Exchanging and completing on the same day

orbit22

I am selling my flat and all was going well, with exchange iminent and completion to be a couple of days later.
Then everything seemed to stop for a few days. My conveyancer then told me that they want to exchange and complete on the same day. When asked why, their conveyancer said that they didn’t want to risk there client being in breach of contract. It seems they will incur bank charges for transferring two large sums of money a few days apart, one for the deposit and one for the balance and they are insisting on exchange and completion on the same day.

This all sounds very peculiar to me, as they have had three months to sort their finances out for the purchase.
I wanted the security of exchanging first and a deposit paid as I am worried about a last-minute demand they might make.
My conveyancer also thinks its peculiar, but I’m not sure how experienced she is, to be honest.

Is there any reason why exchange and completion on the same day is a bad idea?  Are there any pitfalls to doing this?

Some advice would be great.

Scotbot

Bank charges are around £50 for a CHAPS payment so if nothing else your buyer is pretty tight if they won't pay the 2 charges but as you said anyone organised would simply transfer both lots of money to their solicitor in one go. It makes me suspecf there is a problem with the finance. Biggest risk is they pull out of the sale or reduce the offer last minute

Are you also buying? There are pitfalls to same day exchange and completion around the logistics of the actual move. Setting up insurance,  broadband, removalists requires a few days notice. You would lose the removalists fee if there us a delay,  broadband unlikely to be ready. 

There is little chance of your losing your money,  the conveyancer won't complete until funds received. 

If I were also buying I would refuse to exchange and complete on the samd day as it is too much hassle and stress. If I were just selling I would probably agree to it.

ElizabethRose

I've always exchanged and completed on the same day and a lot of people I know have also done the same. I also believed this had become even more common due to coronavirus as you could exchange and then on completion day have to self isolate etc.

eddddy

orbit22 said:

I am selling my flat and all was going well, with exchange iminent and completion to be a couple of days later.

Are you living in the flat? If so, where will you be living after the sale? Are you buying another property?

If you're living in the flat - and selling and buying at the same time, the challenge is that you have to move on completion day. And you can't be 100% sure what day that will be, until it actually happens.

You might be aiming for completion on a particular day - and you've got the removal firm booked, and everything packed in boxes - but then you don't complete.

Whereas, if you exchange contracts in advance, the contract will state what the completion date will be.



(The comment about your seller not wanting to be in breach of contract suggests that they have some kind of potential problem getting their purchase money. Are they saying that they might not be able to get the money, and therefore be unable to buy your flat?)

orbit22

I’m not buying at the same time and I’ve already moved, so that’s not a problem.

I was wondering if they had a problem with finances, which would be galling as they said at the off they had funds in place. They want it as a second property.
i was wondering if there was going to be a last-minute attempt at reducing the price. Odd, though, because they were keen to get it done before the stamp duty holiday ends at the end of the month.

orbit22

ElizabethRose said:

I've always exchanged and completed on the same day and a lot of people I know have also done the same. I also believed this had become even more common due to coronavirus as you could exchange and then on completion day have to self isolate etc.

That’s quite reassurring.

orbit22

eddddy said:

orbit22 said:

I am selling my flat and all was going well, with exchange iminent and completion to be a couple of days later.

Are you living in the flat? If so, where will you be living after the sale? Are you buying another property?

If you're living in the flat - and selling and buying at the same time, the challenge is that you have to move on completion day. And you can't be 100% sure what day that will be, until it actually happens.

You might be aiming for completion on a particular day - and you've got the removal firm booked, and everything packed in boxes - but then you don't complete.

Whereas, if you exchange contracts in advance, the contract will state what the completion date will be.



(The comment about your seller not wanting to be in breach of contract suggests that they have some kind of potential problem getting their purchase money. Are they saying that they might not be able to get the money, and therefore be unable to buy your flat?)

I just don’t know. Their conveyancer just told mine that they didn’t want to risk being in breach of contract by having to transfer two amounts in separate days.

Scotbot

orbit22 said:

eddddy said:

orbit22 said:

I am selling my flat and all was going well, with exchange iminent and completion to be a couple of days later.

Are you living in the flat? If so, where will you be living after the sale? Are you buying another property?

If you're living in the flat - and selling and buying at the same time, the challenge is that you have to move on completion day. And you can't be 100% sure what day that will be, until it actually happens.

You might be aiming for completion on a particular day - and you've got the removal firm booked, and everything packed in boxes - but then you don't complete.

Whereas, if you exchange contracts in advance, the contract will state what the completion date will be.



(The comment about your seller not wanting to be in breach of contract suggests that they have some kind of potential problem getting their purchase money. Are they saying that they might not be able to get the money, and therefore be unable to buy your flat?)

I just don’t know. Their conveyancer just told mine that they didn’t want to risk being in breach of contract by having to transfer two amounts in separate days.

If they are having problems with the finance they probably won't  tell their conveyancer until the very last moment.

orbit22

Oh dear.

anyway, I just wanted to make sure that if they are really pushing me to exchange and complete on the same day, that there isn’t anything unadvisable about doing that? 

eddddy

orbit22 said:

eddddy said:

orbit22 said:

I am selling my flat and all was going well, with exchange iminent and completion to be a couple of days later.

Are you living in the flat? If so, where will you be living after the sale? Are you buying another property?

If you're living in the flat - and selling and buying at the same time, the challenge is that you have to move on completion day. And you can't be 100% sure what day that will be, until it actually happens.

You might be aiming for completion on a particular day - and you've got the removal firm booked, and everything packed in boxes - but then you don't complete.

Whereas, if you exchange contracts in advance, the contract will state what the completion date will be.



(The comment about your seller not wanting to be in breach of contract suggests that they have some kind of potential problem getting their purchase money. Are they saying that they might not be able to get the money, and therefore be unable to buy your flat?)

I just don’t know. Their conveyancer just told mine that they didn’t want to risk being in breach of contract by having to transfer two amounts in separate days.

They can transfer both amounts together before exchange of contracts if they want.

But having said that, if the flat is empty and the buyers are buying a second home - there's no real benefit to having a gap between exchange and completion.

You could ask the EA to investigate. The conveyancer probably only communicates by email, whereas the EA would probably phone the buyer to discuss the situation - so the EA might get a better picture.

orbit22

eddddy said:

orbit22 said:

eddddy said:

orbit22 said:

I am selling my flat and all was going well, with exchange iminent and completion to be a couple of days later.

Are you living in the flat? If so, where will you be living after the sale? Are you buying another property?

If you're living in the flat - and selling and buying at the same time, the challenge is that you have to move on completion day. And you can't be 100% sure what day that will be, until it actually happens.

You might be aiming for completion on a particular day - and you've got the removal firm booked, and everything packed in boxes - but then you don't complete.

Whereas, if you exchange contracts in advance, the contract will state what the completion date will be.



(The comment about your seller not wanting to be in breach of contract suggests that they have some kind of potential problem getting their purchase money. Are they saying that they might not be able to get the money, and therefore be unable to buy your flat?)

I just don’t know. Their conveyancer just told mine that they didn’t want to risk being in breach of contract by having to transfer two amounts in separate days.

They can transfer both amounts together before exchange of contracts if they want.

But having said that, if the flat is empty and the buyers are buying a second home - there's no real benefit to having a gap between exchange and completion.

You could ask the EA to investigate. The conveyancer probably only communicates by email, whereas the EA would probably phone the buyer to discuss the situation - so the EA might get a better picture.

There is no estate agent. The buyers approached me originally.