exchange and complete on the same day?

[joystir59]

What do people think about this- we've been told this is what we will do. We are in a closed chain so no obvious risks, but what do people think?

[GiddyOnZackHunt]

People do do it but I'd avoid it for my own sanity. You have to draw the mortgage money down before contracts are exchanged and there's a risk of things going awry.

[FinallyHere]

And book he removals without the certainty of a complete date agreed when you exchanged.

[name2change4this]

We did it last year. It went well in the end, but was pretty stressful for a few hours when we had to leave our old place, but didn't yet have the keys for the new one (as there was a delay with the estate agents being able to release the keys).

The delay ended up being about 2-3 hrs long and we were lucky that our removal guys didn't charge us extra for going outside their normal hours. Only because I'd paid for an add on to the insurance which covered them staying longer though. The add on cost was equivalent to 1 hour of 1 guy's time and they overran by about 3 hours (5 guys), so it was well worth it.

I think I would do it this way again, but I'd definitely get the removal insurance with the add on again ( I wouldn't do it without it though).

HTH.

[sorenipples]

We did this. We moved our stuff into storage in advance to reduce the stress on the day. We also had already exchanged on our sale. We did get a number of unpleasant surprises about the condition the house was left in, but if you buy off someone who Google suggests runs scams for a living then, with retrospect, you probably shouldn't be surprised....

It is possible, solicitor will need agreement to request funds in advance but you have no time to check all is in order between exchange and completion. It is easier to deal with breach of contract at that point.

[joystir59]

we are cash buyers, no mortgage involved, so don't think it will be too hairy. Thank you for your advices. We might move out a few days early so less stress on the day. we are moving from London to Scarborough north Yorkshire.

[Ruhrpott]

We did it and all went smoothly. We did have two houses for 6 weeks but that was planned and all financed.

[specialsubject]

Post redirect needs five days notice.
Broadband and phone needs the same.
Removal issues as above.
Insurance and many other things need sorting.

And you can't do any of it until you have exchange. Nor do you know if the move will actually happen.

Who told you that this is what you will do? Completion date is negotiable.

[joystir59]

I think we have to do it because we are buying with cash from sale of our house, so no mortgage and no deposit. to exchange earlier we would need a deposit I think

[joystir59]

PolterGoose did you arrange removal in advance?

[MessezFaire]

We exchanged at 17:30 on the Thursday and completed at 11:00 on the Friday. Our mortgage offer expired at noon on Friday and we were unable to extend it.

It was incredibly stressful. We were moving out of rented accommodation and decided not to hand in our notice until it was all over to reduce the stress so that was expensive but we had a newborn baby so didn't want to risk being homeless! Also, the house was an absolute state when we arrived with the keys (the previous owners were still there but made a swift exit when we arrived thank goodness!)

A PP made a good point about utilities and postal forwarding but a few days is manageable. One thing we found very helpful indeed was the customer service at AO.com (I have no affiliation with them I promise!) we bought our white goods in advance and we're completely honest with their customer services dept about the situation. They were really understanding about the situation and just asked to be kept up to date. We postponed and postponed them delivering our white goods as our move was postponed - for eight months. They were understanding when we explained it might all fall through and said a refund would be no problem. And then when to everyone's surprise it went ahead after all (even on the Wednesday before we exchanged the solicitors and EA were saying no chance) they arranged delivery for the following Monday morning.

[YelloDraw]

I wouldn't seek to exchange and complete on same day. A week is a good amount of time between ex and completion. Noting is for certain until you're exchanged so can't sort out moving, utilities etc. Easier if moving from rented and you can suck up the financial hit on the notice period over lap. Or from parents or something.

[mintthins]

We've done it twice now. I wouldn't recommend it, but actually if you can deal with the stress it is perfectly doable. The first time we had a long distance to travel and had a couple of nights at a gorgeous hotel en route. That made it feel more like a plan than a panic!

[PurpleDaisies]

No way. We refused to give notice on the holiday let our sellers were paying for us to be in until we'd actually exchanged contracts (very complicated sale). We almost pulled out over not exchanging with enough notice to get our movers to bring everything out of storage.

The people who bought out house were supposed to be buying another property and they fell through on the morning they were supposed to be exchanging and completing after they'd packed everything and sold their cooker. I'm sure that's incredibly rare but I just wouldn't take the chance.

[specialsubject]

Transactions collapsing just before exchange isn't rare at all. And if you are in a gazump or gazunder possible situation, you are asking to be held to ransom.

[specialsubject]

Op - speak to your solicitor, there must be a way round this. As you are in a chain you are taking a huge risk if your sale falls through.

[Garthmarenghi]

I've only done it when buying investment land or property. Not something I was planning on moving into. Far too stressful.