Moving house, cat flaps and vacuum cleaners.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Exchange is legally binding - daft plonker was trying to give herself a "get out" clause, and it wouldn't have worked.  Some people have an eye on getting compensation for anything - it happened to a friend of ours who sold her house - because she left a curtainpole behind in the shed, she was "ordered" to "remove her rubbish" failing which action would be taken for damages.  Honestly, I ask you - really?

She didnt, and they didn't, so it was all just so much posturing - highly annoying, but pointless.   

[Hippykitty]

As far as I'm aware, exchange of contracts is legally binding, so I think the clause may have been against the law. Anyway, it's been dropped....until she makes more silly demands. 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

It was a blurdy stoopid clause and I question whether she would actually have been able to enforce had she insisted upon it - it sounds like realistically it could have frustrated performance, and therefore would ave been an unfair contract term.......

Some purchasers have very unrealistic expectations.   

[Hippykitty]

I've been in contact with my agent about this. They thought it was a stupid request as I'm on my own. Taking up carpets isn't an easy job. Also, the agent spotted the blindingly obvious (which I had also spotted): that I can't move my stuff out until completion, so if the buyer inspects between exchange and completion, all my things will still be here. The completion day is when I'll get the keys to the new house. And how can I take up carpets when there's heavy furniture on them?
Also exchange of contracts MUST be legally binding, otherwise it jeopardises my purchase because the vendors of the house I'm buying won't be able to rely on the completion date. They need to rely on this as the money I'm paying them is paying for their new house 

The agent thought that my buyer was labouring under the belief that I'm a property tycoon, rather than a homeowner. I asked if it might be a good idea to put my house back on the market, which is hot locally (it's all student landlords wanting more houses). She said that my buyer is very keen to buy the house and that she would talk to her.

Fifteen minutes later, I had a return call. The agent had spoken to my buyer who has now dropped the idea of adding this clause to the contract. I think she's realised that I'm a homeowner and that she might lose the house if she's unreasonable.

So far, things appear to be sorted out. On to the next problem...

[Dawn F]

not sure if its for health reasons that you can't take up carpets yourself but we managed to pull all of ours up in our new house in a day, if it is for health reasons do you have any kind friends with cars who could help and take it to the dump for you?

would be a shame to loose your sale

[Hippykitty]

Well it's mid-August and I still haven't moved. Everything has been so slow. I must have the slowest conveyancer in the Western world!

Now the property developers have started making unreasonable demands, especially bearing in mind that they haven't even had the property surveyed. They want me to remove all the carpets, for which I'd have to employ someone at great cost to me. They also want me to 'remove all rubbish'. Hell, how did they think I was intending to leave the house? I thoroughly intended to leave the house empty of everything but the fittings. They want this as a clause in the contract, also part of the clause will be that they can inspect the property after exchange of contracts and not complete if it doesn't meet their liking. 

So you were right after all Gill. Of course, I'm not agreeing to these terms.

[Hippykitty]

Mine can also do the "hook up the cat flap" on a four-way lockable Staywell, so the version with a plastic cover sounds great.

I'll probably get the Sureflap pet flap for the outside door. Fred is enormous. I prefer the battery-run catflap to Petporte's mains connection.

Still undecided about the vac. 

[Dawn F]

I have a

Sebo X4EXTRA Automatic Upright Vacuum Cleaner, 1300W

and love it, glad are moving on hk, hope it goes smoothly

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Do you know Sue, thats the one I had in London but had totally forgotten 

Lupin a feline genious,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hmmmmmmmmmmmmm I think he is just norty 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

For "norty" read "cunning feline genuis"    If you also have a cunning feline genius, Staywell do a flap that you just slip a plastic cover into the guide rail effectively sealing off the flap, and that should do the trick adequately well. 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

All Sues flaps are good unless you have a smart cat like my Lupin......sigh

I put a flap on in only and he hooked it open from the inside and went out 

No other cat I have had has been this ummmmmmmmmmm norty!

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

So chuffed to hear about the move.  Think 're vacuums the Meile cat and dog, the Dyson ball or an Orek (no on-board tools tho) are all very good.

're microchip flaps I got a sureflap pet door (the big one) and love it.  The boys were being bullied by two stranger cats and the sureflap really sorted things out.  plus, the bigger version has a curfew mode, so you can choose to keep the cat's in overnight if you prefer at first.  We have two internal flaps on the interior doors and got basic Stay well lockable flaps - handy if we need to confine them to one room - e.g. if we're having work done elsewhere in the house.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think we did at the beginning lol

[Hippykitty]

This thread seems to have been hijacked by chat about the legals.

Please give me some vacuum cleaner recommendations, preferably upright. Has anyone got one they totally love and know the model number of?

 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

That all sounds reasonable and hope this solicitor is much better.

When you see her get her to give you her prices for conveyancing, they should be spilit down into vatious items and ask her if these stay the same for the period of the purchase and sale.

Not trying to teach you to suck eggs but take a list of questions you have cos so easy to forget, a bit like when under stress at vets 

Look forward to pm and hope all goes well.

[Hippykitty]

Updating on forum as most of this is general.

Made an appt and spoke to solicitor on the phone. Her only concern was whether the sale was conditional upon planning permission, but as the developer wants to do the same as is done to most houses in my area, getting planning shouldn't be a problem anyway. The solicitor said that she'd ring the agent from her office when I see her tomorrow.

I returned a call from the agent who'd phoned while I was asleep. He was calling about the visit by architect and developer. I told him, nicely, that I would let him know as I'd been advised that this may be a bad idea. I explained that my solicitor would phone him tomorrow. I also gently enquired whether he worked for the buyer or seller (knowing that it should be the seller) because he seemed to have the buyer's interests at heart. He said that he was interested in making a sale and in keeping the buyer happy in order not to lose them. Makes sense.

Thanks for the advice, but I'm reasonably happy with how things are progressing. The solicitor could be a little more on the ball, but I'll ensure that they don't slack.

[Hippykitty]

Gill,
Seeing solicitor tomorrow, after which I will pm you.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Oh dear HK you do have a problem solicitorwise and all this sounds less than ideal or proper and your agent obviously is getting a cut.

There must be loads of good solitors in is it Birmingham.

I never actually saw my solicitor either but soke to her many times on the phone and she gave me a fixed quote or prices and all the gen,

The form is awful but tbh it wont affect the developer like it may a buyer like yourself. The one that counts for you is for the property you are buying and I dont think you see it right until the end.

I can recommend a good solicioter but in London which would mean all papers being sent by post but she would speak to you and give you all the right advise and does things absolutely correctly as doing house purchases are the only thing she does.

If you would like either to talk face to face in the chat room or via pm I am willing as long as not before midday!

Just to say my only house purchase was the property I sold and as I was starting from scratch as you were, I had to pay a deposit.

But we are both in the situation of not needing to now.

If your solictor was doing his job you should have had papers for you to sign about the purchase and the sale and to confirm costs.

I think its best to take this off forum now as its rather private.

[Hippykitty]

Gill, thank you for your advice. This was not a private sale, but the result of a block viewing arranged by my estate agent. Block viewings are common in this area because 99% of the buyers are developers. I have liaised closely with the agent and it was they who asked if I minded my buyer and her architect taking measurements in order to draw up plans to submit to the council. Getting planning permission can take a long time and my buyer has waited with bated breath for me to find a property. I agreed to allow her to come round with her architect because it didn't seem such a big deal to me.

As far as the solicitor goes.....My agent recommended CountryWide. I googled them; they seem to have such a bad reputation and be so expensive that I changed to a local solicitor whose offices are just round the corner. Imagine my disappointment when he emailed the forms I have to complete for the sale! I wanted to see him face to face. When I bought this house, I saw a solicitor - who is no longer in practice - chatted, and he did most of the work; I just had to sign various forms. That was 30 years ago.

I phoned my new solicitor on friday, after receiving confirmation that my offer had been accepted on the house. I asked if I could pop in to see them for help in filling out the forms because I didn't know whether to answer yes or no to many of them. The girl on the phone told me to fill out as much as I could. I asked if that meant she wanted me to print them out. "Did we email them to you?" she asked; when I confirmed this she told me to drop in on monday (tomorrow). So that's as much contact as I've had with solicitors. My only experience of house purchase has been in buying my first home, this one, for which I seem to remember paying a deposit.

The vendors of my new property are unlikely to let me down provided they can find somewhere. They are expanding their family so need a bigger house, but are looking for one close to that which they're selling. I kept in touch with their agents after viewing the house. It wasn't perfect, but had a wonderful atmosphere, so I asked the agent to let me know if there was any movement. Meanwhile I looked at other properties and hated all of them. Then I had a call from the vendors' agent saying there had been an offer - which was way below the asking. I rang my agents, who had offered to haggle for me, put in a slightly increased offer, which was accepted. I realise that my vendors' agent may have been pulling a fast one, but it helped me to make up my mind.

As for the cats, I'll have a chat with the vet. Lucy and her boys are nervous about being handled, though relaxed around the house. Fred loves fuss, but hates being picked up, and Victoria is the same. I think light sedation would help on such a frantic day and with lots of strange movers tromping about. I'll chat to the vets first as they've had first hand experience of my cats. They had to put them in crush cages to microchip them!  When one needs to be examined by a vet, a nurse pins him (the cat, not the vet!) onto the table and the vet is still nervous.

Thanks for the help.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Good luck with the move.  I've never bought a house so can't advise there, but I have a Dyson Animal (cylinder) and find it great.

[Liz]

Can I say re the ACP tablets I use them under vets guidance and have had no issues with any of my ferals ranging from very nasty and unhandlable to the ones who are so nervous the mirrored wardrobe doors cause them to run at pace

I also moved 24 ferals 6 years ago so do have a bit of knowledge on the subject HK and mine moved 200 miles all penned and cat boxed

Speak to your vet, you know your cats HK and that will lead you to whats best for everyone all round - I still use ACP today to get my worst ferals to the vet for boosters with my current vets support as they are drowsy and can be fully health checked with no damage to anyone involved

Having had some ferals who had general anaesthetic to get an injection I know ACP is the lesser of 2 evils and they sleep for about 4 hours afterwards but wake refreshed and not knowing they have been to the vet apart from the smell

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Your solicitor should have explained how the system works.

If you own a house even with a morgage, the purchase is secured by the fact that your current house is owned, no deposit is actually paid by you at any point.

If you dont understand this you need to get your solicitor to explain it all to you..............I take it this is not a private sale?

Not a good idea to allow the deveploper access before exchange of contracts, they are ruthless and will never scratch anyones back!

If you ewxchange contracts with the developer before you exchange with the owner who you are buying from you are asking for trouble because the developer can force you out on the day stated in the contract and if the new property is suddenly withdrawn you are homeless!

The contracts protect you and there is a clause in each that if something doesnt happen after the exchange has taken place you have automatic redress at an amount/% stated.

You must get all this sorted now cos you are heading for potential trouble.


When I bought my current property I also sold to a developer who was horrific but owned the lease on my property in London.............you couldnt trust anything that even his solicitor told mine.

After the exchange and while on route to my new property my solicitor rang to say his solicitor said the developer didnt have the money...........a lie of course.............and because the money didnt go thro by the time stated in the contract............its usually a Friday and everything closes early..........I couldnt move into the new property. I had travelled with my cat from South London to SW Wales and my furniture etc was there.

This as you can figure caused a lot of problems and because it was late Friday and the owner of my new property was doing a DIY move everything was chaos and his solicitor went home early afternoon. I did not gain access until midnight monday and the developer had to pay interest and would have had to pay my costs also but to get them I would have had to take him to small claims court. That costs 5 or 600 just to start and I was too scared frankly and didnt want him to know where I lived.

As to sedation of your cats, this is a bad idea as no doubt your vet will explain. Cats fight against the sedation and end up worse than they would have been without sedation.

[Hippykitty]

Thanks for the replies.

I think that sedating them sounds a good idea. If I can get them into the small room in the current house, feed them the tuna plus, they'll then be easy to cage and move to new house. At the other end, they'll be too dozy to be anxious.

I am a little concerned about the chain. I'm buying the next house with the proceeds of the sale of the current house, which has no mortgage on it. Will have the same problem at exchange of contracts when I have to pay the deposit: I won't have the deposit until I have money from my sale, so will see if it's poss to use my buyer's deposit for my purchase deposit. Hope that makes sense.
As I've been bought by a developer who is eager to start the planning process, I'm allowing her to come round with her architect etc. I'm hoping that she'll then be willing to exchange before I exchange on the next house, same with completion. A case of "you scratch my back cos I've scratched yours"! - the cats helped with that 

Been reading about the differences between PetPorte and Sureflap and prefer the battery operation of Sureflap though would have to buy the larger version because Fred is a monster 

Please mention the model number of the vacs. There are so many different Dysons, for example. I had a look on Amazon to get some idea of what peeps thought of them and got totally confused. Easily done.

 

[hOrZa]

When I moved I borrowed a load of cages and put them in doorways then simply shooed the cats into them, my two girls are a pain and hate being in carriers.

I bought a Cat & Dog Miele, it's a little heavier than a Dyson but picks up stuff my Mam's Dyson missed

hth

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I think your plan v the cats sounds great and in your case the best way round but I would go with Helen and tape up the door with notices in the new houise.

If you can stand 2 months with them inside only go for it but would certainly make it 6 weeks min.

I also have a dyson albeit the first one and think they are great.

You need to make sure that all your cats fit through which ever flap you get and sureflap do two sizes now. Misa my giant couldnt get through the small one!

There are many ordinary flaps that you could use inside and for a glass door you would need a glazier to fit it but again you need to make sure the size fits all cats.

Good luck with the move 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Fingers crossed everything goes to plan for you HK! 

I think your moving day plan sounds good, although I did it the other way round - I cleared one bedroom and put all boxes/furniture from that room in the living room. On the day of the move I put the boys in the empty room with their trays, toys, beds etc. I then taped the door up and put several notices on the door saying don't open!

I moved everything into the new house and then upnpacked one room so it was a 'normal' room with no unpacked boxes/unpacked furniture. The last thing I went back for was the precious cargo and put them in the new room and then set about unpacking the rest of the house while the boys were in the new room.

I guess the problem you might have is that to complete the chain you will not get keys to your new house until you have given over keys to your old house? I was moving from rented so didn't have that issue.

I think 2 months sounds brilliant, and more than most would manage with whining cats! I think CP say a minimum of 3 weeks - I'd want 4-6 as a minimum if it was me.

Re the microchip cat flaps, I know several on here have the SureFlap and are very happy with the product and also the aftersales.

I have a Dyson and can't fault it, the amount of hair that comes out of my (clean looking!) carpets is 

[Liz]

Congrat HK on your impending move

I know some folks will be iffy but if you can bribe them with something like Tuna in Brine then you could ask your vet for some ACP tablets that can be crushed and it basically makes them go to sleep or sleepy and then they can be boxed up and moved with less stress all round

I have a Vax Animal and have a lot of hair and it works well on carpet, wood and tiles floors it is a bit noisy but does the job well

I think 2 months is fine but I would go for keeping them in over the summer if poss and letting them out nearer Autumn and Winter as bad weather brings the ferals home

Don't have catflaps so can't help with that one

[Hippykitty]

Hello, back again! Have been busy house hunting. Finally got fed up with living in studentland amongst lots of property developers, bad landlords and students; though the latter haven't been quite so bad recently. Sold my house to a property developer and found a nice 1930s semi in a quiet owner-occupied area of B'ham. Have to go through the legals and actual move.

The new house has a tiny box room; on moving day I'm planning to move the cats first and put them in the box room out of the way of the chaos while the move is taking place. As most of you know, my cats aren't very obliging due to their feral origins, so I hope I can round them all up. Any ideas welcome.

Although I'm going to let the cats out of the box room after the move, they'll be kept in for about 2 months. Is this the right length of time? After this I'll put a microchip cat flap in the external back door and some strategic ordinary flaps in a couple of internal doors; my cats have a habit of playing "we're the wrong side of the door!".

Please recommend good makes of microchip cat flaps and ones for the internal doors which won't look odd. I can't remember whether the doors are upvc, but I think at least one of the internal doors is glass. Will this be an issue?

Also, I'm going to purchase a new vacuum cleaner. I need one which can cope with the fur of 6 cats and hoover upholstery. Please give some suggestions! I've looked at the reviews on Amazon and I'm so confused. 

I'm looking forward to being in the new house, but not to the physical move!
Thanks in advance for any help.