Delayed Completion

ezr0

Morning everyone,

I am just after some advise please!

Me and my partner are about to buy our first house together, exciting woohoo! so before i ask my solicitor i wanted to ask here.

So basically we are in contact with the sellers who seem a lovely couple. I had a text on the weekend asking if we were able to do something called "Delayed completion" now we are completely new to house buying so have no idea what this is. This is how he explained it to us:

He was happy for us to move in on our set date and complete everything as normal but "sort the money" side of it a month later? He said he needed to do this because he was coming out of a mortgage and would need to pay a fee to cancel it? He said the fee was substantial (around £1500) and could we wait a month when his term finishes and he wouldn't have to pay that?

I mean it sounds like a plausible explanation and im a pretty decent guy and i dont want to be an a-hole it just seems a little thing to me? Does that mean we get a free month if hes still paying his mortgage? Or do i just look after myself and stick to my guns and say no i want it all done on the same day etc?

Cheers in advance!
Craig :money:

AdrianC

Completion is the day you actually buy the house.


Have you exchanged contracts yet?

ezr0

AdrianC wrote: »

Completion is the day you actually buy the house.


Have you exchanged contracts yet?

No, nothing exchanged yet. Its with the solicitors at the moment, searches etc i believe.

AdrianC

If you haven't exchanged, then everything's still up in the air. Either of you can just walk away with zero excuse or notice, let alone ask for a different completion date.

pinkteapot

Tell your solicitor about the message and they'll soon tell you to stop texting the seller!

You simply can't complete (in the legal sense) without paying for the house. There is no such thing as 'delayed completion' in the way he's describing (complete but pay for the house a month later).

They can let you move in earlier if they like, but their solicitor will strongly advise them against it because the house would still be theirs and they'd become landlords.

Are you happy to complete a month later than you'd originally had in mind? If so, it's simple, exchange now (or as soon as you're ready), with a completion date set for when they buyer wants.

You'll have longer than usual between exchange and completion, but I did that on my last move. Because of various people in the chain not being able to complete on certain dates, we ended up with almost two months between exchange and completion! It was quite nice actually - from exchange you relax as the sale is set (nigh on), so we had ages to sort out removals, order new furniture, etc etc.

If you're not happy to wait longer for the house, you'll have to negotiate with the seller. They might ask you to contribute to their fee in exchange for them clearing out sooner. You could play hardball and say no - how likely do you think they'd be to pull out and re-market it?

Doozergirl

Well, it's his risk letting you move in, not yours.

But most people would just wait the month until the penalty was up. If his solicitor is told, they'll advise against it.

eddddy

So the seller is suggesting that you 'move in' a month before you actually own the house.

It's a bizarre idea, and if the seller mentions it to their solicitor and mortgage lender - they will both say "no".

(Is the seller currently living in the house? If so, where will the seller live for that month, while you're living in their house?)


Realistically, the seller will either have to pay the extra £1500 to his mortgage lender, or simply delay the sale (both completion and moving date) for a month.

ezr0

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the replies! my solicitor has gotten back to me this morning and basically saying, the charge is his early redemption charge so thats what the large fee is to exit his mortgage early. His term finishes in a month so thats why hes trying to hold out.

Hes saying that if we exchange contracts and set a date then we're both bound and thats that.

But what i didnt realize is effectively we have to rent it for a month from them, i guess its my naivity i thought we'd get a "free month" so to speak before our mortgage would start. The seller was texting me again this morning mentioning things that we stated we would want to do to the house soon as we moved in (extend a fence etc). So its as if hes trying to sugar coat it to make it sound good for us by offering to sort the fences etc out.

The house has been up since January so he must of knew this then i guess its just because its so close.

ThePants999

Solicitors make a big deal out of this sort of thing because it's fraught with potential problems.

The thing is, the potential problems are very unlikely indeed, and most of them are potential problems for your vendor, not for you. Personally, I'd go ahead with this - doing someone a favour and getting a rent-and-mortgage-free month out of it sounds like a win-win to me.

ezr0

ThePants999 wrote: »

Solicitors make a big deal out of this sort of thing because it's fraught with potential problems.

The thing is, the potential problems are very unlikely indeed, and most of them are potential problems for your vendor, not for you. Personally, I'd go ahead with this - doing someone a favour and getting a rent-and-mortgage-free month out of it sounds like a win-win to me.

Yeah absolutely, im not the type of guy to play hard either id like to help out if possible. Surely the balls in my court as well? I mean we're first time buyers everything ready to go etc.

Is it legal though for us to "get a free month" so to speak? i mean if we exchange contracts and have a date but he still has his mortgage and pays for the last month is this ok?

goodwithsaving

The redemption charge isn't payable until completion which is when the balance is settled. You can exchange with a completion date for 28 days for example, or for when your vendor's fixed rate mortgage term expires.


You shouldn't be dealing with the seller directly. After exchange, fine (sort of). Before exchange, no.


You don't get the keys on exchange, you get the keys on completion. You don't own it on exchange, you own it on completion. He pays for the house and mortgage until the completion date.


Being an FTB doesn't "put the ball in your court". That's not how house buying works.