House move in a chain:How does it work?

[Threemangoes]

We are selling and buying a house so in a chain involving 4-5 properties. If you've done this before then I need some help to understand this.
How does the exchange/completion work? How can I book my renovations when I don't know when will we move?

Will we get the keys same day we have to leave our house? How does painting the house work with kids? How did you manage?

We just had to manage! We moved in and just had to make do and do what needed doing gradually over time and around family life.

we exchanged one week and then completed and moved the following week. Once we had the completion date we confirmed the removals and then on the day, the whole chain complete at the same time and I guess in theory everyone should be ready to leave their old property at that point. In practice, the house we were buying was not empty for about 6 more hours (they were using the same removal company that we had, but the company had over stretched themselves a bit, so didn’t get a lorry to them on time in the morning).

i guess if you are wanting to do major renovations, you could pay to put your stuff in storage and move in to a rental, but I think people generally just get on with it and make do.

what needs doing in the house you are buying?

Once all of the surveys, searches have been done and everything has been agreed, you will sign papers in readiness for your conveyancer to exchange them with your buyer and your vendor. At the same point, all parties agree a completion date (which is the date you pay the funds and get your keys). Ideally, all parties in the chain complete on the same date.

Once you've exchanged, you'll have a completion date after which you can start planning your renovations. Don't book anything before you've exchanged because it might not all go to plan.

Your conveyancer and estate agent should be able to talk you through all of this and guide you on what steps you need to be planning for.

Yes, you leave your house the same day you get the keys to your new place. It's a juggle and lots of waiting around following by frantic unloading of the removal van at your new place. Try to get the kids looked after for the day.

Once you're in your new place, you can start painting. In my experience, I've done renovations and/decorating bit by bit which is the more costly way to do it but most effective way to be able to live in the house while the works are done.

If you have the funds, you could get a short term rent to live in while your new home is being renovated, but renovations often over-run so be prepared for extra rental and build costs.

Do you mean book removal form rather than renovations?

you need to move out of your house and into the new house on the same day.

be packed and ready to leave first thing. Your removal form lids everything up and you drop keys to your estate agent. Usually you need to shave this done by noon.

you then pick up the keys to the new house from the vendor’s estate agent. There will be some waiting around. I didn’t get my keys until 4pm.

removal forms are used to this. I booked when I was given a date by my solicitor but warned the removal company it could change.

Oh these are brilliant replies just the information I was looking for.
Nedd to get all bathrooms done and paint the house. We are thinking of camping downstairs whilst I finish painting upstairs let's see.

What we’ve always done is move in, live with it for a bit and then gradually change things one room at a time, starting with the most urgent. So we only ever have one room that we can’t use at a time. Much less disruptive than doing everything at once.

The thing that holds the chain up on completion day is the movement of money. The person at the bottom of the chain ( well, their solicitor) has to transfer the money to the next persons in the chain before keys are released. The second person then pays the third person and so on. This takes place over the course of the day with the last person in the chain waiting around to get confirmation that the money for their house has been paid.

You will be told by your solicitor when the money has been transferred and you should not expect to move your stuff in until your buyers solicitor has the funds. The problem is that this takes time, especially if a solicitor goes off for lunch just as someone is waiting to transfer their money!

In my last house move I had the buyers and their removal men sat outside my house from 10am and I could not let them start unpacking until 3pm when my solicitor said that the money had transferred. It was awful really, I was finished and ready to go but my solicitor went off for lunch at the crucial time!

That's some solid information to help us. Thanks so much.

Everyone in the chain has to choose a day to move and yes you get the keys to the new house on the day you move out of the old house.

Your solicitor & your Estate Agent will guide you through the process

see the whole movie, from which this is an extract:
3

apparently available at Amazon for £5.99 - well worth it.

And you will forewarned to expect the worst on moving day itself!

Good luck.