jempee

That was exactly our thoughts. We waited around for 8mths of being let down by house sells. In the end it was lets just go and leave the properties and scrimp if we have to Canada so by the time the house sells got into the 9th month we were starting our new life

Had to wait several months to buy house after arriving and still have the main part of our money (2nd house sell) in UK due to total cr*p exchange rate so still waiting to buy boat etc....... but we will get there!

Beaverquest

hers's an idea; how about people wait until contracts are signed/exchanged until making any firm plans ?

G586

Because sometimes, it goes on so long and so much is promised, that you just have to get on with things....

Alberta_Rose

The skilled worker application currently takes about 5 years. CIC advises that you do not sell your property or quit your job or make any major changes until you have the go ahead, but obviously in today's climate you might then be trying to sell your house until you visa expires!!

So you have to gamble and try to judge the "right time" to put property on the market, which, not having a crystal ball, can be well nigh impossible.

So here's an idea ..... how about people stop trying to be so condescending.

Tanah

well said!!!!!

Beaverquest

maybe it's a lesson for other eager beavers out there to heed CIC advice, and not go booking flights, giving up jobs etc until things are in place

i've been through the 'crystal ball' scenario myself, but am wary of the vulturesque qualities of the real estate people who will quite happily feed you a line to make a living, with little thought as to how it may impact your plans to immigrate

Alberta_Rose

The advice is OK, but doesn't take into account that it may take more time to sell a property than you have available until your visa expires, and that's for skilled worker.

And for people (increasingly these days) who secure their immigration status by accepting a job, there is the added problem of jobs not being held indefinitely if the applicant isn't able to actually start work within a reasonable time frame.

So then you get people panicking about selling quickly or taking the hard route of splitting the family so that one can move over here.

Even though you can land and then return, as a normal skilled worker, you still have to fulfill residency obligations.

There's nothing worse (IMHO) than once everything else (stressful and time consuming as the process is) falls into place, you then are unable to make the move because you have to sell the house. THAT's when the vultures will get you, when they think you are desperate!

So my advice would be to sell early for the best price you can, unless you really have serious doubts about whether (rather than when) you will make the move.

It appears that it will be a buyers market anyway for the forseeable future, so if you sell you can always rent (using interest from your capital) and then buy back if it all falls flat.

daft batty

As I said before its easy to comment, but, I would have been wary of accepting an offer from someone without prearranged finance. Plus if they hadnt had a survey done within a couple of weeks, ie they had a a mortgage approved in principle, I would have put the house back on the market. Definitely after the potential buyer had one mortgage refused. Let alone 3! I would sack the agent for their bad advice and get on someone elses books ASAP.

It doesnt make it any easier for you right now and I sympathise as we suffered at the hands of our agent. Maybe a better one could sell the place faster?

happylandings

Royal pain, the whole rubbish system of house selling / buying in Eng./Wales. Is it impossible to sell through a 'reputable' quick sales agent? They offer 20% less than true value, but buy it fairly quickly. It's just an idea, they may not all be total sharks, though, of course that's out there. But, Zoopla or one of those sites for registered home purchase? Not sure, just an idea, as I said. If 20% less now, then maybe the same value in 6 months time?

Just exploring options.

Anway, Best of Luck, you deserve it.

ville303

It is a horrible situation, not being in control of your live and having to rely on estate agents, solicitors and brokers who have been encouraging us from the very beginning to get things sorted "because we are nearly there" and now all they can say is sorry.

As I said, I am devastated.[/QUOTE]

I so feel your pain. We have been here 3 years now and basically we left the house in the hands of family and Estate Agents and rented a hole for 8 months and we were ok. We were lucky cos we sold just before this all started happening but it was still a long drawn out sale cos the guy who bought it off us had never bought before and he was a pain in the *ss. I have many years experience of buying and selling...and It will improve. I personally believe the media has got everyone hyped up about this and I hope you can 'hang on in there' You've come this far!!!....It's a brave thing to do. I have read so many harrowing posts on this...some people have suggested multi Estate Agents cos they must be wanting business too. I would consider dropping the price...but how far do you go?...you certainly don't want to be giving your house away!!!...I suppose with all the things going on could you have an 'Open House' like they do here?...Suggest to your Estate Agents that you all go out for the afternoon...and people can come view...The more you get through the door that afternoon the more someone will be thinking how popular your property is...You've got nothing to lose?
I wish you sincerely all the best.

JAJ

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the system as long as you accept that an "offer" is legally meaningless until contracts are exchanged.

In other words, you're perfectly entitled to stay on the lookout for new buyers until this point.

steve666

Very well put...

steve666

Are you a crazy muther? Or are you a solicitor?

Lozza2302

I really feel devastated for you, what an awful situation to be in. We were so lucky, sold our house 2 months before we came over, had to drop 15k which was a fair bit on a 135,000k house, but we thought "what the hell" tis only money and we are sooooo much happier here. My sister in law is in the same boat though, house was on the market for over a year, lots of promises but no offers or anything. She bit the bullet a couple of months ago and said "stuff it, i'm going anyway". She has rented the house out through a managment company, and moved over to South France last week.

Maybe that could be something you could look into, you can still have your house on the market while you rent it and you will have a company there looking after it for you.

I so hope it all works out for you, and you are where you want to be soon, my best wishes go with you

happylandings

There is a Lot wrong with the system. It's impractical to allow clients not to commit to a purchase until the vendors have virtually moved out, allow sellers to 'guzump,' lawyers to charge more as the process is protracted...'the chain' is crazy, e.g. 12 housholds ready to move, then one person decides to stay put at the last minute, whole system held up, 'no commitment' but as I said, lawyers still get thier inflated payments.

I can only compare with Scotland (closed bids) and Canada (agreement to buy), but these seem to work well. NOT the timescale needed like here. Canada, as many will tell you can be a few weeks 'to move in'
Alright, someone on here will tell us it took much longer, even in Canada....but generally much quicker.