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Original poster

Seller wants to exchange three months before they can complete

87 replies

mullingitallover · 06/12/2022 18:15

Our seller does not want to complete until March 2023 as they would need to pay a mortgage rebate.

They are however pushing for an exchange of contracts before Christmas.

Weirdly they said they would complete before March, but only if we agreed to pay half of their mortgage rebate

Thoughts or advice please?

OP posts:

RandomMess · 06/12/2022 18:19

Are you happy to complete in March?

Once you exchange both are you are committed and there will be financial implications if you pull out.

Will your mortgage offer still be valid?

PoinsettiaPosturing · 06/12/2022 18:19

Tell them to get to fuck. 28 days is the maximum I'd do between exchanging and completing. Unless you don't need the funds for the onward purchase, it's their choice to move or not!

LittleBearPad · 06/12/2022 18:21

The most stressful bit of home buying is getting to exchange. If you can wait until March to move then it wouldn’t be so bad

pilates · 06/12/2022 18:22

Do you mean early redemption penalty?
Will your mortgage offer expire by then?

Wibbly1008 · 06/12/2022 18:23

Hell no. It’s their mortgage, their problem. Do not do this, it ties you in to their problem.

Original poster

mullingitallover · 06/12/2022 18:27

@RandomMess @pilates
Our mortgage offer expires on 21 March. They want to complete after 2 March

But if we exchange now and anything gets wrong between now and March - we lose 10%, right?

OP posts:

AdoraBell · 06/12/2022 18:27

They want you to pay half of their mortgage rebate?

Tell them you want the Crown Jewels for Christmas from them.

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 06/12/2022 18:29

No.

It’s their drama, tell them to act in it.

Bamaluz · 06/12/2022 18:29

There are too many things that could go wrong between now and March that could leave you liable for costs if you are unable to proceed, such as job losses, increase in mortgage rates, severe illness/accident etc.

RandomMess · 06/12/2022 18:30

It is risky due to job loss etc. yes you would lose your deposit.

pilates · 06/12/2022 18:30

You will forfeit the deposit if you don’t complete and if your seller doesn’t complete you will get the deposit.

Unicorn2022 · 06/12/2022 18:34

Cheeky sods. Tell them you will complete on 2 March if they give you half of the money they save on the mortgage redemption fee. How much is it anyway? They normally taper down to very little at the end of the fixed term.

Youwhatnowffs · 06/12/2022 18:35

Speak to your solicitor (hopefully you’re not using a licensed conveyancer - they may be cheap but they’re often very inexperienced). We did this - the elderly outgoing vendors had 30 years of crap they needed to sort out and we (and our buyers!) were happy to wait. What’s the situation with your buyers? It’s not really that much of a drama - I assume your surveyor has a shed load of photos and it’s the vendors obligation to keep the property in decent nick till you get in….

RodiganReed · 06/12/2022 18:37

There are risks that come with a long exchange to completion date. In fact our solicitor wanted us to sign a waiver to say we understood the risks - as it happens it wasn't needed in the end but I appreciated my solicitor's frankness.

Youwhatnowffs · 06/12/2022 18:37

Other question - if they’re having to pay an early repayment fee why are they leaving so soon? Ie. Are they getting divorced (normal) or are there nightmare neighbours?!

Original poster

mullingitallover · 08/12/2022 08:05

Apologies for the drip feed on this today

I should have mentioned we're tied to a rental until March anyway.

Maybe we should just exchange now to secure the house - with awareness of the risks.

Does anyone have advice re: building insurance as we'd be responsible for that after exchanging, right?

OP posts:

pilates · 08/12/2022 09:18

Yes you need to insure from exchange

Reallybadidea · 08/12/2022 09:31

What does your solicitor advise?

superdupernova · 08/12/2022 09:36

I wouldn't exchange so far in advance. Far too much time for something to go wrong or your circumstances to change. It doesn't sound like your sellers would be generous enough to forgo the deposit if something went wrong and you had to back out.

I guess there's no real ideal time. My uncle once lost his job in the two weeks between exchange and completion (the company collapsed) but their sellers were generous enough to agree the deposit could be returned- minus the small amount of fees they'd incurred. They were lucky.

Original poster

mullingitallover · 08/12/2022 09:49

@Reallybadidea our solicitor advises waiting

Our sellers agent now telling us their seller won't wait until March to exchange, it has to be by Christmas.

Surely this is on our seller ( not us) to suck up their mortgage penalty so we can all complete sooner??

We're willing to pay a couple of months wasted rent at our end to complete now to avoid the bigger potential risk/loss of anything unexpected happening between now and March

OP posts:

Reallybadidea · 08/12/2022 10:08

Well they can't have it both ways then. They should have budgeted for the early redemption penalty.

RandomMess · 08/12/2022 10:12

How much is the penalty?

I would offer a compromise of exchanging 6-8 weeks before to demonstrate you are committed.

Suedomin · 08/12/2022 10:15

I think you should take the advice of your solicitor.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 08/12/2022 10:16

I wouldn’t touch this with a bargepole. You’d have to insure the house.

Listen to your solicitor. That’s what you are paying them for.

harriethoyle · 08/12/2022 10:22

This seems like a situation where you are bearing all the risk and they are getting all the benefits! I would either say happy to exchange by Christmas and complete in Jan/early Feb, or happy to exchange in Feb and complete in March. Agree with PP that 28 days is the longest I would do this for. Imagine if you lost your job or your mortgage offer was pulled etc? It would be catastrophic.

They won't remarket and sell between now and March, realistically and it will cost them time and money. I'd stand firm if I were you.

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