Tag: sale

Are we there yet?

The ongoing saga of a house sale chain, that has collapsed three times in the last six months. Will it be fourth time lucky?

The ongoing saga of selling a house in the Uk.

As I’ve stated in previous posts, the house has been on sale since March 2025, and sold in August of that same year. It has so far sold 3 times and the chain has also collapsed 3 times due to factors further down the chain including, job redundancy, poor credit with potential purchasers, and not having any funds available in the first place.

Sold or not?

Now I can understand the redundancy reason, no one wants to lose their job, and the added pressure of taking on a mortgage when your cash flow has been stopped is not an ideal or practical situation to be in. Fully understandable.

The other excuses though are totally at the door step of our highly incompetent and totally useless estate agents, “Leicestershires finest”. As has also been previously documented their incompetence knows no bounds and I’m not going to waste anymore time on them here.

My wife and I, have been in a position of suspended animation since the property first sold. We seem to be the last to be told anything, and when you have solicitors contacting you to ask what is going on, you then have to take a deep breath and ask them, “What are we paying you for?”. My wife, bless her, is the catalyst that keeps this old jalopy of an engine ticking over, she is the one chasing, pestering and prompting two sets of solicitors and an estate agent to talk to each other. How she hasn’t become a dependent alcoholic due to their collective incompetence I will never know. I just thank god she is there to do it, as my approach normally includes x-rated expletives and accusations that would never get us very far. That’s why she’s asking me to sit out of things for the while. I guess I’ll be back in the frame when monies are being discussed and apportioned.

So. As stated the third collapse came and went and we were very reluctant to go into number four, as this meant having hoards of individuals mooching around the house and starting the process all over again. The only certainty throughout this process is that the new build we are purchasing was not ready yet, so they were happy for us to continue the search for a relevant purchaser.

Hey ho, the house went back up on sale for the fourth time on a Tuesday, we had five viewings on the Wednesday and four offers came in on the Thursday, it was sold on Friday. Sale to sold in four days! Wow that’s quick. We had plans in place as this was the last time it was being listed and that’s a certainty, if this sale collapsed again then we would look at investing in some big upgrades such as extra rooms, and would just stay put. As I’ve said our neighbours are ok 👌 it’s just the roads around us are getting busier and busier and a little of the attraction has now gone. Add to that, some of the owners have rented their properties to quite questionable residents, and turned one house into a House of multiple occupation where you have so many comings and goings that you don’t really know who lives there anymore, security of the area has taken a nose dive, and the resulting litter issue of people who just don’t really care about their local community is becoming an issue. Beyond that it’s all ok 👌

Sale number four has been very testing on both our mental states. We can’t, and refuse to get excited as we have been through the same situation three times before and still have the scars. I’ve never seen two people sitting so firmly on the fence, dreading any calls from the agents as in the past they have only ever called for bad news. The purchasers mortgage company sent a surveyor, and all was fine. The seller then wanted an in depth survey as they are first time buyers and you can’t blame them for that, he came and was crawling over every inch of our property for almost four hours, taking in every measurement, photo and reading he could possibly obtain. This was just prior to Christmas 2025, we had no decorations out as we couldn’t be bothered, we were not confident of the results even though the surveyor was very nice and complimentary of our house.

Then silence for over two weeks.

We had jumped through every hoop and over every wall we’d been asked to, we were drained and still no communication from any of the solicitors until we get a letter through with a few random questions and another form that needed filling. I have already filled in close to 147 other forms for sale and purchase prior to this one, so another one wouldn’t hurt, it was just what seemed like another obstacle being thrown at us. Our confidence now was at an all time low.

Then the solicitors of the company we are buying from came back asking if we had heard anything further? God, don’t you lot talk to each other?

The house was nearing completion and obviously they were looking forward to their payday, I handed control back to my wife who in her role as an unqualified solicitor made suggestions on what they should do next.

All of a sudden things have kicked up a gear after we spoke to our solicitor, who didn’t even know her assistant had sent out questions to us. (This was a face palm moment for me). She then replied to us with this simple email below:

Are we there yet?

Well, it seems as if all parties have now finally started talking! I still cannot get excited as it could still all collapse at this very late stage until we all officially sign contracts, but this is the furthest we have ever come since August of last year.

I will not be posting this whinging update, until that distant but also so close finish post has been reached. We don’t have a home, we have an ever emptying shell at the moment, full of boxes and cases and so much of our stuff is now away in storage in anticipation of the day we may well move out. The stresses and strains we have endured over the last 6 months have been immense, I would not recommend this process to anyone, and I’m confident in saying I will never take part in such an activity again. That’s it. This will be our final move if it ever occurs.

See, I’m still pessimistic of it ever completing even after they have said we are due to complete in what is now just 12 days time. Will it happen? If this post goes beyond this paragraph then it’s safe to say it has finally occurred.

And it has!

Well, Weds 28 Jan after yet another week of jumping hurdles and climbing walls we finally had our last few interrogation emails from the buyers solicitors and we then received the notification that Contracts had been exchanged, the point of no return where the financial penalties are high if anyone decides to withdraw. It finally looks as if it’s actually going to happen. However, that nagging doubt still exists and I guess that’s just because I’m being super defensive due to the battle scars we’ve accumulated over this period of buying and selling.

We have less than 24hrs to finish clearing this place, wow, we’ve got a lot to do, so I must be getting on. I’ll let you know what occurs in the meantime.

Moved

We did it. We are now safely ensconced on the outskirts of Leicestershires “Pork Pie and Stilton cheese” haven, that is Melton Mowbray. The moving guys were superb and even the Estate agents and legal teams were extremely co-operative, I suspect due to the fact they were all in for a very good payday.

We have a house full of boxes that will now have to be sorted through, my first priority was to get the beds in place, and I have to thank my Nephew and his girlfriend who just happened to be passing by for their assistance. I now have a room to utilise as my hobby/work space and that will take shape over the coming months.

So it’s been an extremely long and stressful journey but it came right in the end. My only recommendation would be that if you are purchasing in the UK, and considering buying, just dig your heals in for a long journey. Be the dog that wags its tail, not the opposite as these financial types will walk all over you if you let them.

Have a good day.

Sitting on the fence…. I just knew it.

Don’t ever let anyone force you into a false feeling of comfort.

The sale of the house has just collapsed miserably. I always said it would, much to the frustration of my dear wife, we are all packed up, we have storage in place in another town and that’s almost full. The house is empty…. And then the inept estate agent calls to say the buyer has pulled out due to being made redundant today. That’s highly unlikely as he still wants to make us another offer, a derisory one, for a lot less money. Bastard.

I’ve distrusted this process since the day it started, I think you’d be aware of this if you read my posts, the estate agents have also miraculously found someone else who is willing to pay again, a derisory price as they have people circling the pit of doom waiting for situations such as this when they know someone is very advanced in the purchase process, so they can circle like carrion, or scavengers to be precise, expecting the seller to accept a ridiculous offer. We’re not like that though, we’re not going to succumb to the absolute scumbags who partake in this disgusting game that is the British property selling market.

Am I angry? Not as much as I should be, no doubt we are going to lose financially as now we have to pay our solicitors, but the frustrating thing is that those who broke the chain should be partially responsible, but as it is here in dear old Blighty, that’s not how it’s done. We were asked to sign a contract a couple of days back, I’m glad I didn’t, that would have committed us to being liable at this stage to a sum in excess of £30k, with nothing to show for it. Apathy rules sometimes.

I’m more upset at how my wife has reacted. As I’ve always said she’s the eternal optimist and was always pulling me up about my fence sitting stance. I’m now worried for her, as she has sunk her heart into this new property hook line and sinker. She’s totally beside her self and I’ve been dreading this day for so long. My work starts now. Not only has the lying git of a seller ruined her dreams, he’s now shouldered me with the task of having to now bring her back to absolute reality that she’s not going to realise her dreams. I can do that though, I’ve done it before as it’s my duty as her husband to do so. She will soon be back in the room as they say. She is going to be looked after and cuddled constantly, it’s a minor setback, and we can now look at upgrading what we already have. We are fortunate as we already have a home, many are not. We just have to count our blessings and realise this.

I feel remarkably calm, not smug, as I have already prepared myself for this failure. That’s how I seem to work. Sometimes it can be very wrong, this time I feel that my stance has been justified. I’m not gloating, far from it, I just think sitting on the fence occasionally pays off.

Don’t ever let anyone force you into a false feeling of comfort. Trust your instincts, and go with them. It will all turn out well in the end. Be grateful and thankful for what you have, and have had.

Have a great day.

SOLD!

Yep. The estate agent tourism palaver has concluded. Two days ago they contacted us to state a viewer (one of the few that were actually interested) had made an offer and we then willingly accepted.

Sold

We have sold.

However, I cannot bring myself to be excited at this point as knowing just how inept our agents have been, I expect it all to fall flat at any moment. My trust is at an all time low.

At least we are now able to explore the markets for our next move. So both my wife and I are looking at available housing in our chosen area of preference. My wife, bless her has done a great job in getting us on the market, now it’s my turn to deal with the reams of paperwork from the solicitors that has now become my responsibility. I tell her she has done the dirty work and now it’s up to me to clean it all up, this rightly, earns me a clip around the ear hole. I deserved that. Don’t do it again. I won’t.

I just dislike intensely the whole buying and selling process as to be honest, we are just making the wealthy a lot more wealthy, ie the Taxman, the legal guys and all their cohorts.

Life has at this moment very quickly changed. Everything is now being packed away, everything going on at this moment in time is now being put on hold, I probably won’t catch up with any of my camera projects for a few months now, until we are safely ensconced in our new residence, wherever that may be in the world.

I’ll keep on posting on here, as I’ve always said this blog is very much my journal and I need this to help maintain my sanity, so I will continue to post pictures, answer those prompts and post whatever dross comes to my mind within this moment in time. It’s just that the repair / technical stuff will be taking a temporary back seat, it will return. It has to.

So, the next few weeks for me involve filling out paperwork, making boxes, filling boxes, and moving boxes, as well as making the not so good, good again.

This really will be the last time I do this. Our next home will truly be our forever home.

Have a superb day, enjoy your weekend.

Busy, Busy, sell!

Hi there. It’s been a few days since I posted about the clock being the heartbeat of the home, my wife and I have finally arrived back into the East Midlands after she has had the break away with her friend, in West London.

I’ve gone back to work and have been doing the early morning stint, I’m currently on the second of two rest-days before I’m back on early shift again starting Tomorrow.

I have a lot to thank my wife’s friend for especially in arousing an interest in gardening that I have been trying to nurture for many years. Our current garden has taken almost 8 years of planning, planting and correcting mistakes to reach the maturity it displays today. A garden is a form of art, it’s not produced in a matter of days as numerous gardening programs would have you believe, it really takes years and needs a big commitment. When I went to collect my wife from London it had become apparent that she and her friend had pretty much visited about every garden centre in West London. The beautiful specimens of plants that greeted me on my arrival were testament to that. My wife had chosen all the plants and she was now genuinely interested in making the garden even more attractive.

Garden

There was a very slight caveat though….

In her time away and after having discussions with her friend she has made up her mind that we want to move to a new property a bit further away from the city. We had our current house valued before she went away, and we were sitting on that information that we were going to discuss on her return. This is when she broke it to me that she’d love to help me develop the “New Garden” and that is when I knew she had made her mind up.

I was ready to get things in motion, but being the cautious person that i am, I’ve asked her to look at a few options prior to putting the boards up, and we are currently going through these options. We need to get away from the city centre on health grounds, and it would certainly help to move away. Part one is a visit to the developer, and that is going to occur later today…after the new washing machine has arrived. Yep the trusty servant of the last nine years has seen its last load. Time for a new one.

It’s been a busy week for me as I’ve taken advantage of the gorgeous weather we have had for the last few days. Today we are back to the normal gloom and grey backdrop, so here I am putting pen to paper or is it finger to keyboard? You know what I mean.

New stone surrounds

I’ve given the garden a lot of attention, thinning out areas to allow sun into the slower growing plants as the bigger, quicker growers have been stealing all the sun. I’ve rescued a Rhododendron that had been engulfed by a Californian lilac bush, and repotted it into a large pot that now has a sunnier outlook at the front of the house. All bushes and hedges have now been trimmed and grasses cut and manicured.

I’ve finally got around to finishing off the stone surround to the garden room, a large bag of stone had been residing in the garden for at least 18 months and has now been disposed of, it opens up so much more room in the garden. On top of that I have rejigged the Hedgehog highways around the garden to allow them a better more secluded access and they are making full use of it at the moment if the noise at the food tray last night is anything to go by.

So today we begin the journey of looking at new homes. Not one I particularly enjoy as we have got this home and garden into a nice condition that I am both proud of and content with. And now there is the possibility of starting it all over again with a blank canvas that is both scary, and exciting in equal doses.

But fickle as the property business is, we may still be here in months or years to come so there is no point in getting carried away with it all, we need to still pour all our love and attention into this little home, and keep it comfortable as it has always been. We could still be here for ever more. And that’s no bad thing.

Have a blessed day.

Anticipation and Hope

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

Well there’s a question.

I think my biggest personal challenge is going to be health related, things that have concerned me in the past, that were under control, have now started to raise their horrible little heads above the parapet again. But there is always hope, and if you have a modicum of hope then you are in a good place. Anyway I’m not going to bore anyone with my issues.

Let’s look at what other challenges I’m liable to face in the next six months. I know that within the next few weeks my wife will be saying that the house needs to go up for sale, that’s because we’ve been looking around a little town on the outskirts of where we live and we’ve seen some nice properties, ones that remain warm in winter unlike our old 1930s semi that we currently reside in. And when that day comes where she says it’s happening, I’m then going to be fully employed getting the place spruced up and dealing with those little diy projects that I’ve put on hold for sometime. That said, we also have a plan if we don’t decide to sell, where we are going to extend the property that will also keep me occupied for many a month.

So I anticipate being challenged to work as much outside of work as inside it, but hey that’s nothing new!

I think in the Uk as general though, we are all going to be challenged over the next few months especially with the ever increasing cost of living, and a wage structure that is not rising commensurately. Businesses, especially those smaller ones that are failing miserably as there is no support from a system that is systematically strangling the life from them, I know of this first hand as friends in such a business are really struggling.

So forget my little struggles, as a society the next six months, will probably make or break us as a collective, it’s getting to the point that one more little straw will break the camels back. I sincerely hope I’m very wrong and everything will miraculously change, but it’s just that my realistic head thinks it’s not going to be, but as I said at the very beginning this is where “Hope” comes in to play.

I Hope that things improve for everyone in the next six months, as it cannot be allowed to decline any further.

Stay safe, be happy.