Exchange and completion when buying a part exchange property

[AuntieJoyce]

Wondering if anyone can help me with their experiences from buying a part exchange property.

I’ve been advised that I can now exchange as all the investigative work has been completed. The couple selling, who are buying a new property, have apparently already exchanged on their new house.

I don’t yet have a completion date though. The sale negotiator tells me this is normal when buying a part exchange property, and it won’t be possible to confirm a completion date until the property the couple are buying is inspected for its NHBC.

I am very comfortable buying the property, but I don’t want to exchange and then be left waiting for months on end if something goes wrong with the inspection for example.

Has anyone been in the situation and is it normal to not have a fixed completion date when buying a part exchange property and are there any pitfalls for me to be aware of? Many thanks

I have been on the other side and as far as I’m aware yes it is normal. We part exchanged our old house for our new build. We agreed the part exchange with the builders and they sold it in to someone else almost immediately, but that buyer had to wait for our new build to be ready before anyone could complete. That’s the main reason we did part exchange, as we knew the new build would take a few months and we didn’t want to risk a sale falling through if we couldn’t move as quickly as the buyers wanted.

And yes you could be waiting for months until your house is available, if there are delays with the new build.

Thanks @ChessieFL

That’s very risky if you need a mortgage! What happens if the offer expires before you complete?

There should be a date that the new build has to complete by, which is added to your contract too. If it doesn’t happen, you can withdraw.

Thanks for these helpful comments. I have gone back via my solicitor and said that I won’t be exchanging until the NHBC is signed off. Apparently the developer always says no to backstop dates so I’ll protect myself as much as possible myself. It’s a shame my solicitor didn’t suggest it to me first.