is currently empty still haven’t signed contracts . I have the deeds And it’s mortgage free . I just wish it would hurry up. I’ve then to sell my current house And buy/sell on the same day . The delays on this one are not making me hopeful

GrumPy

Smiley11 wrote: »

To be perfectly honest with you, its a sellers market & I don't think deadlines mean anything in a market like this. Frustrating as it may be, my advice would be to bite your tongue & bide your time. You may cut off your nose to spite your face if you try to lay down the law. Realistically, they have nothing to lose. You walk, they re-market & quite possibly get more money.

I'd love to be in your position but its not going to happen at this rate for quite some time. Hang in there. If you love the house, weather the storm. Best of luck with it!

Yes, this advice is clearly correct! Need to just stay patient. We really like the house and we are just exhausted waiting. But if we did decide to try play 'hard-ball' we would inevitably loose the house and be back to daft.ie at square 1 all over again. We hope to be in the house in mid-January. However, knowing our luck, it will spill into Feb. The house was first listed for sale in Feb last year! :eek:

Cash_Q

GrumPy wrote:

Yes, this advice is clearly correct! Need to just stay patient. We really like the house and we are just exhausted waiting. But if we did decide to try play 'hard-ball' we would inevitably loose the house and be back to daft.ie at square 1 all over again. We hope to be in the house in mid-January. However, knowing our luck, it will spill into Feb. The house was first listed for sale in Feb last year!

Its painful isn't it, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

Do you have a good rapport with the EA? We did, and we regularly touched base, always in a grateful and hopeful tone. We used to just say something like "Hi... hope you're keeping well? We are hoping you might be able to check in with the vendor to see where we are at on X... our solicitor has contacted theirs but isnt getting a reply.. perhaps they might be able to enquire about X... as I'm sure you understand we are anxious to make progress with the purchase so any communication at all would be really appreciated, thanks etc"

Some wont bother to chase anything up for you but you wont know if you dont ask. Keep the pressure on your solicitor too, ask have they heard back about X, can they follow up with the vendors solicitor etc... the squeaky wheel and all that.

Remind me, is it probate or land registry youre waiting on? Its frustrating when it's all so out of your control and when it's out of the solicitor's control too, but a basic bit of communication really is so reassuring isnt it

Cash_Q

GrumPy wrote:

Yes, this advice is clearly correct! Need to just stay patient. We really like the house and we are just exhausted waiting. But if we did decide to try play 'hard-ball' we would inevitably loose the house and be back to daft.ie at square 1 all over again. We hope to be in the house in mid-January. However, knowing our luck, it will spill into Feb. The house was first listed for sale in Feb last year!

Its painful isn't it, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

Do you have a good rapport with the EA? We did, and we regularly touched base, always in a grateful and hopeful tone. We used to just say something like "Hi... hope you're keeping well? We are hoping you might be able to check in with the vendor to see where we are at on X... our solicitor has contacted theirs but isnt getting a reply.. perhaps they might be able to enquire about X... as I'm sure you understand we are anxious to make progress with the purchase so any communication at all would be really appreciated, thanks etc"

Some wont bother to chase anything up for you but you wont know if you dont ask. Keep the pressure on your solicitor too, ask have they heard back about X, can they follow up with the vendors solicitor etc... the squeaky wheel and all that.

Remind me, is it probate or land registry youre waiting on? Its frustrating when it's all so out of your control and when it's out of the solicitor's control too, but a basic bit of communication really is so reassuring isnt it

Smiley11

Cash_Q wrote: »

Its painful isn't it, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

Do you have a good rapport with the EA? We did, and we regularly touched base, always in a grateful and hopeful tone. We used to just say something like "Hi... hope you're keeping well? We are hoping you might be able to check in with the vendor to see where we are at on X... our solicitor has contacted theirs but isnt getting a reply.. perhaps they might be able to enquire about X... as I'm sure you understand we are anxious to make progress with the purchase so any communication at all would be really appreciated, thanks etc"

Some wont bother to chase anything up for you but you wont know if you dont ask. Keep the pressure on your solicitor too, ask have they heard back about X, can they follow up with the vendors solicitor etc... the squeaky wheel and all that.

Remind me, is it probate or land registry youre waiting on? Its frustrating when it's all so out of your control and when it's out of the solicitor's control too, but a basic bit of communication really is so reassuring isnt it

Agree. No matter what their attitude towards you, being pleasant & mannerly will always benefit you eventually. I was speaking to an EA last week & he was talking about how people are increasingly manic & rude are at the moment. Now, I have no grá for EA's but I do believe its all a game. Can't trust them but you need them more than they need little old you currently! Aim for February, even March. Prepare for the worst & anything better is a bonus is my mantra these days. Property is difficult to navigate the majority of the time but you just have to hang in there!

GrumPy

Cash_Q wrote: »

Its painful isn't it, but a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!
Remind me, is it probate or land registry youre waiting on? Its frustrating when it's all so out of your control and when it's out of the solicitor's control too, but a basic bit of communication really is so reassuring isnt it

It's land registry which has been the main delay. In terms of EA and solicitors comms, these have always been polite. I certainly appreciate the importance of polite communication, despite our growing frustrations.

Cash_Q

GrumPy wrote:

It's land registry which has been the main delay. In terms of EA and solicitors comms, these have always been polite. I certainly appreciate the importance of polite communication, despite our growing frustrations.

Great that you are on good terms with the EA and solicitors, I suppose all you can do is ask your solicitor to contact theirs and ask what's the delay with the pre contractual stuff as you are hoping things can progress quickly/avoid any further delays once the land registry situation is resolved.

Do you have your life insurance/mortgage protection ready to go? This caused us a major headache in the end that could have been avoided while we waited on probate so if there is anything you can keep on top of while you wait it's worth it

Cash_Q

GrumPy wrote:

It's land registry which has been the main delay. In terms of EA and solicitors comms, these have always been polite. I certainly appreciate the importance of polite communication, despite our growing frustrations.

Great that you are on good terms with the EA and solicitors, I suppose all you can do is ask your solicitor to contact theirs and ask what's the delay with the pre contractual stuff as you are hoping things can progress quickly/avoid any further delays once the land registry situation is resolved.

Do you have your life insurance/mortgage protection ready to go? This caused us a major headache in the end that could have been avoided while we waited on probate so if there is anything you can keep on top of while you wait it's worth it

GrumPy

Cash_Q wrote: »

Do you have your life insurance/mortgage protection ready to go? This caused us a major headache in the end that could have been avoided while we waited on probate so if there is anything you can keep on top of while you wait it's worth it

Yep, and home insurance. Everything on our side is as ready-to-go as possible. Which makes it extra frustrating because we've been so organised from day 1, that we've had to pay to have the house revalued a second time by the bank.
I'd rather be overprepared though.

klose

Cash_Q wrote: »

Great that you are on good terms with the EA and solicitors, I suppose all you can do is ask your solicitor to contact theirs and ask what's the delay with the pre contractual stuff as you are hoping things can progress quickly/avoid any further delays once the land registry situation is resolved.

Do you have your life insurance/mortgage protection ready to go? This caused us a major headache in the end that could have been avoided while we waited on probate so if there is anything you can keep on top of while you wait it's worth it

Is mortgage protection and house insurance what is required to draw down? (Along with the obvious bits) I've seen mortgage protection been referred to as life cover/insurance too which is confusing us a bit at the moment.

stampydmonkey

klose wrote: »

Is mortgage protection and house insurance what is required to draw down? (Along with the obvious bits) I've seen mortgage protection been referred to as life cover/insurance too which is confusing us a bit at the moment.

Check out lion.ie for an explanation. Its very thorough

Cash_Q

GrumPy wrote:

Yep, and home insurance. Everything on our side is as ready-to-go as possible. Which makes it extra frustrating because we've been so organised from day 1, that we've had to pay to have the house revalued a second time by the bank. I'd rather be overprepared though.

Well that is great, you'll hit the ground running as soon as possible. Fingers crossed you won't be much longer and even though it is crap, so many people would kill to be in your position. These kind of delays seem par for the course unfortunately, with straightforward sales being pretty rare

klose

stampydmonkey wrote: »

Check out lion.ie for an explanation. Its very thorough

Ah yes very good thank you, clear as mud as they say, cheers.

pleh

klose wrote: »

Ah yes very good thank you, clear as mud as they say, cheers.

https://lion.ie/mortgage-protection-insurance/mortgage-insurance/#:~:text=The%20huge%20difference%20here%20is,them%20money%20if%20you%20die

"The huge difference here is that Life Insurance goes to your other half or family, whereas Mortgage Protection covers your bank"

I think it's a good explanation

Geuze

klose wrote: »

Is mortgage protection and house insurance what is required to draw down? (Along with the obvious bits) I've seen mortgage protection been referred to as life cover/insurance too which is confusing us a bit at the moment.

MPP is a form/type of life cover.

MPP is a life insurance policy that is assigned to your lender.

If you die, the insurer pays out, but they pay the lender, not your next of kin.

MPP is a life insurance policy specifically designed to repay a debt.

Does anyone know if solicitors and probate office are continuing to work as normal in level 5? I remember in March EA's were closed for a while.

We're still waiting on probate to issue in the new year before we can get the keys. The wait is driving us mental!