emma75

I agree iwth Jon, I have not really heard of the house staying on the market after an offer has been put in. Thats the way it goes really, sometimes your lucky and its straight forwrd and sometimes like me its not so straight forward. We are a chain of 3, We are at the top, the people buying from us have been ready to exchange since August. The people buying theres is the C of E for a retired vicar, supposedly cash buyers, wheres the problem? There are never any guarantees but you have to hope it all goes according to plan. We were told 6 weeks initially.
Well OH has been gone 4 weeks today and it has been so bloody tough, especially as i thought we would be counting down to go by now.
Have kept myself super busy by preparing everything for shipping, and what a job that has been jet spraying and jeyes fluid on everything. My house stinks of the stuff! Cant wait for it to happen soon enough, I am desperate for us to be back together ASAP
My car broke down the other day and i am so used to calling the OH, Then last night the boiler packed up¬ I am constantly tired where i dont sleep well in the house by myself and seem to be so busy juggling everything. (Deep breath!!) Anyway, Still smiling, most of the time.
OH is doing well in his job and has found a nice rental with a pool, So look forward to joining him in it! He has bad days too thougn and on sunday threatened to come back He has made some friends and stayed with my dad and sister for the weekend too. Talking on skype daily really helps. Anyway still keep everything crossed that we will have a date soon
Emma x

Jon77

We were in a chain of 3, we were also at the top of the chain and the person buying our house also wanted to exchange quickly initially, it was the buyers buyer who was also a cash buyer that was holding things up. Such a smiliar situation as ours and as I know how frustrating it is I really do feel for you and hope that this gets resloved for you soon

I am sure it will not be long now until you are posting here saying that it has happened And that is a great feeling I can tell you

Chin up

emma75

Cheers, will keep you updated!

Emma

JenniGee

Keeping my fingers crossed for you - I know how nerve-wracking it can be, but must be more so for you with your OH threatening to come back - tell him if he does that, he can forget any loving welcome & sleep in the garage

emma75

Thanls, amd yes i have told him that already. I said to him that i have not been left to look after the kids, deal with everythimg here and get the whole house ready for the shippers while he has been on a 4 week lads holiday! My Dad and sister live in Oz and i have not seen them for a few years so i have that to look forward to as well, Dont worry he is staying put if he knows whats good for him!
Emma

JAJ

Perhaps people believe the offer means something, legally?

If they haven't exchanged then by definition they're not "ready".

emma75

Our solicitors and our buyers solicitors HAVE been ready since August. As i said it is the bottom of the chain who are dragging their feet.

Jon77

I sold my house recently and I took mine of the market and in NO WAY did I believe that the offer was legally binding, it is a very well know fact that in the UK an offer is not legally binding. If you told the Estate Agent in the UK that you wanted to keep the house on the market AFTER an offer was made then they would probably tell you that they no longer wish to represent you.

I will say it again as I do not think it sunk it the last time. IF YOU KEPT YOUR HOUSE ON THE MARKET AFTER AN OFFER WAS MADE THEN THERE IS A VERY GOOD CHANCE THE BUYER WILL WALK AWAY. I know I would, if somone kept their house on the market after I made an offer I would walk away. I am not about to spend hundreds of pounds on surveys and other legal costs for someone to come in with an offer on the house for say £500.00 more and pull out of the deal, it would be bad practice. And I cannot imagine solicitors who start all the legal searches would be very happy. An offer is not legally binding but it does trigger many processes and expenses.


And as for someone being ready, well all the people in the chain involved in the purchase can be "ready" but often solicitors can drag things out and even solicitors can be ready to exchange but just be a little too relaxed about it.

Can I ask if you have ever sold / bought a house in the UK before?

JenniGee

I think too many people buy into the mass neurosis that exists around house-buying. Lots of people buy with their heart, not their head & so consequently the agents can manipulate this to their own advantage.

How many times do you see "Sold" boards outside houses within a couple of days of an offer being accepted, yet are nowhere near being actually, legally sold? This is good advertising for the agent, but is of no benefit to the seller at all, who then buys into the process even more by going out making offers on property they have fallen in love with, without really any means of completing until their house has tied up.

I know I sound really harsh, but buying a house is the biggest financial transaction most people will ever make & shouldn't be done with the rose-tints on.

Which of course, won't stop me ooh-ing & aah-ing & fretting the next time we come to buy

JenniGee

And I will say it again as I do not think it sunk in the last time THIS HAS NOT BEEN MY EXPERIENCE - I HAVE ALWAYS KEPT MY PROPERTY ON THE MARKET UNTIL EXCHANGE & MY BUYERS HAVE NEVER WALKED AWAY.

Just coz you shout Jon, doesn't make your opinion any more true than mine. Obviously we have had different experiences

Jon77

Did you sell privately or with an Estate Agent ? And if with an Estate Agent what did they say about you keeping it on the market?

Also if when you got very close to the exchange date and a new buyer came in with a little more money would you have told your first buyers to go away? I know that didn't happen, but supposing it did?

And it wasn't meant as shouting even though I agree the caps look less then good, I apologise for that, it was aimed at a post implying that some people do not understand that an offer in the UK is not legally binding, it came over as patronising, especially as this point was explained in earlier posts and many many times in the 'cant sell a house and have a visa' thread.

Maybe you are right, you can sell a house easily by keeping it on the market after an offer has been made. What I do not like is the way some on here seem to think that those who do not keep it on the market after an offer are in some way lacking in knowledge shall we say. Maybe this again is not intentional, but that is the way it comes over. In the end we could all be right, couldn't we :-) Personally I like to show a bit of faith in my buyer when selling and when buying I want the seller to show a bit of faith in me, I would personally walk away from any deal where by the seller does not remove the house totally from the market.

JenniGee

Hi Jon
Thanks for your post.

On reflection, I reckon my experiences of selling are a bit out of date & can understand why people worry so much about keeping their buyers happy, especially when they are so few & far between.

We sold all our properties over the space of a year, with the last one being sold 3 years ago - It was still a seller's market then & prices were on the rise & I could afford to be a bit bolshy with the Agents. All our properties sold within days at full asking price or over.

I still do think it is a business transaction though & I guess this forum is a little different in that people simply MUST sell in order to migrate. I must admit if there wasn't that pressure I would probably still take a similar attitude though & be quite hard-headed until the purchasers have signed on the dotted line.

Hey...if you are fed up of people not getting your point here, you ought to try posting in the Immigration/Visas Section - a lot of entertainment to be had there with people wanting to share timelines, PLE's being sent left, right & centre & endless wailings about when do we think Case Officers will be allocated

Have a good day

Jon77

Thanks Jen, we both agree I am right then

Only kidding, have a good day also

Wendy

I also kept my house on the market until exchange - at the advice of my estate agent.

We had two offers, the first I took the house off the market, put up a sold sign and three weeks later they pulled out of the sale - we had been waiting for a survey up to that point. When the second buyer came along and put her offer in the estate agent told me to ask for a deposit or keep it on the market until they exchanged. The buyer didn't want to put a deposit down - she was getting a 100% mortgage.

Contracts were exchanged within 8 weeks of the offer being made. There was a delay because we had to have an electrical inspection done - ironic since my OH is a sparky

Again though, it was a very different market then.

Good luck to all of you selling up, I know how frustrating it all is! Will keep my fingers crossed it all goes smoothly for you all

fartso

Keep your chin up Emma.
Wont be long...good luck.