Simultaneous Exchange / Completion

eve824

Due to some hard deadlines in our chain I proposed today that we could exchanged and complete on the same day or within a few days of each other if we absolutely needed to. Both the EA and the solicitor responded saying that's absolutely not possible as the mortgage lender needs 5 working days to draw down the mortgage. Is that true? Is it only chains with solely cash buyers in that can exchange and complete on same day?? Or does it depend on the lenders involved?

davidmcn

eve824 said:

Due to some hard deadlines in our chain I proposed today that we could exchanged and complete on the same day or within a few days of each other if we absolutely needed to. Both the EA and the solicitor responded saying that's absolutely not possible as the mortgage lender needs 5 working days to draw down the mortgage. Is that true?

Not really, because (a) in practice lenders don't usually need as long as the 5 working days they quote, and (b) you don't need to have a contractually-binding completion date before you request the funds, just a fairly confident idea of when you're going to be completing (you'll have a greater risk of having to send the loan funds back to the lender if things don't go to plan, with costs of interest / bank transfers).

When you say "the" solicitor, do you mean yours? They ought to be able to explain this to you.

Slithery

Your solicitor can request funds from the lender 5 days before the planned exchange/completion. If it then all falls through they just send the funds back again (although you would be liable for a few days of interest).

Speedbird676

The last property I sold, the buyer had a mortgage, and we exchanged and completed on the same day.

It is possible, albeit ours was a simple no chain transaction so less chance of something going wrong somewhere up/down the chain.

JGB1955

Similar to above - I was selling my father's house with POA.  We exchanged on a Tuesday and completed the following day. No problems.

saajan_12

eve824 said:

Due to some hard deadlines in our chain I proposed today that we could exchanged and complete on the same day or within a few days of each other if we absolutely needed to. Both the EA and the solicitor responded saying that's absolutely not possible as the mortgage lender needs 5 working days to draw down the mortgage. Is that true? Is it only chains with solely cash buyers in that can exchange and complete on same day?? Or does it depend on the lenders involved?

Can you exchange + complete today? No, you'd need a few days to draw down. 
Can you exchange + complete on 15th March? Yes. The solicitor can request funds today, giving the bank 5 days. They'd also take an 'undertaking' (ie promise) to the bank that they will only use the funds for the purchase or return them if it falls through. 

davidmcn

saajan_12 said:

eve824 said:

Due to some hard deadlines in our chain I proposed today that we could exchanged and complete on the same day or within a few days of each other if we absolutely needed to. Both the EA and the solicitor responded saying that's absolutely not possible as the mortgage lender needs 5 working days to draw down the mortgage. Is that true? Is it only chains with solely cash buyers in that can exchange and complete on same day?? Or does it depend on the lenders involved?

They'd also take an 'undertaking' (ie promise) to the bank that they will only use the funds for the purchase or return them if it falls through. 

That's just a standard part of the bank's instructions, not something needing to be done specially.

saajan_12

davidmcn said:

saajan_12 said:

eve824 said:

Due to some hard deadlines in our chain I proposed today that we could exchanged and complete on the same day or within a few days of each other if we absolutely needed to. Both the EA and the solicitor responded saying that's absolutely not possible as the mortgage lender needs 5 working days to draw down the mortgage. Is that true? Is it only chains with solely cash buyers in that can exchange and complete on same day?? Or does it depend on the lenders involved?

They'd also take an 'undertaking' (ie promise) to the bank that they will only use the funds for the purchase or return them if it falls through. 

That's just a standard part of the bank's instructions, not something needing to be done specially.

Yes, not saying otherwise.. I just mean that is (partly) why the bank doesn't need to wait for exchange. 

Grabs39

We did simultaneous exchange and completion with a mortgage and a chain.  Solicitor just requested the funds from the lender two days before, had the money the day before, ready to send onward on the day.

NoisyGiraffe

Simultaneous exchange and complete was pretty common last year with covid, we had no choice but to do it in June and we have a mortgage. I was worried about it (FTB nerves didn't help!) but it all went smoothly. Like others have said, solicitor got everything in order and ready to go, then requested the money early.

eve824

Thanks all. Our solicitor is c**p so I don't tend to trust anything she tells me anymore. I will push for a shorter time.