Ensure vacancy before exchange and completion same day

loubel

They don't want to move out before you have committed to buying the property. If they aren't tenants then they should have been asked to sign the contract as non-owning occupiers to confirm that they understand they are required to move out on completion. It would seem unlikely that they will not then do so, but if they didn't then completion would be delayed until they did and you would pursue the seller for a losses you incur as a result. If you agree to exchange and complete on the same day you risk paying for removals etc and then completion being delayed and you wouldn't be able to pursue the seller to cover these losses as no contract would have been made.

propertyrental

Hoenir said:

bbbuyer said:

Before, sellers were adamant to exchange before vacancy. We pushed to vacant on exchange - seller proposed same day exchange completion and they also proposed we can verify it’s vacant on the day itself before exchange!

Why not simply agree a completion date a week after exchange. Appears to be a mountain out of a molehill. Exchanging before vacancy is perfectly normal. 

Just because the seller wants same day exchange/Completion does not mean you have to agree.

Just instruct your solicitor to have a week's gap between the two.

Hoenir

propertyrental said:

Hoenir said:

bbbuyer said:

Before, sellers were adamant to exchange before vacancy. We pushed to vacant on exchange - seller proposed same day exchange completion and they also proposed we can verify it’s vacant on the day itself before exchange!

Why not simply agree a completion date a week after exchange. Appears to be a mountain out of a molehill. Exchanging before vacancy is perfectly normal. 

Just because the seller wants same day exchange/Completion does not mean you have to agree.

That was in response to the potential buyer wanting the property vacant prior to exchange though.  Cause and effect. 

bbbuyer

user1977 said:

bbbuyer said:

they also proposed we can verify it’s vacant on the day itself before exchange!
I just want to be sure that is actually possible to do.

Like I asked above, why do you think it might not be possible?

I’m not sure if we’d be liable in any way or in breach of contract if we verify it’s not vacant and do not proceed.

user1977

bbbuyer said:

user1977 said:

bbbuyer said:

they also proposed we can verify it’s vacant on the day itself before exchange!
I just want to be sure that is actually possible to do.

Like I asked above, why do you think it might not be possible?

I’m not sure if we’d be liable in any way or in breach of contract if we verify it’s not vacant and do not proceed.

If you haven't exchanged contracts then there is no contract.

RHemmings

silvercar said:

bbbuyer said:

We are FTB, house is occupied by the owner’s family. We do not want to risk and have to deal with them still there when completion.

We do not need to move on the day (as we have rent overlap) so we can postpone it.

You won’t have to deal with them. It is the seller’s responsibility to ensure vacant possession. There are financial penalties for not providing vacant possession, but these only apply once you have exchanged, until then anyone can back out. In one sense exchanging and completing on the same day is far riskier.

This is what I was thinking. There was another thread where a seller was aware of the risk of tenants not moving out, and wanted to protect themselves from that risk. (The MSE poster was the buyer). This, to my eyes, shifts inconvenience and costs (sunk) to be shared with the buyer, when this is the seller's responsibility. It seems similar here. The vendor wants to be able to back out if vacant possession is not achieved. Not as big a problem if exchange is significantly before completion. But, same day? 

Herzlos

bbbuyer said:

user1977 said:

bbbuyer said:

they also proposed we can verify it’s vacant on the day itself before exchange!
I just want to be sure that is actually possible to do.

Like I asked above, why do you think it might not be possible?

I’m not sure if we’d be liable in any way or in breach of contract if we verify it’s not vacant and do not proceed.

You wouldn't be liable for any breach of contract if they don't uphold their end of the agreement between exchange and completion.

But I'm not sure why you're concerned about this. Exchange whenever you want and verify it's vacant before calling the solicitor and instructing them to send the money on completion day. It sounds like they don't want to move out until you've committed to the sale which is perfectly reasonable. If you change your mind and don't exchange then they've wasted a lot of time, effort and money moving to then (presumably) move back in or leave the property empty.

It's completely normal for to exchange with the property occupied on the expectation it'll be vacant on completion. It doesn't matter if they are on the same day or a week apart. You're over thinking this and worrying about nothing.

bbbuyer

RHemmings said:

silvercar said:

bbbuyer said:

We are FTB, house is occupied by the owner’s family. We do not want to risk and have to deal with them still there when completion.

We do not need to move on the day (as we have rent overlap) so we can postpone it.

You won’t have to deal with them. It is the seller’s responsibility to ensure vacant possession. There are financial penalties for not providing vacant possession, but these only apply once you have exchanged, until then anyone can back out. In one sense exchanging and completing on the same day is far riskier.

This is what I was thinking. There was another thread where a seller was aware of the risk of tenants not moving out, and wanted to protect themselves from that risk. (The MSE poster was the buyer). This, to my eyes, shifts inconvenience and costs (sunk) to be shared with the buyer, when this is the seller's responsibility. It seems similar here. The vendor wants to be able to back out if vacant possession is not achieved. Not as big a problem if exchange is significantly before completion. But, same day? 

It’s riskier to whom, and why is that?

We were told a few times house would be vacant before exchange, but turns out that wasn’t the cause. There were other bits of information that lead us to worry and thus we want to ensure vacant before exchange. 

We were advised on this by solicitor and our mortgage broker.

All I wanted to find out is if we can cancel the purchase on the day of simultaneous exchange completion if the house is actually not vacant when we inspect on the day. (Without any breach or monetary costs)

We do not care in the slightest if completion gets delayed - we will be upset if purchase falls through but not the end of the world as it’s a house with potential but not one we love.

FlorayG

You can cancel at any point up to exchange of contracts. This happens all the time, but I would ask WHY you are prepared to exchange and complete on the same day?

bbbuyer

FlorayG said:

You can cancel at any point up to exchange of contracts. This happens all the time, but I would ask WHY you are prepared to exchange and complete on the same day?

What do you mean with the WHY?