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Original poster

Exchange/completion on same day. How does it work?

33 replies

Badhabits5 · 11/08/2021 12:12

Hoping to exchange/complete on same day. I haven't asked my solicitor this yet though so I'll see what they come back with. Can't see why the vendor would be unhappy to do so as the property is vacant.

How does it work through? Will the lender release funds before contracts are signed? The bank needs at least 3 days notice.

OP posts:

chukwe · 11/08/2021 12:44

I exchanged and completed on the same day last year on a Friday.

My lender released fund on Wednesday and my buyer released fund at 12:30pm that Friday. We completed before 4pm.

Very very stressful for but all well at last

NatMoz · 11/08/2021 13:39

If I had a choice I wouldn't.

Our exchange was a couple of weeks before completion but due to minor issues it ended up being delayed by a day or 2. If I was exchanging and completing on the same day, this would have caused chaos.

Clydie89 · 11/08/2021 14:11

I worried about this too but it's the done thing in Scotland normally so solicitor wasn't fussed. With a toddler and dog and no family nearby I was freaking out!
We chose to use a removal company which had decent storage fees if needed. They came in first thing,had our contents in a van within an hour and then waited. We followed them around and cleaned/hoovered each room as they emptied it and so the house was empty and spotless within about 2hrs. We handed in key's straight away and the buyer was in by 12pm. We didn't get the keys to our new house until 4pm ,even though it was vacant,because of timings of funds. Even then, the removals guys got all our furniture in and put together our bed etc within about 35mins. Well worth the £500!

Your solicitor will request the funds in advance and most lenders allow them to hold the funds for a day or 2 even if you go beyond the intended date, but that will vary from bank to bank. We're with Santander and they were really flexible!

FizzyTango · 11/08/2021 21:45

It can be done, but in case you run into any problems with drawing down the mortgage money it’s risky. When I bought my house we exchanged and then completed the following day. Our property was vacant too, but our solicitor advised us to do it that way just to be safe. Worked out well!

Subbaxeo · 11/08/2021 21:48

In Scotland, am I right in thinking there is comeback if someone pulls out at a late stage? We did it 5 weeks ago and it worked as we were in rented but it was very stressful as I was worried anything could happen and we would be in complete limbo. We viewed a house and the vendor told me he had accepted an offer from a musician who asked for simultaneous exchange and completion as she was working abroad-he agreed. As they were loading the van, his solicitor called to say she had pulled out, just changed her mind last minute. Horrible.

Mumdiva99 · 11/08/2021 21:48

We did it. The solicitors managed it all. They weren't keen but my husband was. The people we were buying from were even less keen.....but they had pushed us hard to buy then wanted to hold it up at the last minute....it made no sense. "But I need time to get ready....." ..... sorry....no....you knew you were moving when you out the house in the market.

Anyway it can be done if you ask for it.

Mumdiva99 · 11/08/2021 21:49

Typos....put the house on the market....

BonnyBarb · 11/08/2021 21:51

We did it last year. Weren't happy about it but due to the buyer's finance situation it was the only way we could do it. We were on tenter hooks until 4pm having seen our stuff packed and being driven to our new house but not actually knowing we were definitely gong to get the sale money to buy the new house. 3 young kids gong zany round the house at the same time. It was horrendous but it did actually all work out just fine

Tanfastic · 11/08/2021 21:54

I used to be in this line of work and I would say most of our completions were exchanged and completed on the same day, sometimes exchanged the day before. You request the mortgage funds from the bank a few days before completion and they are usually sent the day before. Any surplus funds are requested by the purchaser ample time before this so you have cleared funds for completion day.

It sounds stressful but honestly it is very common to do it this way.

pilates · 11/08/2021 21:59

I wouldn’t want to do it, what have you got to gain from doing that?

spurs4ever · 11/08/2021 22:17

I've done it every time I've bought & sold. Stressful but do-able. Just means you have a very tense period of time where you don't own either house lol x

JulesCobb · 11/08/2021 22:25

@spurs4ever

I've done it every time I've bought & sold. Stressful but do-able. Just means you have a very tense period of time where you don't own either house lol x

Thats how i felt. And when ours was sold i was sat outside the house we no longer owned wondering wtf we do if they sellers changed their minds.

Mumdiva99 · 11/08/2021 22:25

@pilates If you buy in a chain and you have exchanged and then your purchaser pulls out - you are still obligated to buy the house you have exchanged on.

Also - your mortgage offer can technically be revoked between exchange and completion if your circumstances change.

Mumdiva99 · 11/08/2021 22:28

@spurs4ever surely there is no difference on what you own when if you exchange and complete on the same day to if you do it 'normally'. You still all exchange and then complete. It's just simultaneous.

HeddaGarbled · 11/08/2021 22:44

We had first time buyers at the bottom of our chain who tried to insist on that. They’d behaved badly all the way through the process and we were suspicious that they’d try to reduce their offer on the day while everyone had all their worldly goods packed in removal vans, so we refused and insisted on exchange two weeks in advance of completion. We just didn’t trust them not to pull some last minute stunt. It made everything much easier to arrange and was considerably less stressful.

MabelTheCow · 11/08/2021 23:00

We did it … it was awful and stressful but had no choice as bottom of the chain couldn’t exchange before day x and mortgage offer of our buyer expired that weekend.

Japanesejazz · 12/08/2021 00:05

It’s not your concern
Property exchanges are mostly fucked up by clients getting involved because they think nothing is happening
Then they try to get involved and make more complications
When you’re selling your house if your solicitor contacts you more than 4 times you have problems Other than that - no news is good news
During lockdown, most exchanges were SIMS if your onward is empty
What’s your issue

pilates · 12/08/2021 07:06

@mumdiva I do understand the implications of exchange but cannot understand why you would choose to do a simultaneous exchange and completion if in a chain. In the height of the pandemic it was pretty common and advisable to do this. You need to arrange removals and this isn’t recommended until you exchange. Just seems a really stressful situation which I would avoid if at all possible. It is extremely rare once exchange has happened that completion does not take place. If you are not in a chain and not moving in straight away it is doable it just means ordering your mortgage money and getting everything done in advance.

JulesCobb · 12/08/2021 08:00

@Japanesejazz

It’s not your concern Property exchanges are mostly fucked up by clients getting involved because they think nothing is happening Then they try to get involved and make more complications When you’re selling your house if your solicitor contacts you more than 4 times you have problems Other than that - no news is good news During lockdown, most exchanges were SIMS if your onward is empty What’s your issue

You sound like a solicitor… or the partner of one.

If you consider a client phoning up to ask what is happening as getting involved in something that is not their business, and that the phone call will then lead to a fuck up, you obviously weren't actually working properly in the first place.

spurs4ever · 12/08/2021 09:55

[quote Mumdiva99]@spurs4ever surely there is no difference on what you own when if you exchange and complete on the same day to if you do it 'normally'. You still all exchange and then complete. It's just simultaneous.[/quote]
That's the point, it's not simultaneous. There is a short time where you're right in the middle and don't own anything x

Notcontent · 12/08/2021 22:05

Don’t do it!!!!! Imagine this scenario - you are all packed up, ready to go, and on the day the vendor dies not exchange… you have nowhere to go…

GU24Mum · 12/08/2021 22:24

It's just very stressful all round if there's anything of a chain.

The whole point of exchange and then a gap is so that people can pack up, sort out change of address etc knowing that everyone is contractually committed to going ahead. Although it doesn't stop very occasional problems (someone not getting a mortgage/a death), the deposit offers protection.

If you do the whole thing on the same day, everyone has to pack up and do the whole thing........ while not knowing for certain that it will actually go ahead.

And a bit of a separate point, but picking up on an earlier thread, some solicitors do keep in regular contact with their clients and talk them through the process as they go along!

BeautifulandWilfulandDead · 13/08/2021 08:42

This is the norm at the moment apparently, as Covid cases and isolation can scupper plans between exchange and completion. Very stressful, but absolutely doable.

BeautifulandWilfulandDead · 13/08/2021 08:44

@Japanesejazz

It’s not your concern Property exchanges are mostly fucked up by clients getting involved because they think nothing is happening Then they try to get involved and make more complications When you’re selling your house if your solicitor contacts you more than 4 times you have problems Other than that - no news is good news During lockdown, most exchanges were SIMS if your onward is empty What’s your issue

I'm sorry, I couldn't agree more. My home, my sale, my purchase, and my money paying the solicitor's fee. It's all very much my business!

BeautifulandWilfulandDead · 13/08/2021 08:44

I couldn't disagree more, that should say!

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