House Sale Complete, After A Very Fraught & Stressful Day!

I didn't sleep very well at all last night, worrying about today from what I was told yesterday. The lovely estates team from the hospital came to unplumb my washing machine, so that's ready to go. Last night I took everything out of my fridge freezer and turned it off. I managed to put what food I had left into the tiny NHS undercounter fridge.

Ian Reid emailed me this morning, to let me know that they can't move me tomorrow, which I expected as the snow is even worse this morning, but they will try and move me on Monday. Therefore I have to go to work tomorrow, in order to have Monday off, which one of my seniors gave me kind permission to do. Obviously the weather is dictacting the move, but this is not ideal, especially when Ian Reid have to move someone else local the same day too, which they hadn't planned and now are having to squeeze me in as well, as they have no other available days next week, so they will be very busy. Also this means, its going to be shattering, having to return to Lerwick to empty this house of the belongings I don't want going in the van and then cleaning the entire house out, return to Scalloway and be at work the next day! I can't see me doing that, so will probably have to clean the house on Tuesday evening after work and hand the keys in on Wednesday. This is exactly why I had planned to move on a Friday, so I had the weekend to sort stuff. There is of course, also the risk that the weather will still be too dangerous to move on Monday, which means I have no idea when I will get moved after that!

Today has been very, very stressful and I ended up in tears this afternoon. I can't remember the last time I got so upset. Harper Macleod solicitors at the Glasgow office are totally unprofessional and that is the most polite way of saying it on my blog. So, this is how the day went, I had annual leave booked for Completion Day and so that I could drive (ha ha) to pick the keys up and read the metres, which is what everyone usually does when a sale completes. My solicitor told me that completion usually happens around lunch time, but it can in fact be any time, both earlier or later and right up to the close of business, which in Harper Macleod's case is 5pm. You can see where this is going!

Basically because of Harper Macleod's incompetency and very poor service, right since the beginning of the sale, but particularly since yesterday, they lost me a day's annual leave and caused me alot of stress. My solicitor contacted me this morning to say that she couldn't get hold of Harper Macleod to find out what was going on, but she was prioritising the situation and would ring them every hour – she had left an urgent voice mail for them. Anyway, eventually they made contact and basically said they were not going to be able to complete today, because of certain something (can't go into it as not appropriate) that was still on the Title Deed! My solicitor was fuming as was I, especially when H. M. had had that title deed (my solicitor told me) since the 17th November! They left it until the day before completion to highlight this issue, which was THEIR fault! They needed proof of something (in relation to the sellers) and said they had this proof themselves, but it was in their archives, which they couldn't get to because of the snow! As my solicitor said, its no excuse at all, as they would have known about this since November. Lots more phone calls, lots more emails and I didn't feel able to do a single thing until this was sorted, it was all very stressful. I was thinking about the fact that nothing would be insured in this house and all the other stuff that would have to be sorted if I didn't move, plus new tenants are moving into my house here soon!

I couldn't take it any more, I flipped big time. I phoned up Harper Macleod in Glasgow and asked to speak to whoever was in charge of all the solicitors. I was asked what it was about..... was put on hold and as expected, was not allowed to speak to anyone, so threw an absolutely wobbly at the receptionist (I apologised afterwards and explained it wasn't directed at her) about the terrible unprofessional service and pointed out that they couldn't do this half a day before completion and listed all the things I would have to do if we didn't complete because of their mistake and ended with saying "tell the solicitor to get it sorted before 5pm"!!!

I don't know what my solicitor Charlotte had said to them during the day, but between us it worked! If they had not completed by 5pm, they would have been in breach of the contract. This story is far longer than I have typed, but not got the mental energy to talk about it much more. I received an email from my solicitor at 16.54 with 6 minutes to the deadline that we had completed! I normally finish work at 4.30pm so I might as well have been at work today, what a waste of valuable annual leave. I should have felt excited but I didn't, I felt angry, exhausted, fed-up and very low in spirits. This isn't how I should have been feeling when I had just bought a house in Shetland, I should have been jumping up and down with excitement.

I don't like owning a house and not having the keys in my hand, but I can't get out of the road, so until I can, I will have to wait to pick the keys up from the now previous owners and then read the metres. I did enquire about a taxi, but they were going to charge me £18 each way, plus waiting time, I'm not doing that! I'm sure I will feel more excited once I move into the house, but Harper Macleod have taken the shine of the entire experience of buying this house.

However, I can't recommend my solicitor Charlotte Torrance at Andersonbain in Aberdeen enough. This solicitors was recommended to me by a local man and his girlfriend, who I met in Sandwick whilst viewing their house a while back, they said that Andersonbain were quick and professional and far cheaper than any of the Shetland solicitors. They were totally right, Charlotte responded to all my emails almost straight away and it was very rare I couldn't get hold of her on the phone. She was very unimpressed with Harper Macleod's service, which actually started at the branch in Lerwick, but for some unknown reason got moved to a different solicitor at the Glasgow branch, where the service spiralled into an even worse service than it already was.

 

I really hope I can get my car out soon and especially by Monday, mind you, if I can't get out then, the removal van won't be coming either! I will try and write a more unbeat post about the house tomorrow!!! The experience of buying property here has been far more difficult and stressful than my move from Norfolk, far more stressful, but after persevering I have eventually got there!