Please Help!! Being asked for same day exchange & completion.

Prichard

Will spare most of the details as it's been a mess. We finally thought we were getting somewhere.

- Chain is 7 transactions long. Bottom has been in place since August. We are second from top and only had our offer accepted 10 days ago. 

- All enquiries from solicitors are done. 

- Bottom of the chain have a mortgage with HSBC. This expires today but they had been granted a week long extension (runs until 20th April). The FTBs solicitors exercised that right today and have drawn the funds with a COP date of 19th April meaning that the funds should be with them by then.

- Because they will not be in receipt of the funds until then (could be sooner - I know), they have said that they do not wish to put their client at risk by exchanging before they receive the funds. 

- All solicitors and Estate Agents are working to find a solution - with someone at the bottom of the chain breaking it being the preferred option. The remainder would then exchange on the 20th for completion on 22nd. The reason for this is because I am unsure how realistic getting 7 links exchanged and completed on the same day is (also it would be nice to be able to prepare to an extent).

What would you do? Push the bottom of the chain to exchange before they have received the funds from the lender?

Prichard

K_S said:

@prichard Unless I'm missing something obvious, most exchanges do happen before the funds are with the solicitor.

Yes, in theory any mortgage offer can be pulled until completion but it's unusual for same day exchange+completion to happen along a chain. It's usually for vacant properties + chain-free buyers where there isn't anything huge to risk if the date were to slip for whatever reason. There was a spike in same day exchange-completions during early covid when lenders were jittery and doing a lot of pre-completion checks, but that's no longer the case at the moment.

I understand the same... We have asked why they cannot exchange prior to the funds being with them. The answer that we got was that with HSBC's 5 day turnaround time on requested funds; they theoretically may not arrive with the FTB's solicitor until the afternoon of the 20th. This is the final day of their mortgage offer and would not leave sufficient time for the remaining parts of the chain to exchange/complete. Their solicitors have said that they do not want to put their client at this risk. 

Now - I know that funds will likely be in on the date requested by the Solicitor (19th) if not before which means we can exchange earlier. Theoretically I guess they could arrive tomorrow/Thursday and we could exchange then.

However, the current SITREP is that the folk vacating the property that the FTBs are purchasing break the chain for a couple of days to allow a more relaxed timeframe for those up the chain. If that means that we / others in the chain need to pay some of their costs then so be it.

Annisele

Prichard said:

However, the current SITREP is that the folk vacating the property that the FTBs are purchasing break the chain for a couple of days to allow a more relaxed timeframe for those up the chain. If that means that we / others in the chain need to pay some of their costs then so be it.

Do you mean those folks have agreed to break the chain, or that you're hoping they will? Either way I think they'd be absolutely crazy to do it. What happens if they sell to the FTBs, and then a day later their own seller goes "you know what mate, I don't think I want to sell after all"? At that point they'd still have to move out so the FTBs could move in, but there'd be no guarantee they could buy anywhere else within six months - or even at all, depending on their future circumstances/job losses/mortgage criteria etc.

Prichard

I agree. Though they have been in place since August and will get less for their money now - we know a few parts of the chain and everyone is determined to make it work. Plus it is them that have caused this situation with their inaction for months. 

We will also break the chain if we have to. We know that our vendors won’t stitch us up. 

Appreciate you don’t understand the intricacies of the chain but nobody is going to walk away from it given the amount of time and money that everyone in it has invested. 

Prichard

Update - After the vast majority of the chain refused simultaneous exchange and completion it seems that the weight of pressure on the solicitors at the bottom of the chain has resulted in them confirming they will exchange today for completion next week. 

Let's just hope there is enough time today to have 7 links exchange. 

Thanks to everyone that has offered their advice throughout this process. This forum and those that post on it are a valuable resource. Hopefully I can add my experiences to help others in future.