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It's better having one with a local office. Anything that needs a wet signature, getting secure documents in etc. Speeds the process up a lot when you don't have to rely on the postal service, who also charge a fortune to guarantee that they won't steal or lose those documents...

Im buying a house at the moment through Goadsby, they had a preferred conveyancer for me to use, Premier Property Lawyers, so I just used them.

No issues so far, but havent got the house yet either!

Things well underway now. But have hit a snag on Stamp Duty.

Thought I’d be free and clear, as the HMRC website only mentions having bought a home before. But actually, it’s whether I’ve ever owned a home before.

Which….i may have. I think. Not sure right now if the deeds for Dad’s place ever actually passed to my brother and I.

Gone off to bother that solicitor!

Really quite excited now, Spesh if I can get to completion super quickly.

Completion rarely happens quickly, unfortunately. My current house we bought from my inlaws, whilst we were living in it. 6 week possible completion time start to finish and it took 6 months. 3rd house I've bought and not one happened in the original estimated time frame. I hope that you have a different experience.

I'm surprised at completion being delayed, we were told we had a legal obligation to sign on the agreed date once exchange had happened.

Been in the house a month now and all going well.
One thing I would say is be sure to close any Help to Buy ISAs in good time before completion as it took like 10 days for me to get the money out of it! Could have been a bit awkward...

Stamp Duty question confirmed. But now need a letter from Dad’s solicitors confirming inheritance and that.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Thought I’d be free and clear, as the HMRC website only mentions having bought a home before. But actually, it’s whether I’ve ever owned a home before.

Did you, the person, inherit the house? As in, was the property ever in your name in terms of deeds or land registry?

Or did the executor (who may also be you) sell the house and give you, the person, money?

The latter So I’ve now been able to a see that question accurately and honestly.

Saves me around £3,000.

Cool, that's the most usual and simplest way to do it.

Just need a letter from Dad’s solicitor now to confirm what’s coming from inheritance. Which I’ve requested, and should have in the coming days.

Then I can polish off the rest of my paperwork, leaving the rest out of my hands,

OK, all initial forms completed and sent in.

Proof of Funding, Source of Funds and ID Checks. Nothing I’m not used to career wise.

Now I need to follow up on the Surveyor, as I’ve not had a call on that one. Conveyancing seems to be moving apace (initial contracts reviewed and that afoot), so I need the Survey ASAP.

So.

Much.

Paperwork.

Today, my survey went ahead (£611), and paid for my Conveyancing Searches.

Getting close. Exciting times!

It seems much more complicated in the UK than the US.

Survey Results in. Strongly advised to get a quote for roof repairs, due to some tiles being in visible need of replacement.

Got a video appointment with my Conveyancing Solicitor for advice on that tomorrow, and how to best send them a copy of the report

But it does mean I should be able to negotiate a lower buying price - essentially knocking the cost of any repairs off the currently agreed price.

You can but ask. Probably only going to be 3-400 quid though, not worth being too much of a Richard about it. Lady who bought our first house off us was like that, demanded money off for every little thing in the survey and made everything out to be a disaster. Basically she was buying as she'd just got divorced, someone was sure as hell going to pay for it, and turned out it was us...

Will see if it’s acceptable for me to send a professional repair type round to assess and quote.

If it’s just the odd tile, shouldn’t be too bad. But if the whole thing needs redoing? Could be up to £5k.

Which I can afford out of pocket, but fair is fair.

Also depends a lot on the market.

My house also had a bad roof when I bought it, but it was a crazy seller’s market at the time. So if I pushed too hard, they could just walk. I did get something off the price, but not the full cost of the roof.

Also the paperwork for buying my house in 2021 was so much better then when I bought my first one in 2000. Digital signatures are so nice. First house was something like half a foot stack of paper we needed to work our way through. Last one was just a lot of clicking, and a few scribbles.

Ah, searches. Any mines in the area?

 Flinty wrote:
Ah, searches. Any mines in the area?

Explosives or random holes under the foundation? Both would probably be good to know about…

The town has historic silver mines, but down toward the Harbour area. Only thing I’m ‘caution’ near to is the railway. But I’m really not that close to it,


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Good news is the bones of the house are fine. No rot, no damp. A couple of supporting walls have been removed, but Conveyancing Searches should confirm they were done the right way, such as using RSJ.

But if not? I am prepared to withdraw my offer if needs be.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
The town has historic silver mines, but down toward the Harbour area. Only thing I’m ‘caution’ near to is the railway. But I’m really not that close to it,


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Good news is the bones of the house are fine. No rot, no damp. A couple of supporting walls have been removed, but Conveyancing Searches should confirm they were done the right way, such as using RSJ.

But if not? I am prepared to withdraw my offer if needs be.

If it is on a silver mine the foundations may be crap, but hey - free silver!

Probably a Bloody Stupid Question.

I’ve been recommended in the Survey and by a Qualified Roofer to have the existing roof replaced, including the lining, and use that opportunity to get the loft re insulated.

All of which I’m happy to have done. I’m guessing that in addressing my offer, I should seek to have the whole quote knocked off my initial offer?

You can ask, although you might be told politely 'no'.

They might knock some off for the damaged tiles, but they aren't going to benefit from the improved insulation, so doubtful they'd be willing to pay for that. Unless of course they either need to sell quickly and can afford the loss, or it's an inherited property being sold and it's just bonus cash for the seller.

Cool. So ask for it all, and negotiate from there?

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Cool. So ask for it all, and negotiate from there?

I wouldn't ask for the insulation unless what is there is well below building regs, or non existent if it is an older house, as you will be the one benefitting from it so right that you pay for it. Everything else I'd put forward to the agent and see what they come back with. There is always the chance they'll pull out as well. If you don't mind losing the house altogether then you could ask for it all-there is always a chance they'll agree.

Yeah there's no hard and fast rules, but always bear in mind that just as you can pull out and not buy it, they can also pull out and not sell it / refuse to deal with you any further.

I think when we were selling to our bitter divorcee mentioned above, we might have ended up dropping something like £20k based on all the gak she gave us - but she was our only interested buyer and we were probably going to lose the house we wanted otherwise. We were a lot younger then and probably quite easy to push around, I might be a lot more tempted to tell her to do one and call her bluff nowadays...

The way I understand it, my pitch is less “gosh, this is going to cost me money” and more “the works necessary weren’t factored into the original valuation, so I’m proposing an adjustment to reflect”

Roof, plus insulation, is going to be in the region of £7k, which I do have on hand (and then some).

But as that actively adds value in the form of a 20 year guarantee, I think asking for a £7k reduction is a bit cheeky, so will go for £5k.

And the sparky couldn’t check the electrics, as there’s a honking great mantelpiece blocking access.

Given a rough figure of £3k for a total re-wiring, and advised to ask for a certificate for power that’s been run to an external shed.

Defo reducing my offer by a bit now. Not the full amount, but around £6k.

Yeah that sounds reasonable to me. Does it need a rewiring, or is that just a worst-case scenario quote?

It should be noted that with the way the electric code changes all the time almost any house will "need rewiring" to meet current standards unless its a brand-new-build.

So there's certainly a difference between "it could do with a rewiring to be up to modern code" and "this is unsafe it needs rewiring and some of these wires are wrapped in cloth from the original invention of electricity"


When you say the mantelpiece is in the way is that just of a bit of cabling or was that in the way of the actual main breakerbox and such - cause yeah if its the latter then it would 100% need that part rewiring/changing for certain.