Indiscreet Estate Agent

[thegirlwiththemouseyhair]

We're due to exchange early next week.
All in chain (thankfully only three plus our vendors) were hoping for pre-xmas move so as to spend the holidays settling in to new homes.

EA told me that he had advised vendors (people we are buying from) not to start looking for place to rent until exchange went through.

Timing was set out from the start.

Not only do I think that was really bad advice (and who with young children would have taken it?) but believe he has been indiscreet and obstructive, not only giving it, but telling me. It was in hope of getting me to delay completion.

Unprofessional?

Not unprofessional really, I wouldn't look for a rental until exchange.

Rentals go so quickly you need to be able tonsign there and then often. Should have made it clear to you that there would need to be space between E & Comp though.

The pressure is on your vendors once exchange has happened not you. They have to agree to a completion date and are legally bound to stick to it. Max 2 weeks between is probably fairly typical, so you could still move by Christmas. I don't think it was unprofessional as such , you can't commit to a rental until you have a date to move out by.

Sensible. Only once exchange has happened can they sign a rental contract anyway - it would be madness to do otherwise tbh. You set a completion date on exchange, so they can't push back once that has happened, so it's irrelevant really.

The estate agent probably has a letting wing so can fix them up with another home pretty quickly. I wouldn't worry about it.

Sensible advise IMO but possibly something that should have been discussed a little earlier. If the vendors are moving into rental accommodation & have young children I'm surprised they didn't ask for decent period (certainly 3 more likely 4 weeks) between exchange & completion right at the outset.
If you're hoping to exchange Monday but haven't agreed an actual completion date it sounds like you might be in for not so happy surprise. Hope I'm wrong but agreeing to complete before Christmas when you agree a sale (probably months ago) may have seemed doable then, but you might find it's just not going to work now.

. If that is the case don't let it ruin your christmas just enjoy your last christmas in your current home & look forward to a fresh start in the new Year.

All said with somewhat bitter experience as a buyer last Christmas
LCN