Help!

big_al_jnr

We are moving, which is a good thing, however we have a bit of a quandry.

We are due to move in on one date and we are unsure when we should let the people who have bought our home move in. The reason we are unsure is simple, we want to make sure that we have the cash in hand from the sale of our current property to fund the purchase of our new property.

So I suppose the question is simple, how quickly would we be able to use the funds paid to us for the sale of our current property (ie how quickly do these funds clear)?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Yorkie1

In a house sale, you set a date for completion when you exchange contracts. The money from your buyers arrives on completion day and the buyers are entitled to immediate possession. You don't get to delay matters after completion date. Your solicitor will confirm receipt of funds and that's it, the house is no longer yours.

If you are selling your current house and buying another house, the usual way for this to happen is for the sale and purchase to occur as part of a chain on the same day.

big_al_jnr

Thanks for this, and sorry if this sounds dumb, but does that mean that the funds from the sale of our current home clear immediately and can therefore be used on the same day they are received to pay for our new house?

BitterAndTwisted

Yes, that's how it works. Why has no-one explained this to you?

tyllwyd

Yes, the way it usually works when you are in a chain is that on moving day you get all your stuff into the removal van in the morning so the house is empty. When you get confirmation from your solicitor that the funds have arrived safely, you can hand the keys over to the buyers so that they can move in. If it isn't convenient to hand the keys over in person you might give them to the estate agent to hold on to until you tell them it is OK to give them to the buyer. Your purchase goes ahead at the same time, so you can drive over to the new house and get moved in.

We had a strange situation with our first sale/purchase because there was a problem with the banking system, so the buyers money was delayed by a few hours. Without telling us, our solicitor used their own funds for our purchase, effectively lending us the money to buy the new house until the buyers money arrived. So for a few hours, we owned two houses and a huge debt! If they had told us that was what they intended to do, we'd never have agreed to it just in case the whole thing had collapsed

poppysarah

I would assume this is something you should double check with a solicitor...

Ask them to explain how it all works to you... you do have one don't you?

G_M

big_al_jnr wrote: »

Thanks for this, and sorry if this sounds dumb, but does that mean that the funds from the sale of our current home clear immediately and can therefore be used on the same day they are received to pay for our new house?

Either you are doing the conveyancing yourself, in which case I'd strongly advise you not to given the level understanding you have of the process, or you are using a solicitor/conveyancer. In which case make them earn the money you are paying them. Ask them to explain what they are doing for you, when and how.

tbs624

tyllwyd wrote: »

Yes, the way it usually works when you are in a chain is that on moving day you get all your stuff into the removal van in the morning so the house is empty. When you get confirmation from your solicitor that the funds have arrived safely, you can hand the keys over to the buyers so that they can move in. If it isn't convenient to hand the keys over in person you might give them to the estate agent to hold on to until you tell them it is OK to give them to the buyer. Your purchase goes ahead at the same time, so you can drive over to the new house and get moved in.

We had a strange situation with our first sale/purchase because there was a problem with the banking system, so the buyers money was delayed by a few hours. Without telling us, our solicitor used their own funds for our purchase, effectively lending us the money to buy the new house until the buyers money arrived. So for a few hours, we owned two houses and a huge debt! If they had told us that was what they intended to do, we'd never have agreed to it just in case the whole thing had collapsed

Perhaps a tad over dramatic there - if the other party's solicitor was already in receipt of the funds and the issue was related to the actual t/f via CHAPS/BACS then your solicitor would have been able to agree to do what is called Completion on Undertaking, ie that there is an undertaking from one solicitor firm to another that the funds *will* be t/f'd but at some point past the usual 2pm. Not unknown when there is a buying and selling chain. (It may require the other party to pay a day's interest)

Lawyers have to operate under pretty strict accounting rules - SARs

OP , as Poppysarah & G-M say - have a chat with your own solicitor if you are unsure about how things work. You're paying for their skill and advice so use it.:)

tyllwyd

tbs624 wrote: »

Perhaps a tad over dramatic there - if the other party's solicitor was already in receipt of the funds and the issue was related to the actual t/f via CHAPS/BACS then your solicitor would have been able to agree to do what is called Completion on Undertaking, ie that there is an undertaking from one solicitor firm to another that the funds *will* be t/f'd but at some point past the usual 2pm. Not unknown when there is a buying and selling chain. (It may require the other party to pay a day's interest)

Lawyers have to operate under pretty strict accounting rules - SARs

OP , as Poppysarah & G-M say - have a chat with your own solicitor if you are unsure about how things work. You're paying for their skill and advice so use it.:)

Well, the issue was really that it all happened without the solicitor explaining it to us beforehand - all we knew was that he was telling us that we shouldn't hand over the keys to our buyers because their funds hadn't arrived, but that it was OK for us to go and pick up the keys of the new house because the firm had supplied the funds for our purchase on our behalf. Maybe that was my misunderstanding of what he told us, but we were a bit taken aback at the time.

(And this was in 1995 so am I right in thinking that it was before the Solicitors Accounts Rules came into force? Maybe it couldn't happen that way now?)

traineepensioner

Hi big al jnr,

Welcome to the forum.

If you want a good laugh have a look at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2943078

could be relevant :eek: