This week I found myself in a stressful position… but for a change it was not conveyancing related.
I wanted to buy some tickets for a concert by my favourite band. In order to avoid unnecessary stress I was able to get a pre-sale code, but a bit like expediting an application at the Land Registry, I found that everyone had done the same.
After I had managed to buy the tickets (thank goodness!) I got to thinking about comparisons between buying concert tickets and moving home.
Queueing online for your favourite band tickets is like a miniature emergency. Everything is happening fast in that you need to decide quickly on the tickets; how much you want to pay; where you want to sit; what night you want to go and which venue. You have no control once the queue starts after having been sitting in a waiting room for some time and you have no control over what happens.
Why has the screen frozen? Why does it not like my bank card? You know that there are thousands of other fans wanting tickets and you just don’t want to miss out!
Buying a house is stressful but over a longer period of time. There are weeks (or months at the moment) of uncertainty with high financial stakes, endless waiting for other people and a continuous nagging feel that anything could collapse at any time.
If the concert ticket queue is like the final thirty seconds of a penalty shootout, then perhaps buying a house is like pushing a boulder up a hill for three or four months. A failed ticket queue ruins your weekend but a collapsed house purchase can change your entire life.
This column is written by a real high street conveyancer who wishes to remain anonymous. The views expressed are those of the author and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
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