Exchange and completion same day?

ericonabike

So... we are the second link in a chain of four. We agreed an offer on our house in March and the chain was complete, as it were, in about May, when the people we are buying from found a house they wanted. the people they are buying from are moving to a new-build, ending the chain.

Our buyers took forever to get a mortgage in place - it is a mother and her son buying the property jointly. They seemed keen enough, and liked the property. We had to push to get a completion date agreed to everyone's satisfaction, finally agreed on 25 July. Had a real job to get a removals firm as apparently thats their busiest week. But sorted.

Only this week we find that buyers haven't signed contract so exchange can't happen yet. Have been ringing EA and our solicitors, but there is a depressing lack of urgency. To the extent we have been told that exchange and completion may have to take place on same day.

This is causing real stress. We have a lot of stuff to move - a van and two Sprinters are booked and are coming here at 08.00 on 25 July. Nightmare scenario - we have all our wordly goods packed on vans and for some reason completion doesn't happen!

No-one else seems to appreciate this, one of the EAs saying that exchange and completion on same day is a relatively common occurrence. Maybe so, but it does nothing to reassure me. I'd be interested to learn from the experience of others, and for any advice on how to prevent it happening.

Doozergirl

Never. I'm happy to do it if I'm not moving house but no chance otherwise.

You don't know any of these people in the chain and you don't know what their motives are. I am a naturally trusting person, but I have seen gazundering happen to my sister in law (to the tune of £15k which they coughed up!) and you simply don't have to put yourselves at risk. Moving house in a chain is bad enough without leaving yourselves wide open.

It's not even just gazundering. If exhange is being delayed then actually, it could be delayed past that agreed date and you're still all paying for removals with no contract in place for costs should something go wrong. Exchange needs to happen and for everyone's mental and financial health there should be a gap before completion.

smartpicture

Absolutely don't do it. I have done it, but that was buying an empty house with no chain that I didn't need to move into immediately. But there is always a chance it won't happen, and you can't afford to risk that.

Thrugelmir

ericonabike wrote: »

We had to push to get a completion date agreed to everyone's satisfaction, finally agreed on 25 July. .

Agree on a completion date at exchange not before. Anything could change in the interim.

bouicca21

Like Smartpicture I did it as a buyer with no chain. The informal advice I got at the time was that it was fine for me to do it, but risky for the vendor.

Riggyman

bouicca21 wrote: »

Like Smartpicture I did it as a buyer with no chain. The informal advice I got at the time was that it was fine for me to do it, but risky for the vendor.

I've done it three times, love the excitement!

In reality first two times I was buying but with no house to sell, so riskier for the vendor (in these cases if the vendor doesn't keep the buyer on board, they'll have to spend several months or longer to find another buyer to complete the sale with).

In the third case, I was selling a house to a cash buyer and buying from a developer, so worst that could happen was I'd have to find a new buyer before the developer did, or just stay in my existing house.

Unless you're in a big chain, I don't think there's much wrong with exchanging and completing simultaneously. By that stage everyone's ready to go, and you know instinctively whether someone is serious or messing about, AND if it all goes wrong, your not liable for anything.



PS in the circumstances above, my solicitor actually seems to prefer it...

phoebe1989seb

We've never done it - have bought seven/sold six houses - and wouldn't ever do it. Moving is stressful enough without worrying about that too! Not only that, but the removal companies we've used wouldn't accept a booking without knowing we'd exchanged and wanted a hefty, non-refundable deposit to secure a slot.

When DS was buying a flat (FTB) he exchanged/completed on same day - against our advice - but was moving from his GF's family's house and had only minimal stuff so hired a van on the day and that worked out fine.

OTOH, our last three moves have been long distance and - as we have a fair amount of stuff - have taken several days. Last time for instance, our removal co took three days to load three large lorries and one small van and two days to offload at the other end. I wouldn't want to be worrying about the logistical nightmare of having to condense that down to a move on the same day as exchange. We've always had about a week between exchange and completion which has been the minimum I'd recommend

shell88

Forgive me for being a naive FTB, but please could someone explain why it's not advised to exchange and complete on the same day? Our purchase has been dragging on now and so I would have though that this would only speed it up?

Thanks!

goodwithsaving

shell88 wrote: »

Forgive me for being a naive FTB, but please could someone explain why it's not advised to exchange and complete on the same day? Our purchase has been dragging on now and so I would have though that this would only speed it up?

Thanks!

It's a bit obvious?

You agree to exchange and complete on same day, you disconnect all services, arrange removals, hand over some/all of your money towards the deposit.....a buyer above or below you uses this 'panic time' as an opportunity to reduce the amount they pay, you have to accept this as you need to exchange and complete 'today'.
Or:
All goes ahead, money gets lost and you end up homeless for a night with no money in the bank to pay for it because you've spent all/most of your money on the deposit. You removals van is still loaded up and costing you money as well.......

Do you see why it's a terrible idea now?

Ithaca

Not quite the same day but near enough for us... we exchanged at 5.50pm the day before completion. Our removal firm was constantly texting us to confirm if we actually wanted the vans to turn up.

In the end it was fine - we were in the middle of a chain of three properties, all within 2 miles of each other. The house we were moving into was empty (probate sale) and our buyers were FTBs living down the road with their parents, so they were in no great rush.

It used to be the case that solicitors needed a week minimum to transfer funds around but these days it's all electronic and can be done in a matter of hours. But it was stressful so next time I would push for at least a few days between exchange and completion.

Car1980

You're at risk of the sale falling through until contracts are exchanged (yes there is still a risk but it's legally binding at that point). You don't want to be standing on the street outside an empty house with a van and then the sale falls theough