AIBU to push hard for a completion date?

[Waytooearly]

I'm buying a flat. No chain on either side. I am renting at the moment and I need to be out by 22nd January.
I put on offer on the flat on 22nd November.

I have deposit funds, mortgage offer, all checks have come back fine.

According to my sols we are still waiting for the seller to get hold of some original documents including a marriage certificate (evidencing name change).

We originally had a completion date of 17th January. I've told everyone I need to move by 22nd Jan (though I do have an emergency backup place to stay).

My question, for those of you with experience : at what point do I start pushing hard for a completion date? Getting original documents, including a replacement marriage certificate, takes an afternoon to sort out. I am wondering whether this is a red flag.

At what point do I start saying, 'We need an agreed upon completion date, within x days, or the deal is off.'

I'd say now.

Good luck.

Have you exchanged contracts? If not, that needs to happen first. Usually, completion takes place a few weeks after exchange of contracts. Until then, nothing is binding.

I don’t think you’ll be moving to the flat in a few days. Although, theoretically, some of the issues could be completed quickly, you’d think, in reality that’s not how solicitors work.

Now.
It’s also possible to exchange and complete on the same day, ask your solicitor

^ not true, you can complete and exchange on the same day, provided your mortgage company is on board.

Push now OP, and ask about gap between exchange and completion because if they do want a gap, then missing exchange will be your first sign that you won't complete by 22nd.

You need to ask your solicitor to get them to agree to that date as completion, or I bet you'll suddenly be told they had no idea about it and were aiming for March or something daft.

You won't be able to exchange without agreeing a completion date. Give a deadline for exchange and say you will pull out if not exchanged by then and mean it.

I had to wait 4 months to complete a no chain sale as a cash buyer.
It’s incredibly frustrating but all you can do is chase your solicitor.
The only thing you could do is threaten to pull out but that may backfire on you.
I did exchange and complete on the same day though.

Thank you.

I have already said that I see no reason why we can't exchange and complete on the same day. No response to that.

I wrote my sols this morning and said I need us all to agree on a completion date.

If I get a wishy washy response (or no response) then I will write again tonight and say if there is no completion date agreed by close of business Monday then I will pull out.

Phoneyour solicitor. Get on to the estate agent and get them
involved, they want a sale to complete not fall through. Yes, they work for the vendor but if the vendor is pissballing around and jeopardising the estate agents' fees they should do something!

It took 3 months to the day for our purchase to go through. We had a minimal chain - our buyer was renting his property and our purchase was vacant. It got to the point where our sellers solicitor (totally old school) was refusing to answer the reasonable questions made by our solicitor and holding the whole process up with our buyer chomping at the bit.

In the end I got in contact with our seller and told them their solicitor needed to pull their thumb out their arse or this sale wouldn’t ever happen. Coupled with phone calls to my solicitor at least 3 times a week to apply pressure and see if things had progressed. Conveyance solicitors have a number of cases they work on at one time so you really have to become annoying so they prioritise yours!

Of course push now.

The seller might refuse to exchange and complete on the same day though, I would. Not trying to be difficult, it's just a nightmare to book a removal company when you are not 100% sure of the date, start insurance, move utilities and so on. It takes a few days for the post redirection to kick off for example. I have always asked for a week between both days, giving me time to pack too! Saves you from unpacking if there's a delay.

How much money would you lose if the deal is off? It's never a good idea to piss off your seller, you want them to leave the house in the best possible shape, if nothing else.
Call your solicitor daily, call the estate agent 2 or 3 times a day, they get bored of you, they move a bit faster.

Be careful that nothing is binding until exchange, if you push too hard, they can always agree on a date and delay at the very last minute. You just need to be on the ball.

You'll be lucky to get it through by the end of January I would have thought, but always worth pushing. November to january is a quick turnaround, we had a no chain purchase take 8 months, but aware that isn't the norm!

it really is totally ridiculous how long it takes to move house in this country IMHO.

My Dads advice when buying and selling houses (he’s in the business) is to call the estate agent/solicitor everyday, otherwise nothing happens. In my limited experience (brought and sold twice) he’s right, literally nothing happens unless you make a bus ace out of yourself!
If you want to move things along, call them!

what's even more ridiculous is that a purchase is binding so late in the process. It's so stressful because people are at risk to waste so much time and lose so much money for nothing ,it's a very expensive process but if one party decides to change their mind at the last minute, there's nothing you can do.

We have a stupid system.

Bus ace = nuisance damn autocorrect!

Is it freehold or leasehold, OP? Leasehold usually takes a little longer – mine was 12 weeks start to finish but I pushed HARD at the end. Eventually exchanged on a Wednesday, completed and moved 200 miles on a Friday – it can come together v quickly, but be prepared to hustle and make sure you're ready and available to do all the bits you need to do.

If you say the deal is off then you are in an even worse position. You'll have to find somewhere new, start from scratch on searches and valuation/survey.
So I wouldn't pull out. Getting hold of documents can be a nightmare, especially over Christmas. The seller will also be required in some instances to go to the solicitors office- which between Christmas and working full time might be causing issues.
Phone the estate agent daily for updates. The estate agent will be desperate to sell to get their commission. If you want to spook them, maybe ask 'interested' questions about another property they have listed- make it look like you might have started looking around again

Why are you writing!!! Email and phone calls.

Yes, NOW.

We've just been through this. No chains involved. The vendor wanted a very fast sale but they were the ones who held US up. Badgered the solicitors ourselves, plus the estate agents badgered them too. You should have someone at the estate agents working on your behalf, contact them.

They like at least a week between exchange and completion but it can be done in less than a week, and sometimes on the same day. We completed on the Friday, having exchanged on the Monday.

Ours took four months. The property we were buying was vacant, our purchaser was buying for cash as were we. Purchaser's solicitor lost the questionnaire, then sat on queries while the file handler went sick. Meanwhile, our vendor's agent managed to break their email address.

Good luck.

Two months would be way quicker than any house purchase I've been involved in! EA usually say it will be at least three months.

I would be hesitant in your position to say the deal's off because then come the end of January you'll be really stuck!

Is there anywhere you can stay temporarily if it doesn't fall into place.

Sorry, yes you have sorted out a backup - definitely would not pull out at this stage. You'll be stuck in temp place with nowhere to move to!

Thanks you guys.

I spoke to estate agent on the phone earlier today. A few minutes later she forwarded an email from the vendor's sols essentially saying, 'No can't do completion on 22nd because documents...' No comment on her email, just 'see below'.

I wrote email to my sols and to estate agent saying no, I was requesting a specific completion date from the vendor and that I expected to be advised of the same in writing by the end of the day.

I also told them that I had already advised them twice that I would like to exchange and complete on the same day. I said I assumed this had already been put to the vendors and asked for the vendor's response on same.

Has your mortgage company agreed to exchange and complete on the same day? Ours required 5 days notice to draw down funds so bear that in mind as the date draws closer.

Hope it all works out well for you, OP.

Sadly even if you demand a completion date that doesn't mean they have to, or can comply. 2 months is very quick, especially when you take out a Christmas/New Year shutdown.

Keep pushing, OP. Our sale was slowed down by the sol as she got the email address wrong for the buyer's sol so none of the important info was reaching the buyers we were staggered by the ineptitude of the sol to be honest