Measuring up?

jonnydeppiwish!

Don’t forget, any sensible buyer will also want to view the property on the day of potential exchange as well, so please don’t refuse that!

FlyMeSomewhere79

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Don’t forget, any sensible buyer will also want to view the property on the day of potential exchange as well, so please don’t refuse that!

You may have done that but I've never done it or heard of anyone else doing it. The day of exchange is not the time to cause hold ups, the solicitors are sat waiting and what happens if you can't be accommodated for a viewing on that day?

People usually exchange a few days before or on the day of completion, last month we exchanged on a Friday and completed on the Monday, people have their whole lives packed in boxes by that point, furniture trucks booked - nobody should be putting spanners in the works at that late stage. Don't forget there may be a number of people in the chain and.a number of exchanges the solicitors need to do that day. It's not the day to expect another last minute viewing!

Scotbot

It's standard practice to view just before exchange overseas, if the buyer doesn't sign off the sale can fall through.  As a result places are left clean and tidy and everything that is supposed to be left behind is.

Slinky

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Don’t forget, any sensible buyer will also want to view the property on the day of potential exchange as well, so please don’t refuse that!

You may have done that but I've never done it or heard of anyone else doing it. The day of exchange is not the time to cause hold ups, the solicitors are sat waiting and what happens if you can't be accommodated for a viewing on that day?

People usually exchange a few days before or on the day of completion, last month we exchanged on a Friday and completed on the Monday, people have their whole lives packed in boxes by that point, furniture trucks booked - nobody should be putting spanners in the works at that late stage. Don't forget there may be a number of people in the chain and.a number of exchanges the solicitors need to do that day. It's not the day to expect another last minute viewing!

You may never have heard or done it, but we did it. We were buying a house 100 miles from where we were living and the purchase had been dragging on for months entirely due to the vendors not clearing the house out (probate). We visited the weekend before exchange to be sure it was still largely in the same condition as our previous visits.

Presumably you are aware that if you exchange on a damaged building, you're committed to complete on it as being in the same condition at completion?

babyblade41

viewing just before exchange is extremely important, to not do it is at your peril 

Sapindus

babyblade41 said:

viewing just before exchange is extremely important, to not do it is at your peril 

I think the flip side of this that is being suggested is that an unscrupulous buyer could raise spurious issues and demands, knowing that the sale is so close and that the seller will likely cave in rather than risk everything collapse.

bobster2

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Don’t forget, any sensible buyer will also want to view the property on the day of potential exchange as well, so please don’t refuse that!

You may have done that but I've never done it or heard of anyone else doing it. The day of exchange is not the time to cause hold ups, the solicitors are sat waiting and what happens if you can't be accommodated for a viewing on that day?

People usually exchange a few days before or on the day of completion, last month we exchanged on a Friday and completed on the Monday, people have their whole lives packed in boxes by that point, furniture trucks booked - nobody should be putting spanners in the works at that late stage. Don't forget there may be a number of people in the chain and.a number of exchanges the solicitors need to do that day. It's not the day to expect another last minute viewing!

Viewing just before exchanging contracts is entirely normally and absolutely essential. Maybe a day or two before, not necessarily on the day itself (unless you want to be super cautious!).

It is critical in order to establish that the property is essentially in the same condition as when you made the offer. 
In the intervening time (often many months) all sorts of things could have happened. E.g. it could have sustained storm, fire or flood damage.

When you sign and exchange contracts you are committing to buy the property - broadly in the condition it is at that time.  Once contracts are exchanged you are committed to completing the purchase. And if it's a pile of rubble at the point of exchange - you have committed to buying a pile of rubble.

BarelySentientAI

bobster2 said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Don’t forget, any sensible buyer will also want to view the property on the day of potential exchange as well, so please don’t refuse that!

You may have done that but I've never done it or heard of anyone else doing it. The day of exchange is not the time to cause hold ups, the solicitors are sat waiting and what happens if you can't be accommodated for a viewing on that day?

People usually exchange a few days before or on the day of completion, last month we exchanged on a Friday and completed on the Monday, people have their whole lives packed in boxes by that point, furniture trucks booked - nobody should be putting spanners in the works at that late stage. Don't forget there may be a number of people in the chain and.a number of exchanges the solicitors need to do that day. It's not the day to expect another last minute viewing!

Viewing just before exchanging contracts is entirely normally and absolutely essential. Maybe a day or two before, not necessarily on the day itself (unless you want to be super cautious!).

It is critical in order to establish that the property is essentially in the same condition as when you made the offer. 
In the intervening time (often many months) all sorts of things could have happened. E.g. it could have sustained storm, fire or flood damage.

When you sign and exchange contracts you are committing to buy the property - broadly in the condition it is at that time.  Once contracts are exchanged you are committed to completing the purchase. And if it's a pile of rubble at the point of exchange - you have committed to buying a pile of rubble.

Except it isn't.

It might be recommended, and becoming more common than it used to be, but a large proportion of the house-buying population has never done this (and probably doesn't know anyone who has done it either).

At which point, it demonstrably isn't essential at all.  It's a risk management exercise.

bobster2

BarelySentientAI said:

bobster2 said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Don’t forget, any sensible buyer will also want to view the property on the day of potential exchange as well, so please don’t refuse that!

You may have done that but I've never done it or heard of anyone else doing it. The day of exchange is not the time to cause hold ups, the solicitors are sat waiting and what happens if you can't be accommodated for a viewing on that day?

People usually exchange a few days before or on the day of completion, last month we exchanged on a Friday and completed on the Monday, people have their whole lives packed in boxes by that point, furniture trucks booked - nobody should be putting spanners in the works at that late stage. Don't forget there may be a number of people in the chain and.a number of exchanges the solicitors need to do that day. It's not the day to expect another last minute viewing!

Viewing just before exchanging contracts is entirely normally and absolutely essential. Maybe a day or two before, not necessarily on the day itself (unless you want to be super cautious!).

It is critical in order to establish that the property is essentially in the same condition as when you made the offer. 
In the intervening time (often many months) all sorts of things could have happened. E.g. it could have sustained storm, fire or flood damage.

When you sign and exchange contracts you are committing to buy the property - broadly in the condition it is at that time.  Once contracts are exchanged you are committed to completing the purchase. And if it's a pile of rubble at the point of exchange - you have committed to buying a pile of rubble.

Except it isn't.

It might be recommended, and becoming more common than it used to be, but a large proportion of the house-buying population has never done this (and probably doesn't know anyone who has done it either).

At which point, it demonstrably isn't essential at all.  It's a risk management exercise.

OK - I should have added it's "absolutely essential, if you want to avoid the risk of being committed to buying a pile of rubble". On exchange you are signing to say you'll buy it in the state it is in at that time. If you don't care what state it is in - then it's not essential.

If the property sustains damage between exchange and completion then it would be the vendors responsibility to restore it to the state it was in at the point of exchange.

Yes - it's a risk-management exercise in the same way that travel health insurance is. Most people buy it and don't need it. The financial risks are of a similar magnitude but in the case of viewing prior to exchange -  unlike travel insurance, it's essentially free (if you're close by).

BarelySentientAI

bobster2 said:

BarelySentientAI said:

bobster2 said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

jonnydeppiwish! said:

Don’t forget, any sensible buyer will also want to view the property on the day of potential exchange as well, so please don’t refuse that!

You may have done that but I've never done it or heard of anyone else doing it. The day of exchange is not the time to cause hold ups, the solicitors are sat waiting and what happens if you can't be accommodated for a viewing on that day?

People usually exchange a few days before or on the day of completion, last month we exchanged on a Friday and completed on the Monday, people have their whole lives packed in boxes by that point, furniture trucks booked - nobody should be putting spanners in the works at that late stage. Don't forget there may be a number of people in the chain and.a number of exchanges the solicitors need to do that day. It's not the day to expect another last minute viewing!

Viewing just before exchanging contracts is entirely normally and absolutely essential. Maybe a day or two before, not necessarily on the day itself (unless you want to be super cautious!).

It is critical in order to establish that the property is essentially in the same condition as when you made the offer. 
In the intervening time (often many months) all sorts of things could have happened. E.g. it could have sustained storm, fire or flood damage.

When you sign and exchange contracts you are committing to buy the property - broadly in the condition it is at that time.  Once contracts are exchanged you are committed to completing the purchase. And if it's a pile of rubble at the point of exchange - you have committed to buying a pile of rubble.

Except it isn't.

It might be recommended, and becoming more common than it used to be, but a large proportion of the house-buying population has never done this (and probably doesn't know anyone who has done it either).

At which point, it demonstrably isn't essential at all.  It's a risk management exercise.

OK - I should have added it's "absolutely essential, if you want to avoid the risk of being committed to buying a pile of rubble". On exchange you are signing to say you'll buy it in the state it is in at that time. If you don't care what state it is in - then it's not essential.

If the property sustains damage between exchange and completion then it would be the vendors responsibility to restore it to the state it was in at the point of exchange.

Yes - it's a risk-management exercise in the same way that travel health insurance is. Most people buy it and don't need it. The financial risks are of a similar magnitude but in the case of viewing prior to exchange -  unlike travel insurance, it's essentially free (if you're close by).

I know, it seemed pedantic, but I think it is an important clarification.

"On exchange you are signing to say you'll buy it in the state it is in at that time."  - that's exactly the important line.