How much notice for a completion date?

roje

My sale and purchase are not linked, so I will need to find temporary accommodation when the sale completes. However, I have been unable to get any idea of timescale whatsoever from my solicitor. I accepted the offer on my house on 4th June, survey was completed on 3rd July and buyer's mortgage is in place. As far as I know, no exchange has occurred yet?

What sort of timescale am I looking at if there are no spanners in the works? I'm struggling to find a rental property so will need to rent holiday accommodation for myself and my children until my house purchase completes. It's now holiday season so I need to sort something out asap before everywhere is fully booked, but I can't do this with no idea regarding a completion date.
What sort of notice do they normally give? Will I be given 2 or 3 weeks to sort something out?

TBagpuss

Completion dates need to be agreed, so if you need three weeks to sort out accommodation, then you can tell your solicitor that.

Normally one party will suggest a date, and then the other can either agree or propose an alternative.

The date of completion has to be set when you exchange.

Ask your solicitor to ask the buyers whether they have a preferred date.

Why are you not having a linked sale an purchase? What will you do if your purchase falls through?

G_M

roje wrote: »

My sale and purchase are not linked,
so link them.
so I will need to find temporary accommodation when the sale completes.
Have you organised this? If renting, will you be commited to a 6 month tenancy? How long will you need to find it?
However, I have been unable to get any idea of timescale whatsoever from my solicitor.
Not surprised. I've got a piece of string too!
I accepted the offer on my house on 4th June, survey was completed on 3rd July and buyer's mortgage is in place. As far as I know, no exchange has occurred yet?
How could you not know? And if Exchange has taken place then you should know the Completion date

What sort of timescale am I looking at if there are no spanners in the works?
1 week.
I'm struggling to find a rental property so will need to rent holiday accommodation for myself and my children until my house purchase completes.
Mad. Link the 2 deals.
It's now holiday season so I need to sort something out asap before everywhere is fully booked, but I can't do this with no idea regarding a completion date.
It's that blessed string again!
What sort of notice do they normally give? Will I be given 2 or 3 weeks to sort something out?

Exchange can happen at any time. Maybe a week, maybe 6 months. But it is up to you how much gap you want between Exchange and Completion. Tell your solicitor.

The string I have is quite long. Yours might be shorter. Who knows?

the answer is not to exchange on your sale till you are ready to Exchange on your purchase.

And write the same Completion date into both contracts.

roje

Unfortunately linking the sale and purchase is not an option as my buyers stated they would pull out. They bought this house with no chain as I originally intended to rent to begin with (I am relocating to the other end of the country), but I struggled to find a suitable rental with 4 children and 2 pets so decided to put an offer in on a house which was accepted.

My new job in the new area starts on 1st Sept so I have to be relocated by then no matter what, and it seemed very unlikely that there was much chance of everything being completed by then so a short term rental seemed the solution. I realise I will have to pay for 6 months if I rent a property, I would be willing to do so if I could find one! However it has been a long and fruitless search, if landlords can be fussy about tenants they will be!

There is no easy way to relocate long distance. I did things in the most sensible order. Job first, then house sale, then house purchase, and if I'd been able to find a rental it would all have worked out pretty well. I was rather naive regarding how difficult it would be to find a rental property in my situation as I have never rented a property before.

roje

Also, in answer to 'how could you not know?'...I don't know anything about selling houses I'm afraid, as you might have gathered. I've never done it before. That is why I posted here, as my solicitor has not explained the process to me and often the jargon surrounding house sales is confusing. I have simply been told that 'it's all going well', but that the purchase is still in the very early stages (a month after my offer being accepted).

G_M

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buying-Selling-Home-For-Dummies/dp/0470994487

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Buy-House-Phil-Spencer/dp/0718147340

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/resources/property-guides/buying-guide.html

or get one free from your local library.

roje

I've already read the rightmove guide and the guide on here. I just wanted to ask people for their own experiences of time scales. Most people on here have sold a house before. I haven't. Official guides are just that. They say helpful things like '6 weeks to 8 months' because that is the reality, we all know that. However, I don't think it's unreasonable to try and plan ahead if I may need a holiday rental at this time of year.