Completing whilst out of the country?

chrisfletcher

I'm a first time buyer and I've been in the process of buying a house for the last few months. I'm currently renting a room in my friends house with most of my possessions in storage. I had an offer accepted in mid/late August.
From the beginning I was clear I wouldn't be in the the country from mid December for 3 weeks so I needed to complete before then, late November at the latest so I could move in and have time to sort things out, not leave a recently sold house empty over Christmas etc etc.
It's now December and due to the sellers not being on-top of porting their mortgage (re-applied elsewhere) and the person along from them in the chain having delays we haven't exchanged yet, and it'll take a week to get the mortgage money from my bank. I've been ready and waiting for about a month now, my solicitors have everything they need.
I'm waiting for them to come back in the next few days and say "we're ready now, lets exchange and complete ASAP" to which my response would be "Sorry, it'll have to be early January when I'm back now as I stated all along".
I've done the pros and cons about trying to move in and sort some things out before I'm away but every day that passes makes it less helpful to me to have the keys. Thinking over it more, is there a reason why I can't complete whilst out of the country so I can appease them and get the keys first thing when I'm back?

Thanks

Surrey_EA

chrisfletcher wrote: »

is there a reason why I can't complete whilst out of the country so I can appease them and get the keys first thing when I'm back?

Thanks

No reason why this would be an issue. You do not need to be present for completion to take place, your solicitor will handle the transfer of funds and associated paperwork.

Someone could collect the keys from the EA on your behalf, just let the EA know who to expect, and ask the person collecting the keys to take some ID with them.

It would be a good idea if you someone could do this for you, as they could take meter readings from the utilities for your records, and check the property is secure.

You will need to have buildings insurance lined up ready to cover the property from the moment you exchange contracts.

agrinnall

If you have money of your own that needs to get to your solicitor in order for completion to happen it might be best to do that transfer before you leave the country. While it's certainly possible to make transfers if there's an issue it'll be trickier to resolve.

chrisfletcher

Thanks for your reply, the solicitor already has my deposit money.

eddddy

... plus there's all the usual stuff that a house owner should think about when leaving a house empty in winter. Is there somebody you can ask to deal with these?

Like turning off the water supply (because of the potential of pipes freezing and bursting); maybe leaving the heating on 'frost setting' or low; deciding what to do about any fridges/freezers; checking all windows are closed etc

You could ask the sellers to do these, but moving-out day can be very stressful, and people sometimes forget to do really obvious stuff.

(On one occasion, my sellers made sure all the built in kitchen appliances were switched off, including the freezer - but forgot to take all the food in it with them.)

G_M

As said, you don't need to be there.

Are you using a local coveyancer you can visit? - will make planning easier. Or an online conveyancing warehouse? - will be much harder as they are not so flexible, easy to make non-standard arrangements

* your conveyancer must have all the funds they need (deposit, SDLT, his fees etc etc)
* check your conveyencer has all the documents they need
* stay in touch with your conveyancer (email)
* consider giving someone you trust or your conveyancer POA for a limited period, just in case something comes up and needs signing - discuss with your conveyancer
* Arrange a mate to collect the keys on the day
* Get them to change the locks! Try to find out in advance what locks they are, buy replacements, and ask your mate to chnge them
* get meters read on the day, prepare letters in advance so your mate can add the meter readings and put in the post
* check your insurance is sorted
* get your mate to leave the heating on low - in case of freezing pipes