Buying Self Build Land
BUYING A PIECE OF GRASS IS EASY!
On 14th March 2000 I met my solicitor to discuss the draft contract that he had received from the vendor's solicitor. There were several issues that needed clarification as there were several covenants on the plot concerning both the vendor and the local authority. The draft was returned to the vendor's solicitor.
My re-mortgage was also agreed with the Newcastle Building Society.
I also visited the local authority as I intended to change the design of the house. They said that they could not foresee any problems with my amendments. (We'll see later what happens.)
My solicitor sent out his land/mining/water searches and these came back OK on 14th April 2000.
In the meantime, on inspection of the plot, I found that one of the boundary pegs had been removed so I asked the estate agents to have the peg reinstated and also to have the exact plot dimensions defined and written down so that they could be incorporated into the deeds.
22nd May and all building reg. drawings and planning completed but will wait until contracts exchanged before submitting to L.A.
June 1st and at last the plot dimensions are completed by a surveyor and forwarded to the vendor's solicitor. It's taken 6 weeks for a 2 minute job! My stress levels at this time are very high.
On 15th June my solicitor informed me that he had received the latest draft plus the plot boundary definitions but that the original issues had not been resolved or even mentioned so he had wrote a letter informing him of this.
On 21st June my solicitor had still not received anything and had faxed the other solicitor another letter to this effect. I then rang (not his neck!) the vendor's solicitor myself and told him I desperately needed a contract as I wanted to start building this year! He informed me that my solicitor has had the contract for 3 months and it was up to our side to progress. I told him to look at his fax machine and reply to my solicitor! After checking his fax machine he told me not to ring him anymore!
At this time I must admit that my stress levels were at a previously unknown all time high and it is here that I begin my story of this self-build.
On 4th July my solicitor informed me that the new contract had arrived and everything appeared to be in order. On inspection everything was OK except for the fact that as far as the vendor's solicitor was concerned I was now called DONALD Harvey!
On 5th July I signed the contract after amending Donald to David.
On 14th July, after much badgering from my solicitor to the vendors solicitor, the contracts were finally exchanged and the plot officially became ours.
My feelings at this time should have been ones of relief or happiness but I must admit to feeling a sense of anti-climax as I look back at a 70 year old inept solicitor who needlessly caused me a 2 month delay.
Anyway, enough of the pessimism, lets look forward to the next stage - PLANNING.
David and Diane Harvey's experience of buying land: View their full self build website here.
