 |
|
| Home | |
| Timeline | |
| Photos | |
| Writing | |
| Paintings | |
| Drawings | |
| Futures | |
| FAQ | |
| Archive | |
| Pop-up Phil | |
| Other stuff | |
| Gifts | |
| Writing | ||
   |
A flat-buying diary Thu, 7 Mar 2002 | |
(printable version of this page)
A couple of weeks ago I finally completed the purchase of a one-bedroom flat in London. Back in October, when I began the process, I didn’t have a clue what would happen, what path an average property purchase takes. Speaking to the building society (The Woolwich), the estate agent (Winkworth) and my solicitor (an excellent recommendation from a friend) was daunting as they dealt with the bewildering process every day of the week. But for me it was like driving into thick fog, relying on the three of them for directions.
During the following four and a half months I kept notes of what was happening and these are below. While no two purchases are alike (hopefully yours will be quicker) someone else about to set out on the same foggy journey may find this a useful rough guide. The moral of the story, if you’re expecting a quick trip, is not to go to The Woolwich, not to buy in Hackney, and to know the smallest legal confusion could hold you up for weeks.
| 2 Oct | View the property, spending maybe ten minutes looking round the four rooms with the seller’s mother. I can’t imagine why I’d like any other affordable flat better, so I pop into Winkworth round the corner and put an offer in. The offer’s accepted and back at the office I call The Woolwich about a mortgage. |
| 3 Oct | Call The Woolwich again, this time with all the information needed to set up my mortgage application. |
| 4 Oct | Receive all my mortgage application forms from The Woolwich. |
| 5 Oct | |
| 6 Oct | |
| 7 Oct | |
| 8 Oct | Send the completed application forms to The Woolwich in Clacton. |
| 9 Oct | |
| 10 Oct | Call The Woolwich to make sure everything’s going OK. Winkworth have told me the property will stay on the market until the survey is arranged, so I’m eager to get things moving. The application forms have not yet reached the Oxford processing centre, to where they’ve been sent from Clacton. |
| 11 Oct | |
| 12 Oct | |
| 13 Oct | |
| 14 Oct | |
| 15 Oct | Call The Woolwich to find Oxford still haven’t received the application forms. A helpful gentleman who obviously knows nothing about the process assures me that the survey should be arranged by Friday the 19th. He turns out to be wrong by two weeks. |
| 16 Oct | Call The Woolwich. The application forms have finally arrived at Oxford and I am assured the application will be set in motion in the next couple of days. The manager of the sales person at Clacton who took my original call emails Oxford in an attempt to speed up the process. |
| 17 Oct | |
| 18 Oct | |
| 19 Oct | |
| 20 Oct | |
| 21 Oct | |
| 22 Oct | |
| 23 Oct | Call The Woolwich to be told a letter was sent to me yesterday requesting copies of bank statements and identification papers. |
| 24 Oct | |
| 25 Oct | |
| 26 Oct | Call The Woolwich as I have yet to receive the letter they apparently sent me. They say they’ll send another. |
| 27 Oct | Receive the second letter from The Woolwich. |
| 28 Oct | |
| 29 Oct | Call The Woolwich in an attempt to clear up some ambiguous instructions in the letter. |
| 30 Oct | To get things done as quickly as possible I take my bank statements and identification into my local Woolwich branch to have them verified and faxed to Oxford. The local branch’s photocopier is broken so they can’t oblige. I return at lunchtime having photocopied the documents myself and I hold up an increasingly irate queue while a man disappears into a back room for a long time to fax them. Later in the day I call Oxford to check the faxes arrived. They don’t know yet. |
| 31 Oct | Call The Woolwich to check the faxes arrived. The woman who’s dealing with my application is off ill but I’m told the faxes did arrive and are awaiting her return. |
| 1 Nov | |
| 2 Nov | Call The Woolwich to find the woman dealing with my application is still off ill but an “urgent” note has now been put on the application. Someone will call today or tomorrow when it has been dealt with. |
| 3 Nov | |
| 4 Nov | |
| 5 Nov | No one called from The Woolwich, but Winkworth call to tell me The Woolwich have arranged the survey for the following morning. I fax my solicitor’s details to Winkworth. |
| 6 Nov | |
| 7 Nov | The Woolwich call to tell me my mortgage application has been approved. |
| 8 Nov | |
| 9 Nov | Receive the survey report from The Woolwich. Of the three levels of survey, I requested the middle one. The Woolwich have done the lowest, most superficial, level. I call Oxford who insist they were told to do the lower level by Clacton. I tell them I don’t care who told them that, but I told The Woolwich I wanted the middle survey done and I’d like them to do it. The gentleman tells me they can do another survey but I’ll have to pay for it all over again. I reply I’ll pay the difference (the middle level being more expensive than the lower), but not the full price. He suggests I call Clacton. I suggest he calls Clacton and lets me know when it’s been sorted out. At the end of the day the manager of the woman who took my original call in Clacton phones. Yes, I had asked for the middle level of survey, they’re very sorry and a new survey will be instructed immediately. I call my solicitor to let him know about the new survey, and he tells me he’s just received details of the seller’s solicitor from Winkworth. |
| 10 Nov | |
| 11 Nov | |
| 12 Nov | |
| 13 Nov | Winkworth call to tell me The Woolwich have arranged the new survey for the 15th. |
| 14 Nov | |
| 15 Nov | |
| 16 Nov | |
| 17 Nov | |
| 18 Nov | |
| 19 Nov | |
| 20 Nov | Receive the second, and correct, survey report from The Woolwich. |
| 21 Nov | The Woolwich call to tell me my mortgage application has been approved again. |
| 22 Nov | |
| 23 Nov | Receive the mortgage documents from The Woolwich. |
| 24 Nov | |
| 25 Nov | |
| 26 Nov | Send the signed mortgage form to The Woolwich. |
| 27 Nov | Call my solicitor. He’s received the mortgage offer from The Woolwich and needs to get various documents from the seller’s solicitor. He says there was an abortive attempt to buy the property a couple of months ago and some of the documents we need may not have been returned to the seller’s solicitor then. He (rightly, as it turns out) doesn’t think this will be a problem. |
| 28 Nov | |
| 29 Nov | |
| 30 Nov | |
| 1 Dec | |
| 2 Dec | |
| 3 Dec | |
| 4 Dec | |
| 5 Dec | Call my solicitor. He’s drafted a report to send to me. Hackney Council are currently taking 15-20 working days to complete a local authority search. He’s going to see if we can buy the report from the previous, abortive, purchase attempt, but we won’t be able to if it’s more than three months old. |
| 6 Dec | |
| 7 Dec | |
| 8 Dec | Receive a package from my solicitor containing: seller’s title; Land Registry plan; current lease; seller’s property information form; fixtures, fittings and contents form; and the Solicitor’s Enquiry Pack. Half the flat is affected by a restriction that it will not be used for the manufacture, sale or supply of wine, beer or other intoxicating liquors. |
| 9 Dec | |
| 10 Dec | |
| 11 Dec | I call my solicitor to discuss a few points arising from the package. Such as the fact my first name is Phil, and not Cyril. |
| 12 Dec | Receive a copy of the Land Registry title of the property from my solicitor. |
| 13 Dec | |
| 14 Dec | |
| 15 Dec | Receive a letter from my solicitor saying he’s received the results of the water search, confirming the property is connected to all essential amenities. He asks if I want an environmental search (hell, why not?). |
| 16 Dec | |
| 17 Dec | |
| 18 Dec | |
| 19 Dec | |
| 20 Dec | Receive the Environmental Search Report from my solicitor - nothing to worry about. |
| 21 Dec | |
| 22 Dec | |
| 23 Dec | |
| 24 Dec | |
| 25 Dec | Christmas Day |
| 26 Dec | Boxing Day |
| 27 Dec | |
| 28 Dec | |
| 29 Dec | |
| 30 Dec | |
| 31 Dec | |
| 1 Jan | New Year’s Day |
| 2 Jan | |
| 3 Jan | |
| 4 Jan | |
| 5 Jan | Receive a summary of Hackney Council’s long-delayed local authority search from my solicitor. Nothing too much to worry about. |
| 6 Jan | |
| 7 Jan | |
| 8 Jan | |
| 9 Jan | Receive a letter from my solicitor attempting to clarify my position regarding the communal lower-ground floor car park: while I could park there (if I had a car), there is no specific right to do so. |
| 10 Jan | |
| 11 Jan | |
| 12 Jan | |
| 13 Jan | |
| 14 Jan | |
| 15 Jan | Winkworth call to say they’ve spoken to my solicitor who has just received some information from the managing agents of the property and is now just waiting for a final document from Hackney Council. Maybe we’ll be able to start finishing the whole process next week. The seller has long since found a property to move to and is eager to complete on that. |
| 16 Jan | |
| 17 Jan | |
| 18 Jan | |
| 19 Jan | |
| 20 Jan | |
| 21 Jan | Winkworth call to say my solicitor now has all the necessary documents so maybe we can exchange contracts at the end of this week, and complete a week or two later. I write to my solicitor enquiring about this tentative schedule. |
| 22 Jan | |
| 23 Jan | |
| 24 Jan | Receive a letter from my solicitor with the results of a series of enquiries to the seller’s solicitor. Many outstanding points are clarified, correctly coloured lease plans included, and information regarding proposed (expensive) renovation of the lower-ground floor car park included. |
| 25 Jan | |
| 26 Jan | |
| 27 Jan | |
| 28 Jan | |
| 29 Jan | Meet with my solicitor for the first time. He goes over all the previous correspondence to make sure it’s all clear. He gives me a recently received copy of planning permission for the building from 1995 and a copy of a letter from the seller’s solicitor clarifying more points, including potential costs of future renovation work. He clarifies what still needs to be cleared up: confirmation from London Underground that the proposed Hackney to Chelsea tube line won’t be emerging through my flat, and exactly who is responsible for maintenance of the lower-ground floor car park (the lease is ambiguous on the matter and he has so far been unable to obtain a satisfactory explanation from any of the parties concerned). |
| 30 Jan | Winkworth tell me the seller must complete this sale on 8th Feb as that is when she completes her purchase. I call The Woolwich insurance people, as my quote for contents insurance is due to expire, it being almost three months since it was arranged. |
| 31 Jan | |
| 1 Feb | Receive a letter from my solicitor, including: a copy of a fax from the seller’s solicitor attempting (but failing) to clear up the responsibility for maintenance of the lower-ground floor car park; a copy of a letter from London Underground stating that the property “falls outside the safeguarded limits of land subject to consultation” as regards the Hackney Chelsea tube line. I call my solicitor to see where we are now. He’s been exchanging faxes with the seller’s solicitor to clarify who is responsible for the lower-ground floor car park and we’re very close to being ready to exchange contracts. A date of Feb 15th has been pencilled in for completion. I transfer deposit money into my solicitor’s bank account. |
| 2 Feb | |
| 3 Feb | |
| 4 Feb | |
| 5 Feb | My solicitor calls. He’s still trying to chase up one last piece of information, clarifying who owns the freehold on the ground floor and the car park. |
| 6 Feb | |
| 7 Feb | |
| 8 Feb | Winkworth call, upset that we haven’t yet exchanged contracts, so it doesn’t seem like completion will happen on the 15th. He wasn’t relishing telling the seller about another delay. My solicitor calls having finally sorted out the final problem, which was the result of a small detail being overlooked and not chased up when the residents bought the property’s freehold. It seems like all will be sorted out in time and it’s no longer a concern. He will speak to the seller’s solicitor and try to exchange contracts as soon as possible. |
| 9 Feb | |
| 10 Feb | |
| 11 Feb | My solicitor calls to confirm that exchange has taken place - they tried to do it on Friday but ran out of time. Completion will be on Friday 15th. I call The Woolwich to see if I can set up my contents insurance over the phone so it’s in place for Friday. They tell me I can’t, but it would be quickest if I go into my nearest branch. |
| 12 Feb | I go into my local Woolwich branch, the staff of which don’t understand why head office told me to come in, as they’ll only have to send the form up there themselves, so I might as well do it. So I do. I call The Woolwich’s insurance and mortgage people and give each of them the other’s reference number in an attempt to ensure everything happens when it should. I call Winkworth to check the seller is switching utilities over to the new occupier, me, rather than just having everything cut off. Receive a letter from Winkworth expressing “delight” at the exchange of contracts. |
| 13 Feb | Receive a standing order form from The Woolwich which I should have previously sent to my bank to set up payment into my Woolwich account. I call my bank and arrange it. |
| 14 Feb | My solicitor calls to say he has received the money from The Woolwich, so all is set for completion tomorrow. |
| 15 Feb | In the afternoon I call Winkworth who tell me they’ve got the OK from the seller’s solicitor and I can pick up the keys. I go there, collect the keys, sign a piece of paper and nearly twenty weeks after seeing the flat for ten minutes, I move in. |
| 16 Feb | Receive a bill from my solicitor. |
| 17 Feb | |
| 18 Feb | |
| 19 Feb | Send my solicitor a large cheque. |