Sorry this happened to you the UK buying system is shocking and stressful. Estate agents hide information most of the time you can't even speak to the sellers. You can independently check the flooding risk in the area/street on the Gov website, don't ever rely on your Solicitor telling you or surveyors, always best to do your own research. Sending all the best and swiftness for your new house to go through soon
Thank you so much. I’ve learnt so many things during this what would have come handy if I had known at the start! I became a pro at profiling houses after what happened with the flood one and went to viewings quite informed on the area, risks, planning permission etc. Shame I had to learn the hard way.
Wow so sorry this happened, we've just sold our house and have a three year old too so I completely understand the ridiculous number of things you've got to manage, I hope for you it all goes through ok this time.
Yeah, it's a nightmare with my son as we need to apply for primary schools! The house we pulled out of would have lined up perfectly with having the summer off and then starting a new school, now we're going to have to take him out mid-term and I feel so bad as he loves his little friends! He didn't seem that bothered about the other kids before summer.
Can I ask about your mortage fixed rate deal ending while your house was on the market. Did the bank refuse to give you another fixed rate deal as it was for sale?
Our fixed rate was due to end in May so we put our house on start of feb and tried to line it up as much as we could. If we didn’t pull out of the house, our fixed rate would have ended 31st May and our next mortgage would have started 1st July, so just one month not on a fixed rate deal. So now we’re not on a fixed rate, we are on a tracker mortgage so it’s more expensive but there’s no exit fees when we move and get a new mortgage with a new bank. Our mortgage advisor sorted out of tracker mortgage deal as the plan was always to go on this until we moved, we just didn’t expect to be so long. If you are wanting to move house and are on a fixed rate now, speak to a mortgage advisor and they can help you figure out the best way to go about it.
Oh my gosh, this process is insane! My friend's mom is looking to sell her home (they're in England as well) and buy a different one. It's kind of a casual last-minute decision. After watching your video, I have no idea how she can be so casual with this process. I'm sorry that this process has not been kind to you. I'm also shocked that you guys need lawyers to buy property... It's like the longer I get into this video, the more shocked I am at how many hoops they make you jump through. I have so many questions... The house you were about to buy... how the hell did the inspector not find any water damage in the house when there was that much flooding? Wouldn't the walls be bloated and the floors ruined? I imagine the electrical would be damaged too.
Some people are lucky and have straightforward experiences, but apparently, 1 in 3 houses fall through. We need lawyers as there are so many checks to do, it would be much easier if the seller did the checks beforehand then everyone knows what they are getting - this is how it works in Scotland. When you sell your property you get all the paperwork and checks done and provide the info for those wanting to buy. It makes it quicker than all this faff! The inspectors can't move things so they just do a visual inspection of what they can see without causing in damage or being invasive. He did flag up some damp on one of the walls that had water going up to it in the photos, but it's an old house and not surprising there is damp in places. I spoke to him on the phone when we found out about the floods and he couldn't confirm or deny if there had been any flood damage in the past. I think the water just went up to the walls of the house but didn't enter the building last year (we've seen photos of it looking worse from other years), causing some damp only. But that's still unsettling for us as it doesn't mean it won't enter in the future. Flash flooding is getting worse here. Sadly, things in the house we are trying to buy now seem to be getting worse. Part of it is a knock-on effect of us having to pull out of this one in June, as our buyer has been waiting since April so it's not surprising she wants to get a move on! If I ever survive this ordeal I'll make a video about it! Making this one was therapeutic actually :)
I'm not being facetious but most housing in the UK is, to put it generously, slum housing. Look at any cheap house that looks decent and you'll soon find out it's a wreck that the owner is desperate to lumber you with.
@@dotdashdotdash This is why I think the sellers should have to get a survey before putting it on the market, it gives a better insight into what you are buying without having to pay loads for the survey yourself and feel financially tied.
I can empathise with you entirely. I put my house on the market June last year. I finally got an offer (which I accepted) at the beginning of December and put a deposit down against a new build. Unfortunately, the agents and solicitors acting on behalf of my buyer (and the ones below) were utterly useless. At the end of March I was told that we would be exchanging in the next week or so, so packed the house ready to go. This never happened, and no one could give me a straight answer as to what was going on. By the end of May the developer of the house I was trying to buy pulled out of the sale and by the end of July I had to concede that the chain was unlikely to ever complete and put my house back on the market, at a loss of about £2500 in solicitor and reservation fees. I'm still trying to attract another buyer nearly 18 months after the house first went on the market. I'm totally fed up with whole process now. I just want to move and get on with my life. Its just so unnecessarily stressful.
It is so stressful! I’m so sorry to hear you’ve lost both time and money as well. If you’re able to find a new build developer that will offer part exchange then I recommend that. We did that when we got this new build. It didn’t matter if the house sold or not, they dealt with it. They offered us a low price but we were able to accept as they paid our stamp on the new house and we didn’t have any estate agent fees. They sold our old house within a week as they put it on cheap to get it sold. It was great not having to worry about a chain. Good luck with your sale, I hope your find your dream home eventually.
Find a home you can live in for 20+ years so as to avoid all the costs and stress. It's just horrible, and everyone has their hand out for your hard earned $$$. Great breakdown btw.
Thank you so much - that's the plan. The house we in the middle of buying now will be the home we live in until we need to retire and downsize. It's just so expensive to move with all the fees you need to pay! And stamp duty!
We had 2 abortive purchases a couple of years ago - each one happened within hours of exchange. Lost just under £9k in the process due to solicitor fees, specialist damp surveys, full structural surveys and a tentative planning application to check we could change the use of the land from equestrian to agriculture. Still looking to move but it's taken nearly 3 years to save up the moving costs. I'm really dreadng going through the whole process again.
I'm so sorry that happened to you - especially so close to exchange! It doesn't feel fair or legal. Did you know about home buyers insurance? Look into it when you are ready to move again as you can get some money back if things fall through, though it doesn't get back your time and emotional investment, at least you can get the money back. I wish we knew about it! I feel like I won't be relaxed until we have the keys in our hands. Even when we have exchanged I'll still be worried, just due to all the bad luck we've been having with both properties! Do you have a property to sell as well?
We haven't rushed! The home we are buying is nowhere near 800k and well within our affordability. We were able to buy a more expensive house but we didn't feel comfortable with such high monthly repayments and wanted to account for being able to afford it if the rates to go up again. We will have enough disposable income each month to save/make repayments as well as make improvements on the home. Some work needs doing but none is urgent so we can do it slowly when we have the cash, without relying on finance. We currently live in a very expensive area within walking distance to central York, so we have been able to move to a smaller area on the outskirts where you can get more house for your money. We wanted to be somewhere quieter with a bigger garden and more privacy than a new build estate.
We were in a rush. We were literally bleeding almost £2k in our modest terrace house for rent - SW London which is expensive. For us is was a significantly better package to pay a mortgage and also with a new baby.
@@Chelletryingtosmile Everyone's situation isn't different, isn't it? Timing is a big part of it. For us, we were lucky that we were on the property market already, but that bought about challenges in regards to getting buying and selling all lined up, along with our fixed rate ending in May. We said we wouldn't move for the sake of it and would try again next year if nothing suitable came up. Luckily for us we were able to look in quite a wide area which made it easier to find what we were looking for. If we wanted to stay in our current area, it would have been a nightmare as hardly anything comes up here!
@@CorinneAtHome tell me about it. Our fixed rate has also run out now - so we are paying 40% more. Can't win - but the comfort of being in our own is so rewarding (1st time buyers 🙏🏽). Can imagine York being expensive also - lovely place.
@@Chelletryingtosmile Ours is expensive because we can't fix until we move, so we're paying a tracker rate. It's all pants! Yes, the houses are more expensive here than other parts up north but still better than London prices!
Didn't know about house buying insurance either and its really cheap £70 to £200 depending on level of cover. Anyone buying a house would be nuts no to take that out. In fact any estate agent would be nuts not to sell it to you (and put a 25% markup on it to make a bit of profit)
Exactly! Our mortgage advisor recommended our home insurance guy so why not recommend someone else for that too? He was the first person we spoke to so it’s an easy sell! There just seems to be some disconnect here!
It's just got me thinking from the insurance company side about why they aren't pushing it. Must be something I unaware of as these companies aren't stupid and its very rare to find a poor insurance company
@@CorinneAtHome I just read one of these policies and basically they don't pay out unless the deal falls through for specific reasons. Trust me insurance companies aren't stupid
Does UK not allow purchase contracts that guarantee the sale of the house during "inspection period?" In the US almost all purchase contracts include an inspection period where the buyer is obligated to buy the house unless survey turns up problems. The seller cannot back out of the contract at this point without risk of being sued. I had a seller attempt to do this while under contract with me, and they had to pay me $7500 to walk away. They then listed it 3 months later. And my "walk away" agreement stated that they could not sell the house for another 2 years or they would have to offer it to me first at the agreed upon price. At that point, I had already bought another house and decided to just let it go. But I easily could have sued. On your gazundering explanation, it seems like this is expected. So agreeing on a price should assume that the price is going to fall. This seems similar to what buyers do to sellers in US. However, they can't just drop the price. They have to justify it with repairs (usually, depends on contract signed).
Thanks for the comment - it's so interesting hearing how other countries do this. Parts of UK are different, so Scotland has a quicker process where you are tied in from the start. But in England, there is no purchase contract for weeks/months. You put an offer in on a house, if it is accepted, then they will take the house off the market and you go through the legal process and checks which takes an average of 3 - 4 months. During this time, any party can pull out at any time. It is during this period that we discovered the flood issue, so we were able to pull out without having to fight it because the seller DID lie. Once all the checks are complete, you sign the contracts and it becomes legally binding - this is called 'exchanging contracts' and this is where you are then obligated to continue with the sale, if either party pulls out then they have to pay 10% of the house price (this may be different for others but this is what my contract states so I'm unsure if this differs or not!). This is the point where you agree on the date of completion, where the sale is completed and you get the keys. This period is usually between 1-2 weeks but is an agreement with the seller and buyer, so may be more or less. Most people don't start dropping prices unless there is a reason as they just want to get their house without any stress, but there will always be some people that will try it. Cash buyers often have a reputation of doing this as they are in a good position and can generally call the shots as they don't need to rely on a mortgage company to lend them money - and a lot of the checks that take place are to also ensure the banks investment is a good one. Things can move faster with cash buyers so this is desirable as there are fewer hoops to jump through, but some will use this as a bargaining tool. Some houses do get sold by auction here, and that's when all the checks are done before and once you've agreed, you are locked in right away and the sale goes through in 28 days - but this usually happens with run-down houses that need renovating or probates (also need renovating). It's not good for buying a house that you can move straight into with your family. (Just to note that I'm not an expert in housing and this is all that I've learnt through my experience in the last few months, if anyone thinks I've explained something wrong, please feel free to jump in and correct me :) )
@@CorinneAtHome Interesting. OK so it's very similar. In most US deals (and I've bought/sold 4 houses in my life, had numerous offers/inspections and this applied to all of them) the default boilerplate contract has stipulations that require the seller to sell the house to the buyer. They cannot back out at that agreed-upon price. The buyer will then inspect the house and ask for concessions due to things that weren't seen when the offer was made (things that turned up in inspection, etc). But the seller cannot just pull the offer if another offer is made. They are legally under contract. It sounds like from your explanation the seller can pull out when a new offer shows up, which is awful! I would hate for that to happen! That seems like a scam that needs to be fixed! At the very least, if they back out they should owe all inspection expenses!
Sorry this happened to you the UK buying system is shocking and stressful. Estate agents hide information most of the time you can't even speak to the sellers. You can independently check the flooding risk in the area/street on the Gov website, don't ever rely on your Solicitor telling you or surveyors, always best to do your own research. Sending all the best and swiftness for your new house to go through soon
Thank you so much. I’ve learnt so many things during this what would have come handy if I had known at the start! I became a pro at profiling houses after what happened with the flood one and went to viewings quite informed on the area, risks, planning permission etc. Shame I had to learn the hard way.
Wow so sorry this happened, we've just sold our house and have a three year old too so I completely understand the ridiculous number of things you've got to manage, I hope for you it all goes through ok this time.
Yeah, it's a nightmare with my son as we need to apply for primary schools! The house we pulled out of would have lined up perfectly with having the summer off and then starting a new school, now we're going to have to take him out mid-term and I feel so bad as he loves his little friends! He didn't seem that bothered about the other kids before summer.
@@CorinneAtHome I feel for you, but I know little kids this age make friends so fast he will be fine :)
Can I ask about your mortage fixed rate deal ending while your house was on the market. Did the bank refuse to give you another fixed rate deal as it was for sale?
Our fixed rate was due to end in May so we put our house on start of feb and tried to line it up as much as we could. If we didn’t pull out of the house, our fixed rate would have ended 31st May and our next mortgage would have started 1st July, so just one month not on a fixed rate deal.
So now we’re not on a fixed rate, we are on a tracker mortgage so it’s more expensive but there’s no exit fees when we move and get a new mortgage with a new bank.
Our mortgage advisor sorted out of tracker mortgage deal as the plan was always to go on this until we moved, we just didn’t expect to be so long.
If you are wanting to move house and are on a fixed rate now, speak to a mortgage advisor and they can help you figure out the best way to go about it.
Oh my gosh, this process is insane! My friend's mom is looking to sell her home (they're in England as well) and buy a different one. It's kind of a casual last-minute decision. After watching your video, I have no idea how she can be so casual with this process. I'm sorry that this process has not been kind to you. I'm also shocked that you guys need lawyers to buy property... It's like the longer I get into this video, the more shocked I am at how many hoops they make you jump through. I have so many questions... The house you were about to buy... how the hell did the inspector not find any water damage in the house when there was that much flooding? Wouldn't the walls be bloated and the floors ruined? I imagine the electrical would be damaged too.
Some people are lucky and have straightforward experiences, but apparently, 1 in 3 houses fall through.
We need lawyers as there are so many checks to do, it would be much easier if the seller did the checks beforehand then everyone knows what they are getting - this is how it works in Scotland. When you sell your property you get all the paperwork and checks done and provide the info for those wanting to buy. It makes it quicker than all this faff!
The inspectors can't move things so they just do a visual inspection of what they can see without causing in damage or being invasive. He did flag up some damp on one of the walls that had water going up to it in the photos, but it's an old house and not surprising there is damp in places. I spoke to him on the phone when we found out about the floods and he couldn't confirm or deny if there had been any flood damage in the past.
I think the water just went up to the walls of the house but didn't enter the building last year (we've seen photos of it looking worse from other years), causing some damp only. But that's still unsettling for us as it doesn't mean it won't enter in the future. Flash flooding is getting worse here.
Sadly, things in the house we are trying to buy now seem to be getting worse. Part of it is a knock-on effect of us having to pull out of this one in June, as our buyer has been waiting since April so it's not surprising she wants to get a move on! If I ever survive this ordeal I'll make a video about it! Making this one was therapeutic actually :)
I'm not being facetious but most housing in the UK is, to put it generously, slum housing. Look at any cheap house that looks decent and you'll soon find out it's a wreck that the owner is desperate to lumber you with.
@@dotdashdotdash This is why I think the sellers should have to get a survey before putting it on the market, it gives a better insight into what you are buying without having to pay loads for the survey yourself and feel financially tied.
I can empathise with you entirely. I put my house on the market June last year. I finally got an offer (which I accepted) at the beginning of December and put a deposit down against a new build. Unfortunately, the agents and solicitors acting on behalf of my buyer (and the ones below) were utterly useless. At the end of March I was told that we would be exchanging in the next week or so, so packed the house ready to go. This never happened, and no one could give me a straight answer as to what was going on. By the end of May the developer of the house I was trying to buy pulled out of the sale and by the end of July I had to concede that the chain was unlikely to ever complete and put my house back on the market, at a loss of about £2500 in solicitor and reservation fees. I'm still trying to attract another buyer nearly 18 months after the house first went on the market. I'm totally fed up with whole process now. I just want to move and get on with my life. Its just so unnecessarily stressful.
It is so stressful! I’m so sorry to hear you’ve lost both time and money as well. If you’re able to find a new build developer that will offer part exchange then I recommend that. We did that when we got this new build.
It didn’t matter if the house sold or not, they dealt with it. They offered us a low price but we were able to accept as they paid our stamp on the new house and we didn’t have any estate agent fees. They sold our old house within a week as they put it on cheap to get it sold. It was great not having to worry about a chain.
Good luck with your sale, I hope your find your dream home eventually.
This was an excellent video, please do more 👍
Thank you - that's a lovely compliment. :) I have a few more planned and will share more about the whole process when things are more settled!
Find a home you can live in for 20+ years so as to avoid all the costs and stress. It's just horrible, and everyone has their hand out for your hard earned $$$. Great breakdown btw.
Thank you so much - that's the plan. The house we in the middle of buying now will be the home we live in until we need to retire and downsize. It's just so expensive to move with all the fees you need to pay! And stamp duty!
We had 2 abortive purchases a couple of years ago - each one happened within hours of exchange. Lost just under £9k in the process due to solicitor fees, specialist damp surveys, full structural surveys and a tentative planning application to check we could change the use of the land from equestrian to agriculture. Still looking to move but it's taken nearly 3 years to save up the moving costs. I'm really dreadng going through the whole process again.
I'm so sorry that happened to you - especially so close to exchange! It doesn't feel fair or legal. Did you know about home buyers insurance? Look into it when you are ready to move again as you can get some money back if things fall through, though it doesn't get back your time and emotional investment, at least you can get the money back. I wish we knew about it!
I feel like I won't be relaxed until we have the keys in our hands. Even when we have exchanged I'll still be worried, just due to all the bad luck we've been having with both properties!
Do you have a property to sell as well?
Don't rush into anything. If you have to buy a house then do the surveys etc. I personally would rather retire than paying 800k for a small house.
We haven't rushed! The home we are buying is nowhere near 800k and well within our affordability. We were able to buy a more expensive house but we didn't feel comfortable with such high monthly repayments and wanted to account for being able to afford it if the rates to go up again. We will have enough disposable income each month to save/make repayments as well as make improvements on the home. Some work needs doing but none is urgent so we can do it slowly when we have the cash, without relying on finance.
We currently live in a very expensive area within walking distance to central York, so we have been able to move to a smaller area on the outskirts where you can get more house for your money. We wanted to be somewhere quieter with a bigger garden and more privacy than a new build estate.
We were in a rush. We were literally bleeding almost £2k in our modest terrace house for rent - SW London which is expensive. For us is was a significantly better package to pay a mortgage and also with a new baby.
@@Chelletryingtosmile Everyone's situation isn't different, isn't it? Timing is a big part of it. For us, we were lucky that we were on the property market already, but that bought about challenges in regards to getting buying and selling all lined up, along with our fixed rate ending in May.
We said we wouldn't move for the sake of it and would try again next year if nothing suitable came up. Luckily for us we were able to look in quite a wide area which made it easier to find what we were looking for. If we wanted to stay in our current area, it would have been a nightmare as hardly anything comes up here!
@@CorinneAtHome tell me about it. Our fixed rate has also run out now - so we are paying 40% more. Can't win - but the comfort of being in our own is so rewarding (1st time buyers 🙏🏽).
Can imagine York being expensive also - lovely place.
@@Chelletryingtosmile Ours is expensive because we can't fix until we move, so we're paying a tracker rate. It's all pants! Yes, the houses are more expensive here than other parts up north but still better than London prices!
Didn't know about house buying insurance either and its really cheap £70 to £200 depending on level of cover. Anyone buying a house would be nuts no to take that out. In fact any estate agent would be nuts not to sell it to you (and put a 25% markup on it to make a bit of profit)
Exactly! Our mortgage advisor recommended our home insurance guy so why not recommend someone else for that too? He was the first person we spoke to so it’s an easy sell! There just seems to be some disconnect here!
It's just got me thinking from the insurance company side about why they aren't pushing it. Must be something I unaware of as these companies aren't stupid and its very rare to find a poor insurance company
@@jons9721 not sure - maybe people in the housing industry don’t like it as if you’re financially tied, you might be more willing to quickly pull out?
@@CorinneAtHome I just read one of these policies and basically they don't pay out unless the deal falls through for specific reasons. Trust me insurance companies aren't stupid
@@jons9721 I’ll have to look into this more when I have chance! Very interesting.
Does UK not allow purchase contracts that guarantee the sale of the house during "inspection period?" In the US almost all purchase contracts include an inspection period where the buyer is obligated to buy the house unless survey turns up problems. The seller cannot back out of the contract at this point without risk of being sued.
I had a seller attempt to do this while under contract with me, and they had to pay me $7500 to walk away. They then listed it 3 months later. And my "walk away" agreement stated that they could not sell the house for another 2 years or they would have to offer it to me first at the agreed upon price. At that point, I had already bought another house and decided to just let it go. But I easily could have sued.
On your gazundering explanation, it seems like this is expected. So agreeing on a price should assume that the price is going to fall. This seems similar to what buyers do to sellers in US. However, they can't just drop the price. They have to justify it with repairs (usually, depends on contract signed).
Thanks for the comment - it's so interesting hearing how other countries do this.
Parts of UK are different, so Scotland has a quicker process where you are tied in from the start. But in England, there is no purchase contract for weeks/months. You put an offer in on a house, if it is accepted, then they will take the house off the market and you go through the legal process and checks which takes an average of 3 - 4 months. During this time, any party can pull out at any time. It is during this period that we discovered the flood issue, so we were able to pull out without having to fight it because the seller DID lie.
Once all the checks are complete, you sign the contracts and it becomes legally binding - this is called 'exchanging contracts' and this is where you are then obligated to continue with the sale, if either party pulls out then they have to pay 10% of the house price (this may be different for others but this is what my contract states so I'm unsure if this differs or not!). This is the point where you agree on the date of completion, where the sale is completed and you get the keys. This period is usually between 1-2 weeks but is an agreement with the seller and buyer, so may be more or less.
Most people don't start dropping prices unless there is a reason as they just want to get their house without any stress, but there will always be some people that will try it. Cash buyers often have a reputation of doing this as they are in a good position and can generally call the shots as they don't need to rely on a mortgage company to lend them money - and a lot of the checks that take place are to also ensure the banks investment is a good one. Things can move faster with cash buyers so this is desirable as there are fewer hoops to jump through, but some will use this as a bargaining tool.
Some houses do get sold by auction here, and that's when all the checks are done before and once you've agreed, you are locked in right away and the sale goes through in 28 days - but this usually happens with run-down houses that need renovating or probates (also need renovating). It's not good for buying a house that you can move straight into with your family.
(Just to note that I'm not an expert in housing and this is all that I've learnt through my experience in the last few months, if anyone thinks I've explained something wrong, please feel free to jump in and correct me :) )
You can write a contract like that if you wish in the UK, but it's unusual, so some sellers will refuse 🫷🏼
@@marcus.H Oh can you? I've never come across that before! I guess some sellers/buyers can get a bit nervous and start making strange requests!
@@CorinneAtHome Interesting. OK so it's very similar. In most US deals (and I've bought/sold 4 houses in my life, had numerous offers/inspections and this applied to all of them) the default boilerplate contract has stipulations that require the seller to sell the house to the buyer. They cannot back out at that agreed-upon price. The buyer will then inspect the house and ask for concessions due to things that weren't seen when the offer was made (things that turned up in inspection, etc).
But the seller cannot just pull the offer if another offer is made. They are legally under contract.
It sounds like from your explanation the seller can pull out when a new offer shows up, which is awful! I would hate for that to happen! That seems like a scam that needs to be fixed! At the very least, if they back out they should owe all inspection expenses!
@@marcus.H That's odd. I can't believe a seller can just pull out in the middle of inspection on an agreed-upon price/contract!
As if dealing with this crap isn't bad enough...you may also have a crappy employer to deal with.
What do you mean a crappy employer?
nice video
Thank you, Chris :)
The slow zooming in and out is a bit distracting
Thank you for the feedback, I'm new to this so I'll take it on board for next time :)