Completion / Exchange

MarcoM

Hi all,

We are in the process of buying a house.

At what stage are the buyers and sellers asked about completion / exchange dates? Is this at the start of the transaction or does it happen when the buyers solicitor has completed the usual queries etc etc.

We would like to be in our house by Christmas. Searches and draft contracts are on the way. There are some enqueries in relation to g rent and planning permission that have to be raised by our sol. Is it too optimistic to think we may be in by Christmas?

karnsculpture

I'm in the same position as you are but am working towards exchange and completion by the second week in November. There has been a delay caused by the postal strike, but with a short chain I am hoping that the target is realistic.

No completion date has been formally agreed (except for mortgage purposes to ensure the money will be available) but as we are in the middle of the chain (moving to a vacant property and my buyer is a developer) we have told solicitors/mortgage provider and EA's that is the timescale we would like. All have said it's possible; surveys all OK, money in place...

Depending on the length/complexity of your chain you should be able to suggest a preferred moving date now - at least to make sure your soliciitor and estate agents are aware.

Doozergirl

Depends on how many in your chain. If it's just you and the vendor and the property is freehold then I'd say entirely likely. Otherwise your guess is as good as mine, even one more link in the chain can cause endless problems.

Preferrred dates tend to come and go - it's better just to wait than have expectations where you have no control at all over your destiny. When you are all ready, to exchange you can make your decision together - it's what will happen anyway even if the date you wanted came and went - you'll just be even more wound up.

On the whole, solicitors will plough through what they have to do when each item raises it's head. They won't let it languish on purpose as they like to be paid! It's just an unfortunate case of so many people being involved that no-one can really tie it down.

Richard_Webster

Doozergirl wrote: »

Depends on how many in your chain. If it's just you and the vendor and the property is freehold then I'd say entirely likely. Otherwise your guess is as good as mine, even one more link in the chain can cause endless problems.

Preferrred dates tend to come and go - it's better just to wait than have expectations where you have no control at all over your destiny. When you are all ready, to exchange you can make your decision together - it's what will happen anyway even if the date you wanted came and went - you'll just be even more wound up.

On the whole, solicitors will plough through what they have to do when each item raises it's head. They won't let it languish on purpose as they like to be paid! It's just an unfortunate case of so many people being involved that no-one can really tie it down.

I agree with this common sense exposition of the position!

*Louise*

When we had our offer accepeted on a place last month - the EA was asking us for a completion date straight away!

No chance I could have done that - we are still waiting for our place to sell.

Chances of being in by Christmas are non existent - hope you manage it Marco, you seem to have most of it sorted out.

kmate

Also in similar situation. We are in a chain of 4. We have been into solicitors to sign, as all our stuff is done and ready to do. Two of the other parties are also pretty much ready to exchange. Our buyers, however seem to be taking FOREVER to do things, (everyone else's searches were back within a week - his have taken three weeks, that kind of thing)
Our solicitor has asked how long we would like between exchange and completion, but no date for either has been set.(
our sol, is very pro-active, and moaned to us about the lack of response from our buyers sols)
We are wondering if we should start to suggest a date for exchange. Reading your advice the answer is probably that it is not a good idea, BUT we are getting really fed up with having to just go with the flow! Is there anything we can do to get a bit of control over the process, or have we really got to just keep quiet?
If we were to suggest a date, and it is a reasonable length of time away, would solicitors attempt to make the deadline?

TimmyP_2

Hi

My girlfriend and I had an offer accepted on our house last Tuesday. The solicitors have been instructed and the mortgage has been arranged.

In the chain there is just us (FTB's) and the vendor as she already has somewhere else to go. How quick should the transaction go through assuming there are no problems?

I'd like it to be done asap, and maybe even exchange before the end of November. Is this going to be possible?

Thanks

Libra1975

TimmyP wrote: »

Hi

My girlfriend and I had an offer accepted on our house last Tuesday. The solicitors have been instructed and the mortgage has been arranged.

In the chain there is just us (FTB's) and the vendor as she already has somewhere else to go. How quick should the transaction go through assuming there are no problems?

I'd like it to be done asap, and maybe even exchange before the end of November. Is this going to be possible?

Thanks

Should be, we are the same as you, the offer was accepted last Tuesday and the vendors want to complete by the 1st Dec and we haven't even got the mortgage arranged yet (submit it tomorrow)! As long as no more postal strikes and the searches don't take ages it sounds a reasonable time frame. However I read that buiilding sureys take longer than homebuyers so you might want to factor that in if you are having a building survey.

goldbyron

The process usually takes between 3-6 months depending on the length of chain and the efficiency of conveyancers themselves! You can always suggest preferred dates but don't bet on them until those contracts are exchanged! Completion date will always been confirmed at exchange anyway and is anywhere from 7-28 days after this usually. Everything can go smoothly although sometimes just stupid hiccups like an enquiry or a search can hold the whole thing up. Just keep on top of it all and make sure your solicitor responds quickly. Good luck anyway!

P.S - why can't solicitors bypass 'snail mail' and scan and e-mail each other these days? It is so 1990's!