Exchange then completion question

curtis122

I'm a first time seller, I have learnt so much so far during the process of selling my house, I would be so more clued up if I did it again but I never plan on doing this again unless I really have to !! 

We are currently at the survey stage and someone is coming round in the next week to survey the house and not long after that as long as long as nothing major is flagged up we should hopefully get an idea of an exchange date.

We are going into rental, we have already informed everyone of this so once we have exchanged we will be looking.

My question is after exchange, when does a completion date get decided and set?

As we are going to have to look for a rental, are we able to be looking and say we will set a completion date once we have found one or does it get decided immediately after the exchange and its a set date and we have to be out then regardless of whether we have found anything or not?

FlorayG

Completion date is agreed by both parties. It can be the same day as exchange or weeks after, but of course you have to be reasonable, your buyer won't be happy if you insist on 3 months gap.
People have to organise moving companies and with my last move we both had to wait an extra week longer than we wanted because we couldn't get removals on the same day in the week we had planned
Their solicitor will be chasing yours for a completion date as soon as contracts are exchanged, so it might be a good idea to have this conversation with your buyers - remember they have to organise a completion date for their sold house too

user1977

curtis122 said:

My question is after exchange, when does a completion date get decided and set?

As we are going to have to look for a rental, are we able to be looking and say we will set a completion date once we have found one or does it get decided immediately after the exchange and its a set date and we have to be out then regardless of whether we have found anything or not?

After exchange, you'll already know what the completion date is, as it is in the contract. You agree it before exchange.

curtis122

"After exchange, you'll already know what the completion date is, as it is in the contract. You agree it before exchange."

but what if, like in our case we can't set one for definite yet. Can you still exchange without a completion date agreed? What if we have not found a rental before the date? We've considered all other options that are available and we have no other option other than a rental.

eddddy

curtis122 said:

We are going into rental, we have already informed everyone of this so once we have exchanged we will be looking.

My question is after exchange, when does a completion date get decided and set?

As above, you agree a completion before you exchange contracts. The completion date is then written into the contract, and then you exchange contracts.

Is there a chain below your buyer? If so, everyone in the chain needs to agree on the same exchange and completion dates.


If you need 4 (or 6 or 8) weeks between exchange and completion, the 'nice' thing to do would be to make everyone aware asap - so that it doesn't come as a last minute surprise to people. But you might still get arguments or push-back from your buyer.

daveyjp

You need to be looking for a rental and tie up the moving in day with the sale completion day.  You can't have an agreement to agree details after it is signed.

Tiglet2

curtis122 said:

"After exchange, you'll already know what the completion date is, as it is in the contract. You agree it before exchange."

but what if, like in our case we can't set one for definite yet. Can you still exchange without a completion date agreed? What if we have not found a rental before the date? We've considered all other options that are available and we have no other option other than a rental.

You'll need to have a rental lined up and a date to move into it before you exchange.

Your buyer's solicitor won't exchange without a completion date being agreed as part of the exchange contract.

user1977

curtis122 said:

but what if, like in our case we can't set one for definite yet. Can you still exchange without a completion date agreed? 

Not really, otherwise what in the contract is binding? "I'll buy your house some day in the future at this price?" You'd at least need to have some sort of mechanism to determine what the completion date is, but normally that only occurs in newbuilds (where it's something like "14 days after we tell you that we've finished construction").

curtis122

There is no chain other than us and the buyer and they have no house to sell.

"Not really, otherwise what in the contract is binding? "I'll buy your house some day in the future at this price?"

This is why I'm asking as I understand its a contract but I thought you exchange,  then you agree a completion date after, not that its written in and confirmed when you set the exchange date.

So does that mean in a chain no one can exchange until everyone decides on a completion date?

"You'll need to have a rental lined up and a date to move into it before you exchange."

We won't sign anything for a rental till we have exchanged so that won't work as as we don't want to be tied into something and then the worst happens and we are then stuck with a rental. They are going fairly quick where we are also which does not help and we are not being fussy, hence this question about completion date.

What if we haven't found anything by that time, is it so set in stone you have to go. Can it be extended or changed at all after?

penners324

Start looking at rentals now and quickly.

saajan_12

curtis122 said:

There is no chain other than us and the buyer and they have no house to sell.

"Not really, otherwise what in the contract is binding? "I'll buy your house some day in the future at this price?"

This is why I'm asking as I understand its a contract but I thought you exchange,  then you agree a completion date after, not that its written in and confirmed when you set the exchange date.

So does that mean in a chain no one can exchange until everyone decides on a completion date?

"You'll need to have a rental lined up and a date to move into it before you exchange."

We won't sign anything for a rental till we have exchanged so that won't work as as we don't want to be tied into something and then the worst happens and we are then stuck with a rental. They are going fairly quick where we are also which does not help and we are not being fussy, hence this question about completion date.

What if we haven't found anything by that time, is it so set in stone you have to go. Can it be extended or changed at all after?

You would still line both sides up, so before exchange, you:
* Tentatively start looking for rentals, go through referencing, provisionally agree a move in date on the rental
* Tentatively agree a completion date with the buyer

Then exchange and sign the rental contract in quick succession. 
You're taking the risk for the hours / day between exchanging and signing the rental contract, but you minimise that time. Plus if you've set completion to be a month out at least, then even if the rental falls through, you ahve a good chance of finding another rental. 

After completion is agreed, its VERY expensive to extend, because the buyer would have made plans based on that date and would charge you all the costs to move.