The NEW waiting to exchange thread...

MandM90

MandM90 said:

Hello, can I join?
17/12 offer accepted
18/12 solicitor instructed
21/12 mortgage application submitted
06/01 title deeds sent - searches due in next 3 weeks
12/01 our survey booked
13/01 bank valuation booked
We're chain free both ends so - like everyone and his dog - hoping to get the deal done before end of March. It's a second property for us so that'll save us a hefty chunk, but if not we can cope and have the funds ready and waiting. Really excited to get in there!

Solicitors confirmed yesterday the title deeds had been received. So I am hoping that it's all go now.
Interesting to read about the exchanging and completing on the same day. We are chain free both ends and will be tied into this rental until July (and probably legally obligated to occupy it for the most part) so I don't think it'll make too much of a difference from a moving perspective, but if we can exchange before March it might make sense to request exchange and completion on the same day just so we know it's done. I'm going to mention it to the solicitor when we next speak.

ccfc1972

Peppermint90 said:

Mineral1 said:

Sotts said:

Mineral1 said:

Sotts said:

Mineral1 said:

Our solicitor will only allow us to exchange on the same date as completion, seems the seller doesnt want to though. Not sure how to proceed.

That's risky is you're in a chain.  And the choice should be yours 

They will allow us to, but they have said we would need to sign a waiver to say that we have gone against their advice and if we do that and something goes wrong, we can't claim against them

But surely there's more risk exchanging and completing same day. What do they think will go wrong

I would love to know, but they wont tell me. They keep just emailing back and saying their advice remains the same, nobody knows what is going to happen with lockdown and coronavirus etc. Repeated attempts to have a discussion about it have failed to be honest. I'm not brave enough to go against their advice as if something went wrong I need to know I can claim against them. We are first time buyers at the bottom of the chain so no house to sell or even flat to move out of so no pressure there at least.

My solicitor also strongly advised this ( exchange and completion at same time) at our very first meeting.
He explained it's to avoid risk of losing deposit money should purchase fall through for some reason, esp with covid/lockdown issues going on. 

I'm in a similar situation and it is all very confusing. We have the tp of the chain wanting a week between exchange and completion, we have our solicitor for the purchase saying we should exchange and complete on the same day, and we have the solicitor for our sale saying that we should exchange a few days before completion.
We are due to complete next Friday and everyone has removals booked etc, but doesn't seem like anyone is on the same page. No idea how to get them all to talk to each other, it's a nightmare.

Navigaor31

Uh oh. 
15th Jan has been accepted as completion day by everyone. 

Just awaiting for confirmation of funds before exchange happens. 

It will be exactly 3 months to the day since we out the offer in...I've forgotten what the place even looks like. ...I hope i still like it hahaha

ccfc1972

Navigaor31 said:

Uh oh. 
15th Jan has been accepted as completion day by everyone. 

Just awaiting for confirmation of funds before exchange happens. 

It will be exactly 3 months to the day since we out the offer in...I've forgotten what the place even looks like. ...I hope i still like it hahaha

Are you exchanging before completion, or doing a simultaneous exchange/complete?

Sotts

So stupid question from me- do you agree the completion date then work backwards to exchange date.   Do you all need to exchange on the same day, or is it the completion date that needs to be agreed

Tiglet2

Sotts said:

So stupid question from me- do you agree the completion date then work backwards to exchange date.   Do you all need to exchange on the same day, or is it the completion date that needs to be agreed

Everyone in the chain has to be ready in order to exchange.  When they are ready, they need to decide on a completion date agreeable to everyone (this is why contemplative dates are suggested up and down the chain to ascertain preferences).  Once everyone has agreed on a completion date, then exchange may take place, but it is important to note that exchange can take place any time up to the completion date.  There isn't an exchange date set.   Let's say everyone decides (this includes solicitors and lenders) that 29th January is a suitable date, then they will try to exchange at any point between now and the 29th.  The exchange date is not important, what is important is that each client has given their authority to exchange, the solicitors have confirmed that the lenders will release the monies in time for completion and all the solicitors are able to contact each other on the day the exchange is initiated.  If one client is uncontactable or a solicitor is in a meeting and someone else cannot take over the file, then exchange will wait another day.  Everyone needs to exchange on the same day.

ccfc1972

An update on ours...due to complete on the 15th, everyone has removal firms booked.

Seems like there is still an issue with the purchase at the top of the chain regarding the Freehold. The current owners purchased it back in March, but apparently, there is no available documentation for it. So it is currently showing as not registered as a feehold. It may be that it is just not showing on the land registry yet OR the solicitors that dealt with it may not have registered it properly. So they are waiting on an undertaking from Countrywide that this has been done, or will be done, before they can agree to exchange.

The issue is Countrywide have not responded to any emails or phone calls, so we are waiting on a reply from them so that we can agree an exchange/completion date.

Night.
Mare.

Mineral1

ccfc1972 said:

Peppermint90 said:

Mineral1 said:

Sotts said:

Mineral1 said:

Sotts said:

Mineral1 said:

Our solicitor will only allow us to exchange on the same date as completion, seems the seller doesnt want to though. Not sure how to proceed.

That's risky is you're in a chain.  And the choice should be yours 

They will allow us to, but they have said we would need to sign a waiver to say that we have gone against their advice and if we do that and something goes wrong, we can't claim against them

But surely there's more risk exchanging and completing same day. What do they think will go wrong

I would love to know, but they wont tell me. They keep just emailing back and saying their advice remains the same, nobody knows what is going to happen with lockdown and coronavirus etc. Repeated attempts to have a discussion about it have failed to be honest. I'm not brave enough to go against their advice as if something went wrong I need to know I can claim against them. We are first time buyers at the bottom of the chain so no house to sell or even flat to move out of so no pressure there at least.

My solicitor also strongly advised this ( exchange and completion at same time) at our very first meeting.
He explained it's to avoid risk of losing deposit money should purchase fall through for some reason, esp with covid/lockdown issues going on. 

I'm in a similar situation and it is all very confusing. We have the tp of the chain wanting a week between exchange and completion, we have our solicitor for the purchase saying we should exchange and complete on the same day, and we have the solicitor for our sale saying that we should exchange a few days before completion.
We are due to complete next Friday and everyone has removals booked etc, but doesn't seem like anyone is on the same page. No idea how to get them all to talk to each other, it's a nightmare.

Sounds like we are all in a similar boat. I agree the commu location is the hardest part and sometimes I have no idea who is supposed to do something next to progress any of it.

krusty101

ccfc1972 said:

An update on ours...due to complete on the 15th, everyone has removal firms booked.

Seems like there is still an issue with the purchase at the top of the chain regarding the Freehold. The current owners purchased it back in March, but apparently, there is no available documentation for it. So it is currently showing as not registered as a feehold. It may be that it is just not showing on the land registry yet OR the solicitors that dealt with it may not have registered it properly. So they are waiting on an undertaking from Countrywide that this has been done, or will be done, before they can agree to exchange.

The issue is Countrywide have not responded to any emails or phone calls, so we are waiting on a reply from them so that we can agree an exchange/completion date.

Night.
Mare.

We’re buying our lease at the moment and have been told it can take up to 12 months for the Land Registry to do their bit, but once we have an offer and Memorandum of Sale we can apply for the LR to expedite it and it would take about 1 month. Sounds like in your case they didn’t do that. 

jonners666

Just heard that while our sellers are still looking, they have somewhere they can go (I think it will be her late Mother's house, sadly) so they are willing to vacate to get the sale done. So our chain is now FTB buying ours, and us buying theirs - hopefully a short enough chain to get everything done before the deadline at the end of March!