Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT London Calling. An ordinary life.

[sawduststeve]

The neighborhood busy body. lol

She sure don’t miss much, that’s for certain.

Funnily enough, she’s told me that after decamping to Cornwall for the duration of the build, they like it so much there, they are probably going to sell the place as soon as it’s done and not come back to Essex

Steve

 

[Just_Steve]

She sure don’t miss much, that’s for certain.

Funnily enough, she’s told me that after decamping to Cornwall for the duration of the build, they like it so much there, they are probably going to sell the place as soon as it’s done and not come back to Essex

Steve

That looks like a big change, city to countryside

 

[Old tool guy]

Real estate chains … never heard it called that, but it is common to receive an offer on the house you are selling, and the offer says it’s contingent on the buyers selling theirs. If the deal is to the advantage of the first seller (you) there will be a clause in the offer like “if buyer does not accept an offer to sell their house by ** date (like 30 days) then the offer is void and buyer forfeits the deposit”. In a hot market you don’t get many contingent offers cuz there’s probably another buyer who can close sooner.

 

[Geoff289]

Once the contract is signed that is no going back, the problem lies with the 3-6mths it takes to get to that point.
People do scattergun offers on many properties at once knowing they will drop out of all except one.

So what's to stop the vendor from selling it to someone else who is prepared to sign a contract? Maybe it's a buyer's market over there but any prospective buyer here using that scattergun approach would lose them all and forfeit any deposit in most cases.

Real estate chains … never heard it called that, but it is common to receive an offer on the house you are selling, and the offer says it’s contingent on the buyers selling theirs. If the deal is to the advantage of the first seller (you) there will be a clause in the offer like “if buyer does not accept an offer to sell their house by ** date (like 30 days) then the offer is void and buyer forfeits the deposit”. In a hot market you don’t get many contingent offers cuz there’s probably another buyer who can close sooner.

Just wouldn't happen here.

 

[littlebean]

Hiya
Yep, selling property in the UK is far from ideal, no non returnable deposits (except Scotland) and your right, you can walk away almost up until exchange
I’m sure the majority of sales do get done eventually, but you do hear of some right horror stories.

my son works in conveyancing in the UK.......think I've heard most of them

 

[TomGW]

In the UK the common practice is for the seller/vendor's solicitor to prepare the contract and sent it to the purchaser's solicitor, together with the 'legal pack' i.e. title, property searches etc, with a target completion date. However, there is no contract in place until the purchaser signs and pays a deposit, which, as Steve says, is often also the day of completion. So no deposit or signed contract until the day the buyer actually becomes the owner. For this reason the target completion date is largely meaningless and the buyer can drag the process out as long as the seller has patience. Nothing to prevent the vendor from accepting an offer from someone else if the target date has passed.

 

[sawduststeve]

In the UK the common practice is for the seller/vendor's solicitor to prepare the contract and sent it to the purchaser's solicitor, together with the 'legal pack' i.e. title, property searches etc, with a target completion date. However, there is no contract in place until the purchaser signs and pays a deposit, which, as Steve says, is often also the day of completion. So no deposit or signed contract until the day the buyer actually becomes the owner. For this reason the target completion date is largely meaningless and the buyer can drag the process out as long as the seller has patience. Nothing to prevent the vendor from accepting an offer from someone else if the target date has passed.

Thank you sir. Put better than I could

I know two people who have had the seller on the day of completion ask for more money, for whatever pathetic excuse, in one case is was £17k and the other because it was a very nice central London house they were stitched up for an extra £35k.
So, to recap, there is nothing to stop either the seller or buyer f@&king each other over until the very last minute.

 

[Old tool guy]

It's been 20 yrs since i bought a house, but i’m remember that if the buyer makes an off and the seller accepts, the buyer ponies up earnest money, essentially a deposit. Maybe only $10k but enough to make it a real deal, not just a bluff. If the buyer backs out the seller keeps the money.

 

[littlebean]

It's been 20 yrs since i bought a house, but i’m remember that if the buyer makes an off and the seller accepts, the buyer ponies up earnest money, essentially a deposit. Maybe only $10k but enough to make it a real deal, not just a bluff. If the buyer backs out the seller keeps the money.

it'd be lovely it was like that in England..........

 

[Geoff289]

In the UK the common practice is for the seller/vendor's solicitor to prepare the contract and sent it to the purchaser's solicitor, together with the 'legal pack' i.e. title, property searches etc, with a target completion date. However, there is no contract in place until the purchaser signs and pays a deposit, which, as Steve says, is often also the day of completion. So no deposit or signed contract until the day the buyer actually becomes the owner. For this reason the target completion date is largely meaningless and the buyer can drag the process out as long as the seller has patience. Nothing to prevent the vendor from accepting an offer from someone else if the target date has passed.

OK, I follow that now. Completely different down here in Oz. I'll talk about the process in the state of Victoria where I am but I don't think its significantly different in other states and territories.

Contract and a bunch of other documentation is actually prepared, usually by the vendor's solicitor/conveyancer at the beginning of the process. By law this documentation must be provided to prospective purchasers, whether the sale method is private treaty or auction. When an agreement is reached with a purchaser both parties sign the contract and the purchaser pays a deposit, usually 10% of the purchase price. If a private sale there is then a 3 day cooling off period during which the purchaser can pull out, in which case they forfeit 10% of the 10%. if they don't pull out the contract is locked in at the 3 day mark, If an auction there is no cooling off period and the contract is locked in immediately.

From that point on both parties are obligated and the seller cannot sell it to someone else, even for a higher price, unless the purchaser fails to follow through and defaults (in which case they forfeit the whole 10% deposit). There is then the settlement period, defined in the contract, usually 90 days but sometimes as short as 30, while the legal and technical aspects of transferring the land title are undertaken. On settlement day, the parties representatives meet (in cyber space these days but historically all in the same room), where the final legal steps are taken and the balance of the purchase price is handed over. At that point, the purchaser would get a call that they can come and pick up the keys from the selling agent's office, the vendor being obligated to have the place at "vacant possession" stage by then.

Ordinarily, contracts that are conditional on anything else, be it sale of the purchaser's property, bank finance or anything else, are unheard of here these days, but we have very much been in a seller's market for 20 or more years.

 

[drivesitfar]

We’ve been crossing our fingers and toes for a few days now hoping your sale happened. Did it??

Nice work on the new windows and I bet you aren’t bad at masonry too with all those old homes you’ve worked on the past 50+ years.

Have a grand day!!

 

[sawduststeve]

We’ve been crossing our fingers and toes for a few days now hoping your sale happened. Did it??

Nice work on the new windows and I bet you aren’t bad at masonry too with all those old homes you’ve worked on the past 50+ years.

Have a grand day!!

Hiya Drives

You can now uncross your fingers and toes, we’re all done.
It’s sold, as of 1pm today I am without a workshop. There’s a decent amount of cash in the account, just a shame I’ve got to give my brother half.

Whilst I’ve done a fair amount of brickwork, dwarf walls and bricking windows and doors up, I’m still better at knocking it down.

Thanks for the wishes, straight back at ya
Steve

 

[drivesitfar]

Demo is always the best part of a remodel and fast forward to project finished after that.

Big congrats!!!

The big issue over here is taxing our gains and investments so make sure after you give your brother his half that you find a good safe place to put yours where it grows and you can use it mostly tax free.

 

[littlebean]

Demo is always the best part of a remodel and fast forward to project finished after that.

in my case demo is the easiest bit, then I have to work out how the hell I'm going to move forward..............

You can now uncross your fingers and toes, we’re all done.
It’s sold, as of 1pm today I am without a workshop.

congrats, of course now there's no excuse for mcfloaty updates not to arrive on a minute by minute basis

 

[sawduststeve]

in my case demo is the easiest bit, then I have to work out how the hell I'm going to move forward..............

Thats when you call the tradies

congrats, of course now there's no excuse for mcfloaty updates not to arrive on a minute by minute basis

Ha, as is happens wifey is at floaty now getting on with the painting, I’m here at home not painting

 

[littlebean]

Smart move

 

[sawduststeve]

OK, I follow that now. Completely different down here in Oz. I'll talk about the process in the state of Victoria where I am but I don't think its significantly different in other states and territories.

Contract and a bunch of other documentation is actually prepared, usually by the vendor's solicitor/conveyancer at the beginning of the process. By law this documentation must be provided to prospective purchasers, whether the sale method is private treaty or auction. When an agreement is reached with a purchaser both parties sign the contract and the purchaser pays a deposit, usually 10% of the purchase price. If a private sale there is then a 3 day cooling off period during which the purchaser can pull out, in which case they forfeit 10% of the 10%. if they don't pull out the contract is locked in at the 3 day mark, If an auction there is no cooling off period and the contract is locked in immediately.

From that point on both parties are obligated and the seller cannot sell it to someone else, even for a higher price, unless the purchaser fails to follow through and defaults (in which case they forfeit the whole 10% deposit). There is then the settlement period, defined in the contract, usually 90 days but sometimes as short as 30, while the legal and technical aspects of transferring the land title are undertaken. On settlement day, the parties representatives meet (in cyber space these days but historically all in the same room), where the final legal steps are taken and the balance of the purchase price is handed over. At that point, the purchaser would get a call that they can come and pick up the keys from the selling agent's office, the vendor being obligated to have the place at "vacant possession" stage by then.

Ordinarily, contracts that are conditional on anything else, be it sale of the purchaser's property, bank finance or anything else, are unheard of here these days, but we have very much been in a seller's market for 20 or more years.

That all sounds very good, way better than here.
I think a 10% deposit would concentrate many buyers minds and along with the 1-3 month completion it might make the solicitors take note also.
No paperwork is done by the seller before hand, it’s all done and paid for by the buyer after the offer has been accepted, and if it all falls through you suffer the loss.
Nowadays estate agents won’t let you make an offer for a property unless you have a mortgage agreed in principle from the mortgage company, and you’re also not allowed two mortgages, so on completion one has to be paid and cancelled with the new one started the same day.
Things are a little better now as some mortgages can be taken from property to property.

I’ve probably bought/sold 10 properties and it was only the house we’re in now that was the most stressful. That was because our buyer was dragging his feet, and we had to be in to register the girl child at the local school before a specific date. Luckily a good mate lent us £220k so we were able to complete and the one we left completed two weeks later. It was rather traumatic though.

Steve

 

[Just_Steve]

That all sounds very good, way better than here.
I think a 10% deposit would concentrate many buyers minds and along with the 1-3 month completion it might make the solicitors take note also.
No paperwork is done by the seller before hand, it’s all done and paid for by the buyer after the offer has been accepted, and if it all falls through you suffer the loss.
Nowadays estate agents won’t let you make an offer for a property unless you have a mortgage agreed in principle from the mortgage company, and you’re also not allowed two mortgages, so on completion one has to be paid and cancelled with the new one started the same day.
Things are a little better now as some mortgages can be taken from property to property.

I’ve probably bought/sold 10 properties and it was only the house we’re in now that was the most stressful. That was because our buyer was dragging his feet, and we had to be in to register the girl child at the local school before a specific date. Luckily a good mate lent us £220k so we were able to complete and the one we left completed two weeks later. It was rather traumatic though.

Steve

Now that's what I call a mate.

 

[sawduststeve]

Now that's what I call a mate.

He certainly is, luckily he’d just sold a property and hadn’t decided where to put the cash.

It was very fortunate indeed.

 

[Old tool guy]

No offense but your story wasn’t worded well. Did you really have to pay £220k for the girls school?

 

[sawduststeve]

No offense but your story wasn’t worded well. Did you really have to pay £220k for the girls school?

No. We needed to be in the house in the correct neighbourhood to register the girl for the school.
The loan allowed us to purchase the new house before the sale completed on the old house.

 

[drivesitfar]

I totally understand about the schools stuff cause the public schools here tire down the elementary school a block away and built a new one a year before our daughter and her twin brother and sister were ready for kindergarten. My bride and 4 year old went to visit the class and it was end of school year and teacher was teaching the letter T and scolding a 5 year old for not knowing it came after S.

The next day we registered our 4 year old in a local private Christian school they was at it’s capacity but we were first on the list.

A week later the kindergarten teacher who was also the principal asked to see us and had a private 45 minute behind closed doors chat with my daughter who was reading some already.

Well long story short my daughter was added to the full class and her brother and sister got in automatically 2 years later and they cost me about $300,000 but money well spent cause we’re lucky to have nice adult children who are all married and 7 grandkids.

I don’t think my parents would have loaned me 10k much less 220 to get a house where schools were a bit better but over here they tend to teach to the slowest so most of the kids are truly bored. Good luck with the move and I’m sure your girls appreciate all you do even if you don’t like painting which is also something I rarely do unless it’s a quick rattle can.

I do like your work and your posts but that is certainly a gold star for your character if a friend will step up and loan you that much even for a day.

Cheers!!