28 day exchange- any experiences?

Choll22

Last week we had an offer accepted on a house and were told that there was a caveat that we needed to exchange in 28 days. This is because the people we are buying from are are purchasing a new build, so presumably they have the same deadline?

We have had our mortgage agreed in principle and our broker is doing all the necessary stuff to get it in place, our current property has been sold and the last query is about to be resolved however we have yet to have a firm exchange/ completion date on it. Our solicitor is confident we can meet this deadline but we are still nervous about meeting this though if we do overrun it’s unlikely to be by more than a couple of weeks. Our house is being bought by first time buyers so there’s no big chain behind us.

We have been told the notice to complete is for May/June.

Does anyone have an experience with this? And has there been any flex on this 28 days?

We are worried about going through, paying out, only to lose our house because we miss this deadline by a matter of weeks.

Nicola83

We've just bought a new build and reserved it 4th January and was told we had 28 days to exchange, however we didn't actually exchange until 15th Feb, which was 2 weeks over and our developers never bothered. Not sure if it works the same when there is a chain involved, but we are first time buyers and didn't have any issues with running over the deadline.

Choll22

Thanks. From what I’ve seen most people buying a new build don’t have many issues with it...Just nervous how it effects us further downthe chain.

Nadeshkarine

I've not been involved in such a transaction but my concern would be what would be the agreed completion date - has the house they're purchasing already been finished?

My colleague exchanged on a new build, due to complete 4 months later...it ran over by 7 months. They weren't in a chain but still had to get their mortgage offer renewed and wait around with no recourse or ability to walk away unless it went over 8 months.
Will they agree a fixed completion date with you and move into rented/temp accommodation if needed?

bowlhead99

Choll22 wrote: »

Last week we had an offer accepted on a house and were told that there was a caveat that we needed to exchange in 28 days. This is because the people we are buying from are are purchasing a new build, so presumably they have the same deadline?

Our solicitor is confident we can meet this deadline but we are still nervous about meeting this though if we do overrun it`s unlikely to be by more than a couple of weeks. Our house is being bought by first time buyers so there`s no big chain behind us.

We are worried about going through, paying out, only to lose our house because we miss this deadline by a matter of weeks.

We have been told the notice to complete is for May/June.

When you get to the end of March and are on day 27 of the 28, and you are not quite ready to exchange so you tell your sellers that they are going to have to wait another week or two for you, what are they going to do? Do you fear they will say "sorry we only said we would sell to you if you could exchange in 28 days and now we are on day 27, so if you can't exchange tomorrow you can't have the house, we are going to have to put it back on the market and try to find someone who can exchange in the next one business day from now."

I think that fear is unfounded. They have told you there is some time pressure and that they only accepted your offer on the basis you could be ready to exchange quickly, so that you are not tempted to be lazy about it. However, they are not expecting to complete their purchase until May / June you say. Which seems like plenty of time for overruns if you need another couple of weeks to wrap up whatever documentation or financial issues are outstanding at the end of this month.

I made an offer last October which was accepted on the basis that we would be in a position to complete by the end of the month (my own sale was well underway by that point). Optimistic but if you don't ask you don't get... They also said they would keep it on the market (no SSTC markers) until exchange - like it or not - although promised not to take any more viewings as long as progress was being made. In the end, things took a while longer than expected with my sale and there were delays with the solicitors and searches on the purchase. Then Christmas got in the way and in the end we didn't complete until January.

The seller didn't at any point actually threaten to cancel the sale. He was wanting a quick sale because he was frustrated by a 'timewaster' buyer earlier in the year and wanted me to know I was only getting it for the price I offered on the basis that I could complete quickly. But in practice, the last thing he would have wanted to do was to dump me and start the marketing process all over again and end up with a different buyer who didn't have a hope in hell of completing quickly and might be offering even less money.

kirtondm

The far bigger problem is likely to be the competion date.

Will your buyers be happy to exchange without a firm completion date?
Will you?

pete-20-11

Ive been in this position, it was quite stressful especially when dealing with a council (the property was on a joint council/developer scheme).

Had a very good solicitor who was good at chasing the various people, plus the developer chased too.

Took 29 days in the end.

As others have said, if it takes a few extra days/weeks are they really going to walk away after all that work?!

dtaz1986

Evening All,

I reserved a new build on HTB scheme and the house is built and completed for someone to move in. We have now progressed to an official offer with our lender but the deadline is only a week away. My solicitor who I was made to use by the developer is now rather than congratulating us, saying they need to make a decision on what to do next! Can someone please tell me that she has no decision to make and to simply do their job to complete the purchase/exchange for us? Seems very unfair after all the work we have done to get things to this stage in just 4 weeks!

Debbie1980

We have a new build at the top of our chain, who have stated 28 days til exchange. I heard this from the estate agent when I specifically asked the question. No one seems to be hassling or chasing. I am wary about exchanging without a definite completion date. I have asked my solicitor to find out whether the property is actually built, and if not what stage it is at. So if I hear they want to complete in April but have only just started building it for example, then it will be queried.

eddddy

Debbie1980 wrote: »

I have asked my solicitor to find out whether the property is actually built, and if not what stage it is at. So if I hear they want to complete in April but have only just started building it for example, then it will be queried.

A better question to ask might be: "What will be the long-stop date on the contract?".

After that date, people in the chain (including you) should be able to back out of the contract. So the builder will probably make sure that the house is finished by that date.


(If you ask "what stage is the build is at", you'll probably just get a vague, optimistic answer.)

CircuitTrainer

I've brought and sold a few properties now, some new builds and some not. I've never exchanged within 28 days. In fact, for various reasons this has gone on for months.

It's often just a date that is floating around the industry, a guide or even goal.

The house builder, agent and seller have just as much to lose as you would if they were to abort due to simple delay.