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The chancellor considers ‘extending stamp duty holiday by six weeks’

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    #21
    Originally posted by mattster View Post
    The real issue with the process IMO is that you can spend months of your time, and thousands of pounds, just for the buyer/seller to pull out for no reason, and no financial penalty. There should be some sort of binding committment at the point of offer acceptance, contingent on satisfactory search and survey etc. How you define satisfactory, of course, might not be so easy. Still, they manage it in Scotland and Australia, and I'm sure plenty of other places too.
    What would the thousands of pounds be spent on during thistime?

    I have had one purchase fall through in the last few months,and lost the money I paid for the searches (£360) and the £500 I paid for thesurvey. I have been charged a mortgage Early Repayment Charge of £6k for breaking the chainand securing my sale before my purchase is complete – but that isn’t something everyonewould lose, and I wouldn’t have had to pay it had there not been a break in thechain.


    What other costs could people pay before Exchange?
    Practically perfect in every way....there's a time and (more importantly) a place for malarkey.
    +5 Xeno Cool Points

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      #22
      Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
      So you agree to buy / sell then a member of your family falls seriously ill and doesn't have long to live so you make a call to halt the process until you're in a better place and you're happy you should be contractually obliged to go through with it?

      There are loads of reasons why sales fall through and I don't think anyone makes that decision lightly once they've started spending money on it.
      Talking to an estate agent the other day solicitors are now exchanging and completing on the same day in case Covid stops a move.
      But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition. Pliny the younger

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        #23
        Originally posted by MaryPoppins View Post
        What would the thousands of pounds be spent on during thistime?

        I have had one purchase fall through in the last few months,and lost the money I paid for the searches (£360) and the £500 I paid for thesurvey. I have been charged a mortgage Early Repayment Charge of £6k for breaking the chainand securing my sale before my purchase is complete – but that isn’t something everyonewould lose, and I wouldn’t have had to pay it had there not been a break in thechain.


        What other costs could people pay before Exchange?
        OK, thousands plural might be a little strong, but if you have a full survey and get some way in with the solictor, searches etc, then it wouldn't be too hard to be £1500 in the hole, not to mention all sorts of opportunity cost if you have spent time on the purchase. Much better to have a system where offers are a little more binding on both parties from an earlier stage, IMO.

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          #24
          Originally posted by Gibbon View Post
          Talking to an estate agent the other day solicitors are now exchanging and completing on the same day in case Covid stops a move.
          I did that with my first ever place, and definitely the way to do it if you can. Not so easy with a chain involved though.

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            #25
            Originally posted by Gibbon View Post
            Talking to an estate agent the other day solicitors are now exchanging and completing on the same day in case Covid stops a move.
            But you can't exchange and complete before surveys and searches are done. Once you've exchanged, you are committed to the sale and the contract of sale ought to contain a clause that a deposit is payable if completion doesn't happen (period to be agreed, blah blah).

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              #26
              Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
              But you can't exchange and complete before surveys and searches are done. Once you've exchanged, you are committed to the sale and the contract of sale ought to contain a clause that a deposit is payable if completion doesn't happen (period to be agreed, blah blah).
              Don't know what your point is, I bought last July and yes surveys and searches etc were all done and the exchange and completion were done on the day we moved. I moved on the 7/7, guess what was announced later that day (after the exchange) and came into force the day after?
              But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition. Pliny the younger

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                #27
                Originally posted by ladymuck View Post
                But you can't exchange and complete before surveys and searches are done. Once you've exchanged, you are committed to the sale and the contract of sale ought to contain a clause that a deposit is payable if completion doesn't happen (period to be agreed, blah blah).
                You can if you don't need a mortgage.

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                  #28
                  Originally posted by PCTNN View Post
                  The system in Scotland works so much better than in the rest of the UK.

                  I'm in Scotland and am in the process of buying a house and selling one; same situation for a friend of mine, based in England. Everything seems to be going more smoothly up here, judging from what my friend is telling me.

                  As a buyer, it's great. I don't have to spend any money up front (home report and valuation survey are all done by the seller); all is paid upon completion. If anything happens, like mortgage being declined being a common one nowadays, I can pull the offer at no costs.

                  As a seller, the only costs I pay upfront are for the home report, valuation survey, and marketing costs (1k I've been quoted). Some estate agencies even allow you to pay those costs upon completion.

                  It's just a great system for both parties
                  And for 50 grand you can buy a castle there

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                    #29
                    Originally posted by mudskipper View Post
                    You can if you don't need a mortgage.
                    What’s this mortgage thingy?

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                      #30
                      Originally posted by MaryPoppins View Post
                      I accepted an offer on my house in early August, and am still a way off completing.

                      I accepted the risk of having to pay stamp duty as soon as I put the house on the market given where we are, but the other 2 in the chain have not accepted this risk as they assumed we would be "in for Christmas". Because they are morons.

                      Not sure of the logic in any extension, but I would be grateful for one.
                      What is holding up your chain? With only 3 in the chain you really should be close to exchange now, if not completed.
                      I am what I drink, and I'm a bitter man

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