3 days between exchange and completion

Gazelle1985

Hello,

We're in a 3 house chain and have been waiting to exchange for months due to our vendor's onward purchase. They finally said they were ready and we were all set to exchange Wednesday last week and complete Friday next week, but then they realised there was something else that needed to be approved by the lender, which may or may not be approved Monday.

We've now reluctantly found ourselves in the position of potentially exchanging Monday, completing Friday (our solicitors have requested mortgage funds). I'm really not happy with this as I wanted a full week to be able to sort out our current house (which we are selling) and organise post redirection, book removals etc.

How much have other people done when faced with a short period between exchange and completion?

Thanks

anselld

Perhaps you should be packing rather than browsing the Internet ;-)

There really isn't that much to organise besides the packing. Short notice will perhaps restrict your choice of removal companies and you might not get the absolute cheapest price but it is still do-able.

Having said that, completion date is still negotiable so if you are really not happy with the timescale ask for longer (at risk of annoying the rest of the chain).

michelle09

This is purely anecdotal, but it seems like shorter periods are just more common now. We had 24 hours between exchange and completion, after 3 aborted attempts to exchange, my brother had a phone call asking to exchange and complete the following day after being told it wouldn't be for weeks. My grandmother had 2 days.

Hopefully you've known this was coming and have already been packing/sorting? Removal companies are used to short notice, so just have a list and start calling as soon as you exchange. Postal redirection doesn't take that long.

It will be fine as long as you're motivated!

NeilCr

I had a full week and was kicking my heels most of the time (at work actually!) . The only real thing was the removal company and that wasn't a problem. As said they are used to short notice. They did the packing (highly recommended) and, once I'd decided that I was moving, I'd slowly been sorting the flat out - working out what to throw away etc.

rosyw

I did it with less time than that. I'd provisionally booked and paid a deposit to the removal guys, who also did ALL the packing, exchanged at 2.30pm Wednesday, completed at approx 12noon Friday. As soon as we'd exchanged I confirmed the removals, they packed up and loaded most of the house the next day, finishing off of the Friday morning, and had me moved in to my new place by 4.30pm. If you can afford to pay for the removal guys to pack, it's worth every and takes so much stress out of the situation

It's easily doable, you just need to be organised.

Lauralou79

We had 3 days but weren't moving straight away so it was fine and I just wanted the keys! You still have a decent amount of time just be organised!

Gazelle1985

Thanks everyone. Gone ahead and booked removals with packing the day before...what did you do about post redirection?

NeilCr

Gazelle1985 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Gone ahead and booked removals with packing the day before...what did you do about post redirection?

Got it set up as soon as I had exchanged. They need five working days notice. I was okay as my friend bought my flat so anything prior to that (or, indeed, after the redirect finished) he sent on. Otherwise, I'd have left a large stamped addressed envelope and asked the buyer if they could pop anything in it and send them on.

I did spend a bit of the first day after exchange contacting various organisations to let them know my new address.

davidmcn

Gazelle1985 wrote: »

Thanks everyone. Gone ahead and booked removals with packing the day before...what did you do about post redirection?

Do it ASAP after exchange, and ask buyers to forward anything which slips through (or continues to arrive after your redirection ends).

PS it's four days from Monday to Friday, not three...

dunroving

It used to be that you could write the correct address on a letter and pop it back in the post. Can you still do that?

davidmcn

dunroving wrote: »

It used to be that you could write the correct address on a letter and pop it back in the post. Can you still do that?

Yes, I've encountered no problems doing that, no need to add further postage. Don't think the Royal Mail mind things which are obviously redirected - send it to a completely different addressee and they might query it.