Exchange/completion - Advice/Sanity check

kaleel86

Hi,

Firstly let me apologise for yet another exchange/completion related post. I know there's a few which i've most likely read all of...but I would just like some personalised advice and thoughts on the matter all the same. I'll try and keep it brief...

I'm an FTB (managed to get one of the 10% LTV deals which took a while), in rented accommodation, there is an upper chain, my seller is buying from someone else but that's as far as it goes. Everyone including me wants to move in before Christmas, seller was ready to exchange 2 weeks ago (ish) with a completion on any day on t4/12 or thereabouts. I've asked for it to be the 17/12 to minimise the overlap of my tenancy and purchase, sellers in the chain did not want it and have said 14th latest to so I've (today) told my solicitor to propose 15th but will go down to the 14th if need be (10 day overlap with rent).

Now for the exchange, my solicitor advised me to go for a short exchange/completion windows (1 day or same day) based on uncertain times and the fact that it could go wrong for e.g. mortgage offer being pulled or something COVID related causing a problem. He also mentioned that, if anything was to go wrong, I'd pretty much lose all my deposit. I agreed that that is not something I'd like to risk at all, so he he a conversation and the sellers solicitors are not of the same mind. They wanted to have at least 3 weeks so they could book removals, sort out bills etc. We seem to be at a halt and my sellers solicitors have said that the seller will put their property back on the market.

 I saw an article this morning about someone's mortgage getting pulled for no reason (i've since read the related post on here which may indicate it's bogus), and it didn't help me in terms of the concerns I have. at all. I genuinely don't want to be a pain in this but I believe I'm being asked to risk more (i.e. my only shot at getting my own home/ pretty much all my savings) vs the removal costs/pain of transferring bills etc. I know my seller is likely only just listening to the advice of her solicitor which is fair.  I also have the EA on my case and seemingly taking the side of the sellers, pushing me to send deposits to the solicitor and authorise exchange, again i guess they just want to get paid/ensure the sale goes through so I don't hold it too much against them. 

So I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on this.... Am I being unreasonable? Is my solicitor perhaps playing it a little too safe and in turn, I'm doing the same?  I know this is my call to make, but I would appreciate some views on this. 

Thanks in advance.

Racky_Roo

I don't think it's very fair of you to want a very short exchange/completion, especially as unlike everyone else, you have the luxury of an overlap. The rest have to book removals, pack the remaining stuff and may need to organise pets/children etc. You'll all need to compromise on a gap which everyone can work to. You aren't risking any more than anyone else, in fact you would be least affected as your 10% deposit will be much smaller than everyone else up the chain.
Personally I think 10 days should be sufficient but it's really up to the chain to decide, not just you

greatcrested

Until COVID it was the norm for there to be a gap. The frequency with which mortgages are withdrawn in that gap is miniscule. Many solicitors go their entire career without ever having this happen to a client- so don't be panicked by that report.

The gap makes planning and arrangements much easier for most people; they can't book removals, time off work etc till after Exchange, as the date might change.

COVID changed things in April when there were cases where people became sick, got 'locked down' etc in the gap between Exchange/Completion, or simply decided it was too dangerous for them to move if they were shielding, so simultaneous exchange/completion became the new norm.

Things are now reverting again. COVID is better understood, Lockdowns can be better predicted (ha ha!), and moving is possible even during lockdown.

So if others in the chain want or insist on a gap I would go with that. Perhaps suggest a shorter gap as a compromise.

Note - your solicitor can advise but ultimately it's your decision, not his.

ameliarate

I think three weeks is a bit much, if the completion date is agreed they should be able to sort things In 10 days to two weeks, which seems to be a reasonable compromise. Even a week is not unreasonable. 

kaleel86

Racky_Roo said:

I don't think it's very fair of you to want a very short exchange/completion, especially as unlike everyone else, you have the luxury of an overlap. The rest have to book removals, pack the remaining stuff and may need to organise pets/children etc. You'll all need to compromise on a gap which everyone can work to. You aren't risking any more than anyone else, in fact you would be least affected as your 10% deposit will be much smaller than everyone else up the chain.
Personally I think 10 days should be sufficient but it's really up to the chain to decide, not just you

Thanks for you're honest thoughts. Why would my deposit be smaller than everyone else's?

kaleel86

greatcrested said:

Until COVID it was the norm for there to be a gap. The frequency with which mortgages are withdrawn in that gap is miniscule. Many solicitors go their entire career without ever having this happen to a client- so don't be panicked by that report.

The gap makes planning and arrangements much easier for most people; they can't book removals, time off work etc till after Exchange, as the date might change.

COVID changed things in April when there were cases where people became sick, got 'locked down' etc in the gap between Exchange/Completion, or simply decided it was too dangerous for them to move if they were shielding, so simultaneous exchange/completion became the new norm.

Things are now reverting again. COVID is better understood, Lockdowns can be better predicted (ha ha!), and moving is possible even during lockdown.

So if others in the chain want or insist on a gap I would go with that. Perhaps suggest a shorter gap as a compromise.

Note - your solicitor can advise but ultimately it's your decision, not his.

Thanks for your response greatcrested - I honestly do understand why a gap would make things easier and it looked to be standard advice a while ago. I also thought the same day completion/exchange thing was just also mainly due to uncertainty with a little being about COVID practicalities. I've suggested a shorter gap but there doesn't seem to be any flex on that end, though...they probably think they've already compromised from 3 weeks that was originally proposed. 

kaleel86

ameliarate said:

I think three weeks is a bit much, if the completion date is agreed they should be able to sort things In 10 days to two weeks, which seems to be a reasonable compromise. Even a week is not unreasonable. 

This is pretty much how i see/saw it... as in it's probably not the most time to plan, but  the risk is so high (though it may not be as high risk as it gets made out to be) that it doesn't make it seem like such a problem... Very subjective though, I know.

Splatfoot

I'd say 10 days to 2 weeks is plenty. We've just done it and had 2 weeks. It was tough going but made worse by the fact that we were moving most of our stuff into storage and we did it ourselves (a 5 bed house 😮). If we were paying for removals, it would have been less stressful and we probably could have done it in less time. Oh, and we have two kids And 5 pets. 

jackomdj

kaleel86 said:

Racky_Roo said:

I don't think it's very fair of you to want a very short exchange/completion, especially as unlike everyone else, you have the luxury of an overlap. The rest have to book removals, pack the remaining stuff and may need to organise pets/children etc. You'll all need to compromise on a gap which everyone can work to. You aren't risking any more than anyone else, in fact you would be least affected as your 10% deposit will be much smaller than everyone else up the chain.
Personally I think 10 days should be sufficient but it's really up to the chain to decide, not just you

Thanks for you're honest thoughts. Why would my deposit be smaller than everyone else's?

Your deposit would be smaller as you are in all likelihood the smallest property.
ie if you are buying £200k, your 10% is £20k, next person up £250k house with £25k deposit etc
It
is something you all have to agree on, if you are looking at 14th for completion even if you exchanged to day the max would be 12 days.

NatNat77

jackomdj said:

kaleel86 said:

Racky_Roo said:

I don't think it's very fair of you to want a very short exchange/completion, especially as unlike everyone else, you have the luxury of an overlap. The rest have to book removals, pack the remaining stuff and may need to organise pets/children etc. You'll all need to compromise on a gap which everyone can work to. You aren't risking any more than anyone else, in fact you would be least affected as your 10% deposit will be much smaller than everyone else up the chain.
Personally I think 10 days should be sufficient but it's really up to the chain to decide, not just you

Thanks for you're honest thoughts. Why would my deposit be smaller than everyone else's?

Your deposit would be smaller as you are in all likelihood the smallest property.
ie if you are buying £200k, your 10% is £20k, next person up £250k house with £25k deposit etc
It
is something you all have to agree on, if you are looking at 14th for completion even if you exchanged to day the max would be 12 days.

In your example the next person up would only lose 5k, if they were the end of the chain, as they would have the OPs £20k

gwynlas

Why bother wth 15th versus 14th you just look very pedantic? 
Exchange asap and agree 14th, overlap will allow you time to do a thorough clean and possible some decorating if you wish as well as plenty of time to sort out services and deliveries. You will also have time to sort out any issues that might arise before Christmas shutdown.