What are the risks of exchanging/completing on same day?

smallholdingsister

That article you linked to, Alice, had one solicitor apparently NOT READING the contract from the other party.

If you have a negligent solicitor there are no guarantees.

There are no guarantees in any case, no one can promise you it will all go well.

The likelihood, though, is that it will.

Bluebirdman_of_Alcathays

alicewilliams wrote: »

May I sincerely thank everyone for their input. Your advice and experience is greatly appreciated.

Those that say there's a chance we could be sued if completion did not go ahead on the same day... Isn't this the also the case if we exchanged one day abd completed a week later?? The risk is there whichever way we decide to go.

Of course - however, if you complete a week later, there is less risk of it going pear shaped as things will be less rushed.


The risk is low either way, but it is heightened if everyone in a chain is hurrying.


However, it's clear from this, and the other thread you've started that you're very impatient to get this concluded, so I suggest you mention this to your solicitor and get them to expedite things. It's what you pay them for!

fezster

sam2015 wrote: »

Be super organised and make sure every body else involve too.

Our exchange and completion on the same day failed because one of the solicitor in the chain didn't give their lender enough time to release the funds. Their funds arrived two days later and then some one else in the chain had to send the fund back to their lender then re-request it again. Some lenders insist on 3 or 5 working days to release the fund and solicitors can hold on to them for 2-3 days if the completion doesn't happen in that time they will have to send it back to the lender. Luckily for the fault party that we didn't exchange.

This is very useful advice for exchanging and completing same day. Your solicitor will probably charge you a premium for doing this, as they need to ensure a lot of things are very quickly put into place. They will also need to ensure they request the funds from your lender in advance. The risk here is that if exchange gets delayed (for any reason whatsoever), they will then need to send the funds back, and this may or may not incur a charge from the lender or the solicitor (best to check). The same applies for completing a day later or two days later. If completion is a week later, then this risk is mitigated, as any delay in completion which is not your fault you can claim costs back for.

melstar11

Exchange this time round (yesterday) took four hours after an abortive attempt the day before, stymied by one party's failure to instruct their solicitor to exchange. I suspect that had the solicitors started the process earlier in the day it may have been quicker - two of them missed each other over lunchtime and had to call back. If you can avoid it I would because there is always the risk that someone gets cold feet and pulls out. If you have exchanged already it's highly unlikely that would happen.

dragonsoup

alicewilliams wrote: »

Thanks edddy for somewhat easing my mind. I'm happy to leave out same day completion, but surely on agreement of all parties, it should be okay to complete 2-3 days later??

Wouldn't work for me. You'd get a flat no.

I needed 3 removal vans last time and that level of resource from a decent firm has to be booked well in advance. Not to mention the time to pack the house.

Hoploz

It's all very well saying that everyone in the chain is 'ready' ... But being legally ready to exchange contracts is very different to being physically ready to bung your stuff on a lorry and vacate.

People who pack up the whole house in advance of exchange are playing a dangerous game - they run the risk of having to unpack it all when someone somewhere along the chain suddenly backs out (as my buyer did once for no good reason) resulting in the chain collapsing at the point of exchange.

When selling an empty property last year to a BTL investor, we broached the subject with our solicitor (well trusted & had used them before) They said it is possible to exchange and complete on the same day, but it actually only tends to delay exchange, rather than expedite completion, if you see what I mean.

For example, if your whole chain really IS legally ready, why have you not already exchanged??? You could have exchanged yesterday and completed today ... But for one reason or another, you haven't.

And yes, solicitors will charge extra due t the extra attention the need to give the case to achieve same day transaction, including ordering funds in advance when they may also need to be returned.

pathtofreedom

I exchanged and completed on the same day last week, but with all the messing about from my buyer I couldn't move out then, and neither could the people I am buying from. I luckily hadn't exchanged on the next house though as they were messing about so much. So I have ended up with a licence to stay for 15 days, so I wasn't homeless in between, but I was looking on airbnb and trying to find storage / removals up to the day before as I didn't know what was happening.

When I bought this house, I was in no hurry to move in and they were going into a new build, so we managed to time it all so it worked for both of us and that was exchange / complete the same day. I don't think my friend picked the keys up though until nearly 5.

I'm trying to exchange today to move next week on my new place, I'm arranging my move out for day of completion, and move in the day after, as I'll still have another days grace on my 15 days to remain if something doesn't work out.

alicewilliams

Thanks for sharing your experience everyone. As promised, I've spoken to our solicitor today whom has advised that Exchange/Completion can be done on same day subject to all parties agreeing. She did advice to exchange for example on a Monday and complete on a Wednesday, so we'll try to stick to that.

Thank you again.