How dodgy is it to move two days after completion?

[CoffeeMum]

We are selling one property and buying another one. We want to complete on the Friday and move on the Sunday [assuming both our buyers and vendors are up for it] - anything else would cause massive inconvenience. But is it okay to wait two days between completing and moving? Our solicitor says it's 'at our own risk' if we do this, but what kind of risk would we be taking? The only thing I can think of is that we won't be in the house [but it'll be empty, so won't get burgled] and i can't imagine you'd get squatters within two days.

Is it quite standard to wait to move, or do people generally move on the day of completion? I would have thought people would often want to move at the weekend, but you can't complete at the weekend, so people must do it.

Thanks in advance for any advice

To echo everyone else on here - NO NO NO.

You always have to vacate a property the instant you sell. You have no rights to be in the property after that point (technically you are squatting). Any buyer would be nuts to allow you to do this because you could refuse to move out, and they would be stuck with having to go to court to evict you. I think your buyer's solicitor is likely to advise them to say no, and their bank would probably not be too happy with it either.

Also you are unlikely to find removal companies who work on the Sunday.

Moving on a weekday is the norm for exactly this reason. Set a completion date you can live with and suck it up.

[snort] @ catinhat's closing comments! I wouldn't ever say that, but if a vendor asked me your request, those words would definitely cross my mind

I would!

i just bought, and there's no way in hell i would have let my vendors stay in the property for one second after completion. there is no way their solicitor will recommend it to them, as they are paying all that money for... VACANT POSSESSION.

sorry OP, you're living in a dream world there.

Wow, this thread's gone wild since i've been away.

Fair enough, i take your point everybody - it's clearly not done at all to move after completion. But if i'd known that, well, i wouldn't have asked would I?! We can't all know everything about everything can we, so I asked the question to be put right - but not really to get insulted about it

For everyone's information...okay, i'd have been asking the buyers to hang on 48 hours before moving in, but i'd also have been saying to our vendors, we're more than happy for you to hang on for 48 hours, even though, strictly speaking it's our house now. So if i'm naive, i've been giving everyone in the chain the benefit of the doubt - which i don't think is that 'entitled' is it?

Right, i will basically now have to move house on my own with DH at work, with a baby and toddler in tow - what fun! But if we must move on the completion date, so be it. I just didn't think it would be a huge deal for everyone to hang on for a couple of days, but am happy to admit i was a ill-informed and a bit ignorant. Unusual for me, as i am generally quite the genius

Thanks for all the constructive comments and advice though, very much appreciated

"am happy to admit i was a ill-informed and a bit ignorant. Unusual for me, as i am generally quite the genius"

awards exceptionally high marks for style

CoffeeMum, we completed on our house but let the sellers stay in for an extra couple of days as we were in rented and they needed their new house treated for woodworm or something so they couldn't move in straight away. We were told it was at our own risk and they also had plenty of time to move out but they were still moving stuff when we turned up with our van

Is there really no way your DH can take a day off?

On the delayed completion, it can't hurt to ask, but assuming your buyer says no (which, going by the responses on this thread, is quite likely ) then can you get a fully packed move?

They don't actually tend to cost much more than self-packing, and there's really not so much for you to do - I mean it's not a picnic, but you don't have to do any heavy lifting. Just be there to open up the new house and then let the kids get under the removal men's feet.

Alternatively send the kids to friends for the day?

The plus side with moving on a friday is that you then have the whole weekend to unpack - which is actually by far the more soul-destroying half of the equation IME.

We rented our house from the new buyers for a few weeks after completion. We just came to an agreement and paid cash and it was all fine. We only had buildings insurance on the new house until we mooved in and only contents on the old. It can be done!

What you are supposed to do is agree a date for completion that suits you all!

And find someone to mind the children. Trust me, this is essential.

i'm also giving style points to the OP for her last post.

definitely a babysitter, i'm just starting to get my head around our moving, and i just realised you really need someone to look after the kids and keep the toddler away from all of the dangers. mine would happily climb in boxes and run underneath the men as they move heavy furniture...

Hello again, thanks for the style points!

Unfortunately we're moving 200 miles away, so that rules out a babysitter for the kids. However, we're getting professional movers and the packing service, so i'm not too worried on that score. I assume we can leave them to it? My main concern is getting the kids on the train to the new house, but I think I can get some friends to help me, and they can stay the night with us in the new house. So it's do-able, just.

DH is highly unllikely to be able to get time off [believe me, he's far from happy about this situation], but he's naturally going to try his hardest. We'd all be much happier if we could get in the car as a family and drive the long distance to the new house, arrive together etc, hence my desire to delay our moving date by two days, but this will just have to be the new plan - gulp!!

But as you say, it'll be much better to move on Friday and have the weekend to get things sorted, so there is an upside.

Thanks again for advice and opinions

good luck, it will be fine!
the most sensible thing you can possibly do is pay for your stuff to be packed - you've done that
when you get to the other end AS LONG AS you have a heavily marked box of kettle, loo roll, soap + clothes & pyjamas & stuff for the children you will be fine.
friends can help you sort out the beds for you all Fri nite
unpacking from Sat when DH arrives
it will be an adventure

Have everything ready the day before, then on the day, you can play in the garden with the children, while the removal men load up the van (remember to make sure you know where the kettle is). It's good form to hoover round once the house is empty, but if you are getting on a train with the children, you might want to make sure that hoover gets on the van! Once you get the other end, the removal men will put all your stuff into the house (if you write on each box which room it is for, they will take it to correct rooms), while you play in the garden again with the children (or busy yourself hoovering/constructing their beds, depending on the time). Then you can leave everything, get the kettle out, order a takeaway and unpack at your leisure over the weekend.

Thanks catinthehat and HSMM - great tips here. Unfortunately we're moving from a flat, so i'll just have to move myself and the DC from room to room, avoiding the removal men packing . Hopefully all that will be sorted by the time my friends arrive to help out with the journey.

But YY to the takeaway, and box of kettle/pyjamas/clean bedding/box of wine for me.

Yes, it's certainly going to be an adventure...in fact, my palms are sweating a bit just thinking about it. But, hopefully it'll be like childbirth - pretty hellish for one day, but well worth it from then on.

Thanks all

Nice removals staff might even build beds for you if they see you have small children.

Our movers were fab with 3 and then 4 yr old DS - 2 moves in under 12 months with same removals firm) They let him wheel his bike onto the van and off again at other end. Dismantled wardrobes and built them again . moved a tree in a pot AND a worm bin.

My last company used to give us two days off for a house move - get your DH to check whether or not he's entitled to take time off.

Otherwise, tough - he will have to take a day (or two) out of his annual leave. Surely, though, something as significantg as a house move is worth taking time off work? Why on earth wouldn't he - especially if you're moving so far away.

Thanks for all this fabulous advice - i'll be printing this thread off i think.

DH literally can't get time off - can't really go into too much detail, but it's not just him being difficult and unhelpful, i promise! He's gutted that it's come to this, and realises he owes me big for leaving me to hold the fort. Trouble is, the nature of his job means all his colleagues are also moving away at the same time as us, so they'll all have their own moves to sort out. It's a total chore, but it'll be okay, especially with the top tips you ladies have shared, thank you so much

I think i will be stocking up on lovely snacks and treats for the removal men and basically undermining feminism by fluttering my eyelashes so that they help me out as much as possible - needs must!

Anyway, i shall bore you all no longer with my tale of woe, thanks again for your help with all of this

I haved moved three times with DC, twice with 1 DC and once with 2 DC without my DH being there. In fact the last time we moved my DH had never even seen the house until he came back from a trip abroad and we had been in for 2 days!!!

Granted it wasn't 200 miles, but apart from physically getting to the new house, there isn't that much that's different.

Print out the house layout and mark all the rooms. Label the boxes as to which room they go into - different colour marker for different rooms can help, or just very visible letters. If you have an idea of where the large furniture should go, draw it onto the picture of your room layout as well. Nothing worse than having all of your furniture in the wrong rooms!!!!

Also, there is nothing to stop the removers from packing up one day, and then delivering the next day, or even 2 days later. A good sized removalist company will have locked premises where they can store the trucks overnight. If you just pack an overnight bag with you, you could stay at a hotel or somewhere with your DH and then he can be there to help the unloading on Saturday.