Exchanging day before completion?

[North0ftheBorder]

I’ve not moved house for over 20 years so I’m hoping to get some advice (questions have been sent to solicitors but they aren’t the quickest!). Our buyer has suddenly said that they can only exchange contracts the day before the proposed completion date. Is this normal? They’ve been pushing us for reductions throughout the process so I’m concerned that this will be an attempt to pull a final gazunder. As we are in a chain, will we all need to exchange at the same time? It seems very risky to leave it to the last minute!

People do exchange a day before completion or even the same day as completion (simultaneous exchange & completion).

However, everyone in the chain has to agree to the dates so what they have suggested may not be acceptable to you or to other people in the chain.

Most people prefer at least a week between exchange & completion in order to be able to do things like confirm with a removals company. So it may be worth exploring if they really do have to get their own way on this or whether the completion date could be pushed back a week later than the exchange date.

Thank you, that’s really helpful.

"They’ve been pushing us for reductions throughout the process so I’m concerned that this will be an attempt to pull a final gazunder."

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ...

Yup! Hoping it won’t be the case as we made clear that the last reduction would be the final one… won’t stop them trying though 🙄

Update: our buyer wants to exchange the day before completion as his deposit is coming from a Transfer of Equity. This might be a stupid question, but could they not do the ToE at any point and then hold the funds ready for exchange, say, a week later? As it is, the bottom of the chain will force the rest of the chain extra expense for expedited exchange fees plus all the stress and uncertainty of it all going wrong on the day. Really don’t want to be backed into a corner, especially if the buyers will chance asking for a reduction.

The situation is extra frustrating as our EA did not fully explain the buyer’s situation at all. Throughout the process, we’ve been told that he’s solid and ready to exchange as soon as possible, but there’s been hurdle after hurdle. Our solicitor seems annoyed that I’m now questioning the exchange date given by the buyer. Surely there’s room to compromise? So stressful!