4weeks between exchange and completion - Too long???

moneyistooshorttomention

mrschaucer wrote: »

The standard conditions of sale state 20 working days between exchange and completion (6.1.1) but this is not binding and is often varied by agreement between the parties.

From which - I don't see any need for either side to state how long they want between Exchange and Completion - unless they want a different period of time.

On selling my last house - I had decided on that 4 weeks - and saw no need to state that (as its the standard length of time). My buyer didnt tell me they wanted anything any different from that until Exchange was due - so I was the one surprised when they said they wanted a shorter period than that. If that is what they wanted - then I just assumed they would have asked at the outset - and then would have known at the outset that I wouldnt agree to that.

Hence I definitely feel the onus is on the buyer to ask - if they want something different. It's not the responsibility of the vendor to say anything - unless they want longer than that 4 weeks.

Surrey_EA

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

From which - I don't see any need for either side to state how long they want between Exchange and Completion - unless they want a different period of time.

On selling my last house - I had decided on that 4 weeks - and saw no need to state that (as its the standard length of time). My buyer didnt tell me they wanted anything any different from that until Exchange was due - so I was the one surprised when they said they wanted a shorter period than that. If that is what they wanted - then I just assumed they would have asked at the outset - and then would have known at the outset that I wouldnt agree to that.

Hence I definitely feel the onus is on the buyer to ask - if they want something different. It's not the responsibility of the vendor to say anything - unless they want longer than that 4 weeks.

I think it's unlikely that many buyers have the faintest idea what the standard conditions of sale state, and therefore few will bring up the subject of completion dates at the outset.

In my experience, with the vast majority of sales I deal with, it is very difficult to give an accurate indication of a completion date at the beginning of the process, even if one knows the length of the chain. There are a great number of variables that will affect the speed of a transaction, and it is unlikely to be possible to assess what they might be in each particular case right st the start.

Having said that, if either party have very specific wishes for a particular completion date or time window, then it would be wise to make that information known as early as possible.

hammergirl28

We are in the opposite position in that we were made aware up front that our buyers were willing to exchange end Nov / beg Dec but couldn't complete until mid January due to being in rented accommodation. We were happy to work to this as were our vendors the only issue was negotiating this with the probate property at the top of the chain but in the end everyone agreed so we are expecting to exchange today and complete in 39 days.

As long as you are upfront with everyone shouldn't be an issue.