Author Topic: The 'Eeeek...buying/saving for a house' thread (Read 249898 times)

Sir Harvest Fields · « **Reply #160 on:** February 8, 2015, 08:12:52 am »

It was great. My missus bought our house outright and paid with her debit card , hell of a giggle. Fuck a mortgage.

El Phes · « **Reply #161 on:** February 9, 2015, 10:09:28 am »

Quote from: .adam on February 6, 2015, 10:54:02 pm

I'm hoping rates don't rise much (if at all) over the next two years so I am locked into a rate that is not too high.

I think you're pretty safe there mate.

adopted_scouser · « **Reply #162 on:** February 13, 2015, 05:39:42 pm »

I recently inherited a bit of money, and was due to view a place with a view to buying it tomorrow. Only saw pictures and that, but it looked so so ideal. Estate agents just rang to say its now off the market, as the landlord has found a tenant to rent it.

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #163 on:** February 13, 2015, 07:30:31 pm »

Put my house on the market yesterday.
Desperately trying to figure out what to do to make it presentable by the time they come to take the photos.

Repainting the hot pink bedroom is a must. Fucking hell I can't believe I put up with it for 7 years.

CraigDS · « **Reply #164 on:** February 13, 2015, 07:43:50 pm »

Quote from: SamAteTheRedAcid on February 13, 2015, 07:30:31 pm

Put my house on the market yesterday.
Desperately trying to figure out what to do to make it presentable by the time they come to take the photos.

Repainting the hot pink bedroom is a must. Fucking hell I can't believe I put up with it for 7 years.

Tidy away clutter is a biggy, make sure anything broken isn't on the pics or is fixed before them, make sure the rooms look in decent decorated condition and not overly garish (sounds like you're dealing with that). If rooms look a bit bare then can 'dress' them with stuff from other rooms for the pics (cushions on beds, picture frames, candles, shite like that).

Got a viewing on mine tomorrow. It's been on market for close to a year now with a few interested but they always seem to have a house to sell first (then don't bother wasting my time coming to view). Price isn't the issue as it's on for under the market value looking at what else is available in the area, but think because it's a converted barn it only appeals to a certain section of the market so hoping the one tomorrow is one of those.

Phil M · « **Reply #165 on:** February 13, 2015, 07:55:08 pm »

Quote from: SamAteTheRedAcid on February 13, 2015, 07:30:31 pm

Put my house on the market yesterday.
Desperately trying to figure out what to do to make it presentable by the time they come to take the photos.

Repainting the hot pink bedroom is a must. Fucking hell I can't believe I put up with it for 7 years.

Watch Phil Spencer's Secret Agent programme on 4oD. He goes into houses which are about to be placed on the market and shows them what they need to do to increase their saleability.

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #166 on:** February 13, 2015, 08:35:36 pm »

Quote from: Phil M on February 13, 2015, 07:55:08 pm

Watch Phil Spencer's Secret Agent programme on 4oD. He goes into houses which are about to be placed on the market and shows them what they need to do to increase their saleability.

Oh yeah love watching that. The fuckers are usually like 'But I'm not putting away my collection of little model dogs, I've got over 150' or whatever aren't they. Got to declutter like mad, might have to rent a storage locker. Loft is already full, going to be a nightmare to move when we do. Think the hot pink bedroom and a few other walls need 'neutralising' and I need to pack away my bookcase and it'll look like we've got more space than we do.

Estate agent last night said 'You don't want it to look like you've run out of space', I know he's right but why do you think we're moving mate

El Phes · « **Reply #167 on:** February 16, 2015, 09:33:17 am »

We decluttered, but it's a fine line. The house needs to look as though it's lived in and not just a show house.

Our house has been on for about 2 weeks now. We've had a decent amount of viewings and have also had 3 '2nd' viewings + 1 offer, which we turned down. It was 8% less than the asking price, but we have priced our house 'to sell' without being greedy. Don't know if we'll live to regret it, but it's still very early days and they can always come back to offer more.

As for us looking around, we're looking on rightmove and the local press, but we haven't booked to view anything as that would be a waste of time + you can get emotionally tied up in a house and it could disappear the next week, without being proceedable ourselves.

CraigDS · « **Reply #168 on:** February 16, 2015, 10:19:31 am »

Quote from: El Phes on February 16, 2015, 09:33:17 am

We decluttered, but it's a fine line. The house needs to look as though it's lived in and not just a show house.

Our house has been on for about 2 weeks now. We've had a decent amount of viewings and have also had 3 '2nd' viewings + 1 offer, which we turned down. It was 8% less than the asking price, but we have priced our house 'to sell' without being greedy. Don't know if we'll live to regret it, but it's still very early days and they can always come back to offer more.

Agreed about making it look lived in still.

You've done well to get that much interest in just 2 weeks, imagine you'll of done the right thing turning that first offer down in the end. Our viewing on Sat went great, they seem really interested so hopefully that'll lead somewhere.

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #169 on:** February 16, 2015, 01:54:47 pm »

Quote from: El Phes on February 16, 2015, 09:33:17 am

We decluttered, but it's a fine line. The house needs to look as though it's lived in and not just a show house.

Oh I'm not worried about that. It's getting it down from 'borderline insane hoarder' to 'this family doesn't have deep seated mental problems' level

The two year old will ensure it always, always, looks lived in!

.adam · « **Reply #170 on:** February 16, 2015, 03:30:07 pm »

Small update on my situation.

As I mentioned a couple of pages back, managed to "win" the sealed bid with a bid of £50 more than my rival.

Valuation was completed last week and of course the fuckers only valued it at the asking price so we went back to the seller and asked to reduce the price by £5k due to the low valuation and a few things that came up on the survey. They refused saying that due to the level of interest they're confident that they could sell if a the price agreed.

Went back and asked for £2.5k and they agreed which now eases the burden on us in terms of cash up front.

Hoping to move in on the first or second weekend of April if all goes to plan.

El Phes · « **Reply #171 on:** February 16, 2015, 04:27:57 pm »

You did well there mate, especially after a sealed bid scenario. You'd have got absolutely no joy whatsoever from me if I was the seller

Azi · « **Reply #172 on:** February 16, 2015, 05:20:14 pm »

Looking at a house that's got a asking price of 60k, now i like the flat but it needs a lot of work done on it,would it be better to put a bid in for 58k and see where that goes or should i ask the estate agent to say i'm willing to put a bid in of 58k ask your client if they would accept it?

CraigDS · « **Reply #173 on:** February 16, 2015, 05:30:13 pm »

Quote from: Azi on February 16, 2015, 05:20:14 pm

Looking at a house that's got a asking price of 60k, now i like the flat but it needs a lot of work done on it,would it be better to put a bid in for 58k and see where that goes or should i ask the estate agent to say i'm willing to put a bid in of 58k ask your client if they would accept it?

Do you know how long it's been on the market? Zoopla is pretty good as says on the right hand side when it was first listed.

If it's been on a little while then I'd go lower with the offer, especially if it needs a lot of work done. If you're able to put a proper bid in then I'd do that over asking if they would accept, as makes it seem more real and will give the owners more to think about.

El Phes · « **Reply #174 on:** February 17, 2015, 10:34:48 am »

You can offer as many times as you like. You can only ever offer more than your last offer also, so take your chance and offer lower than you'd like to pay and mention it needs work doing. You haven't even got a survey done on it yet...that might show other things that need fixing / money spent.

killer-heels · « **Reply #175 on:** March 12, 2015, 09:09:52 am »

I feel this is obvious but is it better to save into an account paying 4.25% intererest (3.4% after tax) or overpay on a mortgage with a rate of 2.33%?

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #176 on:** March 12, 2015, 09:54:55 am »

Quote from: killer_heels on March 12, 2015, 09:09:52 am

I feel this is obvious but is it better to save into an account paying 4.25% intererest (3.4% after tax) or overpay on a mortgage with a rate of 2.33%?

I'd think overpay on the mortgage, you will save more there. Although i don't have the maths to back it up, I'm fairly certain this is the case. Whenever I use the overpayment calculator it is incredible to see how much you could save.

alonsoisared · « **Reply #177 on:** March 12, 2015, 11:52:41 am »

Saving for a house...that'd be nice. Me and my girlfriend are renting (no choice really as she is from merthyr tydfil working here), I can barely save for a holiday never mind a deposit on a house. We're living centrally in a nice flat and she isn't prepared to live in a flat that's not so nice (she stayed in a bit of a dive last year) so unless a job pops up that can pay me an extra ten grand a year i'm pretty fucked really.

killer-heels · « **Reply #178 on:** March 12, 2015, 12:32:07 pm »

Quote from: SamAteTheRedAcid on March 12, 2015, 09:54:55 am

I'd think overpay on the mortgage, you will save more there. Although i don't have the maths to back it up, I'm fairly certain this is the case. Whenever I use the overpayment calculator it is incredible to see how much you could save.

Martin Lewis gave a guide on his tv programme about how much more a savings account needs to be in terms of interest rate but i cannot remember what the figure was.

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #179 on:** March 12, 2015, 12:40:05 pm »

Quote from: killer_heels on March 12, 2015, 12:32:07 pm

Martin Lewis gave a guide on his tv programme about how much more a savings account needs to be in terms of interest rate but i cannot remember what the figure was.

There's a calculator on this page, lower down:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgages-vs-savings

CraigDS · « **Reply #180 on:** March 12, 2015, 12:41:55 pm »

You're better off saving at those rates.

The interest on £1000 of mortgage debt at 2.33% is £23.30 a year, where as the interest on £1000 of savings would be £34 (after tax) a year.

However, you have to consider what the various terms are in your mortgage. If your interest rate for the mortgage suddenly goes up then it could be better to of been lowering the overall amount you have to repay, especially if your mortgage limits the amount you can overpay (i.e. you then can't use the savings you've built up to repay the mortgage in a lump sum, or spread over a short period).

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #181 on:** March 16, 2015, 12:30:33 pm »

Anyone have any experience with bridging loans?

Found a house we want to buy and it is going to go very fast.

Our house is on the market but not sold yet. I am confident it will sell, it is an ideal house for first time buyers so I'd guess that a buyer would likely not have a chain. However, we want to be able to put a bid in on this house we've seen ASAP.

CraigDS · « **Reply #182 on:** March 16, 2015, 12:34:14 pm »

Quote from: SamAteTheRedAcid on March 16, 2015, 12:30:33 pm

Anyone have any experience with bridging loans?

Found a house we want to buy and it is going to go very fast.

Our house is on the market but not sold yet. I am confident it will sell, it is an ideal house for first time buyers so I'd guess that a buyer would likely not have a chain. However, we want to be able to put a bid in on this house we've seen ASAP.

I looked into bridging loans, so much so that got quotes for the amount required, after a buyer pulled out of buying my apartment the day before we were due to exchange and we had a ridiculously good offer accepted on a house in an area we really wanted to move to and where houses like it hardly ever come up for sale.

The costs involved were that high that we ended up not going for it, and although we missed out on the house in the end I'm glad we didn't as it would of cost us a ridiculous amount of money.

Also, I wouldn't work under the assumption that the house will sell quick as so many things can go wrong (even if you accepted an offer the day after you put it on the market) or delay things, work on the assumption it will take a while and see if you can still afford it with a bridging loan.

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #183 on:** March 16, 2015, 01:00:33 pm »

Ok thanks. It looks frighteningly expensive to be honest.

Other option is turning our current mortgage into buy to let, renting our place and taking the equity to spend on the new house.

Or staying put!

CraigDS · « **Reply #184 on:** March 16, 2015, 01:09:49 pm »

Quote from: SamAteTheRedAcid on March 16, 2015, 01:00:33 pm

Ok thanks. It looks frighteningly expensive to be honest.

Other option is turning our current mortgage into buy to let, renting our place and taking the equity to spend on the new house.

Or staying put!

Have you spoken to the sellers of the other house and seen how much of a rush they are in? It may be a case of them not having found anywhere yet so might be prepared to wait a little while and you can get an offer on your house. You may have to be slightly flexible with the truth as to how far along your house sale is (i.e. you're negotiating with someone/some very interested people) though.

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #185 on:** March 16, 2015, 03:24:24 pm »

The sellers of the other house have already found (and presumably paid for, as they say they have no chain) their house, so they are in a real hurry.

Might have to give up on this one, frustrating but probably financially prudent to do so.

Just a shame as we've been looking for ages but were too slow to get ours on the market and now two houses have passed us by due to not having got rid of ours.

CraigDS · « **Reply #186 on:** March 16, 2015, 03:39:26 pm »

Quote from: SamAteTheRedAcid on March 16, 2015, 03:24:24 pm

Just a shame as we've been looking for ages but were too slow to get ours on the market and now two houses have passed us by due to not having got rid of ours.

Then get it on the market!!

Pointless looking without at least having it on the market, as this will keep happening.

Ours is on the market at the moment and we're not looking around anywhere until we get an offer in because we'll no doubt end up finding somewhere we want. We've had a few who have come to view ours, after we've spent a day tidying round and clearing away clutter, and when we ask if they're in the process of selling theirs and they tell us they haven't got it on the market yet, or haven't had an offer in for it yet, I feel like punching them as just wasting my time.

El Phes · « **Reply #187 on:** March 16, 2015, 04:20:03 pm »

Quote from: CraigDS on March 16, 2015, 03:39:26 pm

Ours is on the market at the moment and we're not looking around anywhere until we get an offer in because we'll no doubt end up finding somewhere we want. We've had a few who have come to view ours, after we've spent a day tidying round and clearing away clutter, and when we ask if they're in the process of selling theirs and they tell us they haven't got it on the market yet, or haven't had an offer in for it yet, I feel like punching them as just wasting my time.

I'm not surprised mate! In fact, if it's happening a few times, I would get your agent to qualify the 'buyers' position before they waste anymore of your time. If they aren't on the market at least, don't accept the viewing! It's a nightmare getting your house ready each time for a viewing. If nothing else (and I'm not directing this at you!) make sure your house is clean. Viewers can actually look past clutter and dated wallpaper etc, but we were put right off by a couple of houses that just weren't clean!

We have now accepted a 2nd offer on our house. It was 3% below asking price, but we were happy with the offer and she is a 1st time buyer in rented. She has 2 months notice to give on her current rented.

We also whittled our own house viewings down to 2 houses. We have finally opted for 1 of them and offered 5K below asking (they already dropped the house price by 5K just before we viewed it for the 1st time) and they accepted our offer, so we effectively got it for 10K less than asking which is nice!

Just waiting for them to find a place now, but they are keen to get out soon (wonder if I should check under the patio?!)

Just sorting out the mortgage now. We have it in 'principle' so that's good.

Good luck to everyone else going through this or currently selling / looking / buying etc.

CraigDS · « **Reply #188 on:** March 16, 2015, 04:28:34 pm »

Quote from: El Phes on March 16, 2015, 04:20:03 pm

I'm not surprised mate! In fact, if it's happening a few times, I would get your agent to qualify the 'buyers' position before they waste anymore of your time. If they aren't on the market at least, don't accept the viewing! It's a nightmare getting your house ready each time for a viewing. If nothing else (and I'm not directing this at you!) make sure your house is clean. Viewers can actually look past clutter and dated wallpaper etc, but we were put right off by a couple of houses that just weren't clean!

We have now mate after the second (or third it could of been) one.

to be honest we've no kids so thankfully we don't have all that much clutter. Most is just to do with either the dog or my work stuff as I work from home.

Agree about it being clean too. When we looked round prior to moving here a dirty house really puts you off even if you know it's something you can sort.

Quote

We have now accepted a 2nd offer on our house. It was 3% below asking price, but we were happy with the offer and she is a 1st time buyer in rented. She has 2 months notice to give on her current rented.

We also whittled our own house viewings down to 2 houses. We have finally opted for 1 of them and offered 5K below asking (they already dropped the house price by 5K just before we viewed it for the 1st time) and they accepted our offer, so we effectively got it for 10K less than asking which is nice!

Just waiting for them to find a place now, but they are keen to get out soon (wonder if I should check under the patio?!)

Just sorting out the mortgage now. We have it in 'principle' so that's good.

Good luck to everyone else going through this or currently selling / looking / buying etc.

Least things are moving for you!

We've had a second viewing on Saturday so hopefully that'll lead to something as they seemed really keen. The problem we have is it's a converted barn which really isn't for everyone. So we get a lot of people viewing who like the idea of living in one, but then when they look round get put off with the idea.

SamAteTheRedAcid · « **Reply #189 on:** March 16, 2015, 05:12:02 pm »

Quote from: CraigDS on March 16, 2015, 03:39:26 pm

Then get it on the market!!

Pointless looking without at least having it on the market, as this will keep happening.

Yeah I know, it has just gone on the market last week, but been waiting for stuff like the EPC and floor plan to come through, just had them emailed over today so once the estate agent gets their arse in gear we're good to go.

El Phes · « **Reply #190 on:** March 24, 2015, 05:09:16 pm »

Quick update...

Our seller has now had their offer accepted on an empty property, so that is good news and also where the chain ends. So, 3 parties involved, all with offers accepted, 2 with mortgages in principle, 1 cash buyer (downsizing + earning a tidy sum off me!), solicitors paperwork for buying and selling received, what could go wrong??!

.adam · « **Reply #191 on:** April 7, 2015, 03:19:03 pm »

Quote from: .adam on February 16, 2015, 03:30:07 pm

Small update on my situation.

As I mentioned a couple of pages back, managed to "win" the sealed bid with a bid of £50 more than my rival.

Valuation was completed last week and of course the fuckers only valued it at the asking price so we went back to the seller and asked to reduce the price by £5k due to the low valuation and a few things that came up on the survey. They refused saying that due to the level of interest they're confident that they could sell if a the price agreed.

Went back and asked for £2.5k and they agreed which now eases the burden on us in terms of cash up front.

Hoping to move in on the first or second weekend of April if all goes to plan.

Got the keys today!

Few small jobs to do during the week before moving in proper over the weekend. Looking forward to gettting back on the housing ladder!

Chakan · « **Reply #192 on:** April 7, 2015, 03:20:57 pm »

Quote from: .adam on April 7, 2015, 03:19:03 pm

Got the keys today!

Few small jobs to do during the week before moving in proper over the weekend. Looking forward to gettting back on the housing ladder!

Congrats mate.

I had a number of issues when trying to buy a house here, some from my side some from the owner.

Had to replace the entire heating vents when I moved in which I didn't know about, cost me a good $1300 to do that. But then again I got the owner to fix the chimney cause it was a fire hazard before I would buy it. So swings and roundabouts.

Grobbelrevell · « **Reply #193 on:** April 8, 2015, 11:56:57 am »

Okay, quick question for those of you with more knowledge and experience on this area, if I may.

My partner and I have recently had an offer for a property accepted and are working towards exchanging contracts in the coming days. It should be a very straight forward transaction due to us being first time buyers (no downward chain) and the current vendor herself purchasing a new build (no upward chain). It's the new build part that has sought to complicate matters right from the off though, by imposing unrealistic deadlines, coupled with threats of selling the property from under the nose of the vendor (despite her placing a deposit on the house). It's all been very awkward and downright snide at times from their part, and from speaking with other people who have dealt with new homes companies, it (somewhat scarily) seems common practice. I wasn't surprised to discover that it was Redrow Homes in our case, owned of course, by a certain Steve Morgan who we're all familiar with.

Anyway, that's just a bit of basic background. I've now been informed that our deadline (imposed by Redrow) to exchange contracts has been extended, from 31/03 (which was never, ever realistic) to this week (awfully kind of them), and as such we're working frantically to get that done. The thing that has me a little uncomfortable though, is the request that we hand over our deposit at this point as well. The new build is not set to be completed until late August, and therefore our completion date is currently set for mid-September, so what this means is that we're handing over a significant amount of money to another company, for them to take advantage of for five months. I understand that in a standard purchase the exchange would not be far in advance of the completion date and therefore this kind of process would make more logical sense, but in our specific scenario I find it rather odd, frankly.

Anyone been in a similar situation? Or just know what the standard practise is in this kind of scenario?

CraigDS · « **Reply #194 on:** April 8, 2015, 01:27:05 pm »

So are you purchasing a new house of Redrow or is the person you are buying a house off buying one from them?

Grobbelrevell · « **Reply #195 on:** April 8, 2015, 01:30:24 pm »

Quote from: CraigDS on April 8, 2015, 01:27:05 pm

So are you purchasing a new house of Redrow or is the person you are buying a house off buying one from them?

No, we're purchasing a house from a lady who is herself purchasing a new build from Redrow. The new build is currently under construction, so until that's finished we can't complete, because the current owner will have nowhere to go.

As it's transpired, we're being rail roaded (by Redrow) into exchanging contracts yesterday, and the only party who stands to lose out in such a scenario is us, despite us having nothing to do with Redrow directly. Having raised this with our solicitor, i've been informed that "this is standard practise when buying any property including a new build". Makes very little sense to me, but it certainly appears as though they play by their own set of rules, and with very little tact or reason.

CraigDS · « **Reply #196 on:** April 8, 2015, 01:35:23 pm »

You're not dealing with a new build company though, the fact she is purchasing from them is absolutely nothing to do with you other than she may put extra pressure on you to complete at a certain date due to needing to herself.

Why you'd be giving Redrow money directly is beyond me. Why they would even be speaking to you/your solicitor is beyond me too.

As far as I'm aware, and this is how I've always done it when purchasing/selling property, you should be giving your solicitor the money which is then held in their client account (which you should get your share of the interest from during the period they hold it). They can then confirm that this money is fully available and secured by themselves to the sellers solicitors, and they release it when things are completed.

Has the person you're buying from done something like give her current house as a down payment/deposit/part ex for the new build with Redrow?

Jake · « **Reply #197 on:** April 8, 2015, 01:46:13 pm »

Quote from: CraigDS on April 8, 2015, 01:35:23 pm

As far as I'm aware, and this is how I've always done it when purchasing/selling property, you should be giving your solicitor the money which is then held in their client account (which you should get your share of the interest from during the period they hold it). They can then confirm that this money is fully available and secured by themselves to the sellers solicitors, and they release it when things are completed.

Yup that's how transfer works in a nutshell. Although I wouldn't expect any interest if it's not in there for more than a few days. They might even use it to offset the TT fees.

Just had a quick look online for the first time as I'm sick of burning my money with rent, and I'd be paying less in mortgage payments that I would be in rent for the flat I'm living in now, but for any reasonable sized house where I live, our income doesn't come close to what we need.

Grobbelrevell · « **Reply #198 on:** April 8, 2015, 01:53:00 pm »

Quote from: CraigDS on April 8, 2015, 01:35:23 pm

You're not dealing with a new build company though, the fact she is purchasing from them is absolutely nothing to do with you other than she may put extra pressure on you to complete at a certain date due to needing to herself.

I'm with you mate, but the fact is, Redrow have been driving our entire transaction from the off. Right from the start we've had estate agents and our solicitor negotiating extended deadlines for exchange with Redrow. Essentially because the current owner of our property is using the funds from the sale to purchase her new build, and as a result Redrow have done nothing but exert pressure on us to exchange - and now to hand over deposits.

As I understand it it's standard practise, and according to our solicitor, a legal requirement, to hand over deposits at the point of exchange, and I get that in a standard case, but the timeframes here are not a standard case, so it seems very strange to me that there appears to be no recognition of that fact. When I queried where the deposit would be sent I was informed that "it would be passed up the chain and protected by the NHBC guarantee". When I Googled that term, I came across this:

http://www.nhbc.co.uk/AboutNHBC/

It very much appears to be linked to Redrow. Either way, like you i'd expect the funds to go nowhere other than to our solicitor, and for us - especially given the timeframe at play - to be receiving interest payments on the funds in question. That seems perfectly reasonable to expect.

On the specifics of the owner of our properties contract with Redrow, I have no real clue. All I know is she's placed a deposit on the property she wants, but they've still been threatening her with pulling the plug and selling it elsewhere if she can't complete her sale within their proposed (and unrealistic) timeframe.

As I say, it's just become very frustrating, especially because we're the only party potentially losing out by Redrow rushing this through, despite us having no direct link or contract with them at all.

CraigDS · « **Reply #199 on:** April 8, 2015, 01:58:46 pm »

If it was me then as far as I would be concerned the issue with her deposit and any money Redrow want from her for her house purchase is her issue, nothing to do with you what so ever. You should certainly not be giving over any money (to anyone else but your solicitor) which she is then going to use elsewhere, until you are completing the purchase in full.

Redrow can put all the pressure they like on her, and in turn she can put it on you/your solicitor, but unless Redrow have some sort of stake in the house you are purchasing then they shouldn't even be in contact with you.

She may be purchaisng a new house, and she may have to put up with all the crap that new house builders get up to, but you are not purchasing one. You're purchasing an existing house and should be expecting to complete a deal as you would normally.

I'd be telling my solicitor to pull their finger out and earn the money you'll be paying them.

EDIT - Also, I'm not sure what NHBC has to do with you, as you're not buying a new house!!