Moving without
tears ...?
A few (unofficial) words which
might help make your house move less of an ordeal
Dealing with it all ...
Moving house
causes all sorts of concerns and pressures with which you (and we) have to deal.
With all the will in the world, we can’t avoid the fact that this is going to be
a bit stressful. Even if you are buying an empty house, the process often seems
to have been designed to encourage you to worry. Although very long ‘chains’ of
transactions are mercifully unusual these days, it is inevitable that someone,
somewhere (whether it be a lawyer, client or lender) will not be as keen or be
paying as much attention as you. DON’T PANIC! (and try to be patient).
Alternatives …
Much has been
made of the ‘need’ to ‘simplify’ conveyancing in England. What we need more is a
way of taking the pressure off buyers and sellers. One idea is completing your
sale first and moving in with family or friends or into rented accommodation.
The disadvantages of living with another family for long periods are obvious,
unless you are all unusually tolerant of each other! Renting has disadvantages
of its own; rent is usually more expensive than a mortgage repayment on a
similar property. You may have to take accommodation which is not as good as you
would buy. Also, you may find that you have to commit to a minimum six month
period.
Not everyone can
afford to do this, but bridging finance is a way of completing your purchase
without having to wait for your sale. This will cost you money of course, and
please take good financial advice before doing so. Having said that, you should
at least consider ‘breaking the chain’ by renting or even bridging if you can.
This will significantly reduce the amount of stress involved in a long chain.
Communicate !
Contrary to some
popular thought, Estate Agents are quite useful. A good estate agent will be
able to discuss progress and hopefully chase where needed, both with the lawyers
and more importantly the clients involved (as your Solicitors we cannot talk to
someone else’s client). It is important to communicate regularly with your Agent
and Solicitor, although sometimes all we can do is telephone the other parties’
lawyer to encourage progress. Communication with your buyer/seller is also very
important. Some people do not like to be bothered often, but sometimes you can
acquire more information about any potential problems direct from the clients
than we can by talking to their lawyers.
Making a date
Beware of setting
or accepting arbitrary dates. You might be told that completion has to take
place on such-a-date when the sale was agreed only recently. Unless you are
buying from a builder, such dates should be treated with caution (and even a
builder will not absolutely guarantee a completion date unless the house is
finished). You should talk to your solicitor about how practical any date
suggested will be so that you do not make arrangements and spend money on a date
which cannot be reached. Remember that the reason why we need to carry out
searches is to find out if there are any hidden problems which might cost you or
your mortgage lender money. Although we can usually anticipate when search
results will be received, we do not know what will be on them, and sometimes the
result needs to be sent to the valuer to confirm whether it affects the
mortgage. Do not be 'bounced' into accepting something which is not in your
interests.
At the end of the
day, the completion date must be a compromise between what suits you and what
suits the other parties in the chain. Try to be flexible, and bear in mind that
other people in the chain will need to wait for replies to searches and surveys
and mortgages too. Communication is the key and if you are all talking to each
other you will have a much better idea of your ability to proceed.
Buying a new house
If buying a brand
new house, always ask the builder to let you know immediately it is ready for
‘snagging’, which is the very appropriate name for the final inspection. You
should look very carefully at the property straight away (you usually only have
a fortnight in which to complete the purchase from being told the house is
complete) and agree a list of anything which still needs to be done or needs to
be corrected as soon as ever possible, agreeing with the builder exactly when
these points will be dealt with. Builders do not agree to put completion back
for ‘minor’ items, and their definition of ‘minor’ may not be the same as yours!
Finally, remember : try to be
open to alternatives.
We hope the above will be useful.
A sense of humour often helps!
