Waiting three days to exchange

specialhat

We are ready to exchange on the sale of my flat. Meanwhile, the vendors of the house I am buying are making some amendments to the contract of the new build they're buying and won't be ready to exchange until Friday, maybe Monday.

My estate agent is putting huge pressure on me not to wait to exchange until Friday as it risks the buyer pulling out (although he has said that the buyer has shown no actual signs of wanting to pull out). I will be selling the flat even if my purchase falls through (I can move in with friends/family while I find somewhere else), but as it stands I am willing to wait three days to try to join up the completion dates as we're so nearly there, as it will be expensive to go into storage for a week or so in between.

My solicitor thinks the EA is mad and I should try to match up completion dates and exchange on the same day.

What would you do?

Thrugelmir

Ignore the EA, listen to your solicitor. As small as the risks could be. Why expose yourself unneccessarily.

eddddy

specialhat wrote: »

My solicitor thinks the EA is mad and I should try to match up completion dates and exchange on the same day.

Yep - it does sound like the EA is being unrealistic.

FWIW, whilst the EA is putting huge pressure on you to exchange immediately, he/she will be putting huge pressure on the buyer to wait until Friday/Monday.

In fact, it's quite possible that the buyer isn't too bothered about exchanging on Friday/Monday. And it's just that the EA is under pressure from his/her boss to get some deals closed, to improve their branch performance figures.

specialhat

Thrugelmir, Do you mean the risks of not matching up completion dates?

specialhat

eddddy wrote: »

Yep - it does sound like the EA is being unrealistic.

FWIW, whilst the EA is putting huge pressure on you to exchange immediately, he/she will be putting huge pressure on the buyer to wait until Friday/Monday.

In fact, it's quite possible that the buyer isn't too bothered about exchanging on Friday/Monday. And it's just that the EA is under pressure from his/her boss to get some deals closed, to improve their branch performance figures.

Thanks. He seems convinced that something could happen politically (?!) to make the buyer back out between now and Friday and has given me various alarming examples of this happening before. It's so frustrating not having direct contact with the buyer so I can gauge what he thinks. He's been pretty chilled out so far.

specialhat

For context, it's taken me five years to get to this point, with a Deed of Variation, redecoration, lease extension and several buyers pulling out. So part of me does feel I should bite his hand off.

pinkteapot

Ignore the EA. Moving somewhere temporarily because you complete on one before the other is a total faff - even if you have a place to stay. You'll need to put all your stuff somewhere. It's a last resort if your buyer really does look like pulling out.

Ask your solicitor to update your buyer's solicitor on the likely exchange date. You should get a message back if they've got a problem with it.

specialhat

Thank you.

pinkteapot wrote: »

Ask your solicitor to update your buyer's solicitor on the likely exchange date. You should get a message back if they've got a problem with it.

She has done so this morning.

My EA is prone to being very dramatic.

pinkteapot

specialhat wrote: »

My EA is prone to being very dramatic.

Unhelpful. Their job is to keep the chain calm and together. The last time I sold, my buyer was so prone to histrionics that if there hadn't been an EA between us I'd have told them where to go long before exchange!

mrschaucer

specialhat wrote: »

My EA is prone to being very dramatic.

Your EA is prone to being worried about his money.

kirtondm

Prehaps he knows something about the new build further up the chain and that it will likely lead to long delays in exchanging