What happens on completion day?

user64332 · 2021-04-06T12:19:41+00:00

First time buyer, can anyone talk me through it? Do we need to be available all day? We don't need to move the same day as there is overlap with our rental. Do we need to sign anything or is it just the conveyancers doing the signing?

murbblurb · 06/04/2021 13:26

nothing to sign, you did that some time ago.

As you aren't moving (and good idea) all you need do is await the call from the estate agent to say that your funds have been received and that you can go and get the keys. Once that happens, call your insurance company and change the policy that should be in place since exchange to reflect completion.

ASAP - read meters and contact the suppliers to take over the accounts. Once you've done that you can look into switching.

contact the council for council tax and then start everything else. Hope all goes smoothly.

ConstanceGracy · 06/04/2021 16:47

As above you just need to wait for your solicitors to say monies have been received and then for the EA to say the keys are ready for you .

Original poster

user64332 · 06/04/2021 18:40

That's great thanks, something's come up at work I need to go in for so was wondering if it would cause a problem. Also I'd totally forgotten to sort home insurance, thank you for mentioning that on it now.

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murbblurb · 06/04/2021 22:25

Omg!!! Your solicitor should have reminded you. Please give that highest priority.

Original poster

user64332 · 06/04/2021 22:36

Our solicitor has been beyond awful. Very poor communication, a few one line emails in total for the entire process and even those have been cold and rude. Sent all deeds to a wrong address and to add further pain has invoiced us £500 more than expected. Its laughable to think they would remind us or tell us anything about the process.

I've just done a few quotes, but realise I need to go through the deeds etc to find out about all the locks and alarms in situ before I can proceed, but I will prioritise it tomorrow.

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Cattitudes · 06/04/2021 22:50

Your solicitor rings to say you have completed, you contact the estate agent to arrange to pick up keys. Estate agents say vendors still packing up but can pick up keys at 2. Pick up keys, vendor still packing. At 5pm estate agent ready to go home and passes phone number of vendor, vendor still packing throughout evening. Finally texts at 2 in the morning to say house is empty but they didn't have time to clean. They will drop rest of keys back in a few days. 18 months later still no additional keys (we obviously had the locks changed). Hope for the best but not having to move straight in worked well for us.

Elouera · 06/04/2021 22:58

Not sure what the norm is, but I wrongly thought the EA might say something when giving us the keys. 'Congratulations', ' thanks for buying', 'best of luck etc. That was clearly too much for her to bother with and I got a rather stern 'here you go' as she thrust the keys into my hand!!!

Original poster

user64332 · 07/04/2021 01:44

@Cattitudes

Your solicitor rings to say you have completed, you contact the estate agent to arrange to pick up keys. Estate agents say vendors still packing up but can pick up keys at 2. Pick up keys, vendor still packing. At 5pm estate agent ready to go home and passes phone number of vendor, vendor still packing throughout evening. Finally texts at 2 in the morning to say house is empty but they didn't have time to clean. They will drop rest of keys back in a few days. 18 months later still no additional keys (we obviously had the locks changed). Hope for the best but not having to move straight in worked well for us.

Christ! What if you had people moving in to yours though? I suspect this would be us if we had to move in less than a day

. I'm very glad we have the month overlap now, even though it is so expensive to have to pay rent and mortgage the same month. I have been contemplating telling the vendor she doesn't need to rush on completion day but sense this may be a bad idea.

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Original poster

user64332 · 07/04/2021 01:50

@Elouera

Not sure what the norm is, but I wrongly thought the EA might say something when giving us the keys. 'Congratulations', ' thanks for buying', 'best of luck etc. That was clearly too much for her to bother with and I got a rather stern 'here you go' as she thrust the keys into my hand!!!

Yes that does sound anticlimactic but I would expect no less from my experience so far! Other than our broker actually who has been so lovely and helpful and I will definitely be using again in future.

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Cattitudes · 07/04/2021 07:18

The estate agents we bought through did give us a bottle of bubbly, but I would not be surprised if it had been on a BOGOF offer as I imagine they had a party too.

Ours is a beautiful, but unique, property and the vendors had been a nightmare throughout the process, the estate agents failed to hide their frustration with them. They had far longer dealing with them than we did. The house and location is perfect for us which is what matters in the long run.

ConstanceGracy · 07/04/2021 09:17

@Elouera

Not sure what the norm is, but I wrongly thought the EA might say something when giving us the keys. 'Congratulations', ' thanks for buying', 'best of luck etc. That was clearly too much for her to bother with and I got a rather stern 'here you go' as she thrust the keys into my hand!!!

We got a tote bag and a keyring .. 😂

Gemma2019 · 07/04/2021 10:19

I thought solicitors always told you to get buildings insurance from exchange nowadays in case anything happens to the property between exchange and completion and you are still legally obliged to buy it.

Original poster

user64332 · 07/04/2021 11:58

@Gemma2019 we have not officially been told we have exchanged. Just that the completion date is set.

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murbblurb · 07/04/2021 12:16

Oh dear. Ring your solicitor and find out what the hell is going on. You decide on completion date in consultation with the vendor. With no exchange, nothing is guaranteed.

murbblurb · 07/04/2021 15:11

Sorry,just seen update about useless solicitor - but even more reason to chase them! And if the invoice is higher than the quote without a really good reason, raise a complaint.

starfishmummy · 07/04/2021 15:31

We also didnt move in straight away. If you can't get the keys yourself on the day, arrange for someone else to get them.

You might want to change the locks asap or arrange a locksmith (or other competent person) to do it. I'm not saying that our sellers were dodgy but we got one set of keys. I'm pretty sure that between a couple, their 18 yo son and a lodger there should have been more. We made sure to bolt the back door from the inside, so only needed to change the front one initially.

user1471538283 · 07/04/2021 17:25

The house becomes yours so you get the keys! How exciting!

I've never had anything from estate agents. One old witch just thrust the keys at me!

Bouledeneige · 11/04/2021 00:41

I completed last week. On the day the removal men turned up and as they cleared the rooms we set about cleaning each one. The solicitor rang to say the money had gone through and I could drop off my keys (I didn't in the end as my estate agents had a set already so I left the spares in the house). Then the solicitor rang to say the money had cleared on my purchase and I could go and collect the keys for my new home. So we finished cleaning and went having made sure we had taken final meter readings and not left anything behind.

Fourstonesmash · 11/04/2021 00:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RainingBatsAndFrogs · 11/04/2021 04:27

Completion means the house belongs to you and the vendor has to have vacated by then! Definitely do not tell your vendor not to rush!

Even if you are not moving in on completion day, pick up the keys and go and check the property is as agreed. If they have left the house full of furniture and crap, or removed an important fitting that you had bought with the house (e.g an integrated kitchen) then you need to get on to your solicitor immediately!

Make sure it’s Buildings Insurance cover you get.

But check you have exchanged.