Pros & Cons please for exchanging & completing on the same day

loveabargin

Hi All

I'm at the solicitors this monday to sign the contracts and would like to hear your views regarding exchanging and completing on the same day. The reason for this is because my buyers mortgage offer runs out on the 8th Jan and my solicitors close on wednesday unto 4th Jan also we are not sure that the searches on the house we are buying will be back before everyone closes for xmas. So my thoughts are to exchange and complete on 6th Jan to give us a little more time for the searches to come back.

Also the house we are buying is empty and with this cold weather I'm worried about burst pipes, if I exchange before xmas and then complete in Jan who would be liable for the burst pipes?

Just one other thought will I still pay the new vat increase whether I exchange in dec or jan?
thanks

Linton

Burst pipes - we were told to take out buildings insurance on our new house from exchange.

Exchange& complete same day - exchange is far more likely to go wrong than completion. So if you have made arrangements (like hiring removal van/people) you could be stuck with cancelation charges and other hassles.

olly300

Are you in a chain?

Nuttyneddy

Avoid it if you possibly can. You will have to be moved out of your current property in time for completion, but if you've not exchanged at that point you have no comfort that completion will actually take place.

We had to have a simultaneous exchange and completion when we bought our current house, but we did the move ourselves so didn't stand to lose out financially if anything went wrong and we had to turn back with our furniture and unpack it back into our old house. It was still very unsettling driving the 20 miles to our new house not knowing if it would be ours when we got there or not!

Would it be possible to leave a day or two in between to allow for delays?

sonastin

In general, I'd say exchanging and completing on the same day works well if there is nothing that HAS to be done on completion day. If something other than completing needs to be organised for that day, its best to exchange earlier so that you know it will happen.

dizziblonde

We did it (not planned, just how it worked out) - but having said that, we'd missed one monthly deadline to hand in notice on our rented house so knew we'd have to have that for another month anyway, so we had somewhere as a fall-back (and the means to finance said fall-back available). Wouldn't have risked it otherwise, but we didn't have removals or anything to arrange since we were only moving down the same street.

loveabargin

olly300 wrote: »

Are you in a chain?

only our buyer then us, the house we are buying is already empty as people have moved out and are living in there other home.

loveabargin

Linton wrote: »

Burst pipes - we were told to take out buildings insurance on our new house from exchange.

Exchange& complete same day - exchange is far more likely to go wrong than completion. So if you have made arrangements (like hiring removal van/people) you could be stuck with cancelation charges and other hassles.

So should I speak with my insurance people for my current home policy and ask them to transfer my policy to the new house on the exchange date. I take that my buyer should then insure the house that I'm living in as we will not have a policy on it.

thank you for your posts and I'm now thinking exchange asap and then set a completion date.

Nuttyneddy

loveabargin wrote: »

So should I speak with my insurance people for my current home policy and ask them to transfer my policy to the new house on the exchange date. I take that my buyer should then insure the house that I'm living in as we will not have a policy on it.

No, you still need to insure the house you currently own up until completion. While it's recommended to insure the property you're buying from exchange you are still responsible for handing over your current house on completion in the same state it was in at exchange, so you still need to be insured in case it burns down :eek:

Effectlively this means that you are insuring two properties, but it's usually only for a short amount of time.

olly300

OP, There is another thread on this board worth you reading - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2930688

The issues probably won't happen again but indicates a possible problem.

loveabargin

olly300 wrote: »

OP, There is another thread on this board worth you reading - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2930688

The issues probably won't happen again but indicates a possible problem.

I've had a read through the link you posted and I'll opt for exchange then set a date for completion thanks