Exchange and completion on same day- success stories

[twirlsandwhirls]

Hello

We have sold our house and will be moving to a new house.

The people that have bought our house are slightly further ahead in the chain than us and can move in with family if the complete before we do.

The people that we are buying the new house from are moving in to a house with no chain.

Our mortgage lender has said we need to exchange and complete on the same day otherwise we will incur a £10,000 charge. Obviously this is not money we keep in our current accounts. They would refund after we move.

We will also need movers on the day if exchange and completion.

So if we get charged the ERC will they take this from our current account? As I am worried that we don't have funds for this after we have paid everything else.

And secondly any success stories

I completed and exchanged on the same day when I bought in 2007 and when I sold in 2019. There were no issues. Most recent purchase is a new build so we exchanged about 3 months before completion. We didn’t incur a 10k cost! What is this cost for?

Do they mean you have to complete and exchange for the house you are selling AND the house you are buying on the same day? I would expect to complete on the same day otherwise where will the funds for the new property come from if the funds from the sale haven’t come through?
In saying that, I recently exchanged and completed on the same day when selling my DMs house, also my DD did the same a couple of years ago . There were no issues, just a lot of anxious hanging around!

I have exchanged and completed on the same day twice. It was hell both times. After the first time I said never again but it ended up being the only way it could happen.

I don't understand where the £10k ERC charge is coming from from the information in the OP.

Surely they mean you have to complete on your sale and purchase on the same day, not complete on your sale on one day, then complete on a later day on your purchase? The latter would incur the ERC as you'd be briefly without a mortgage.

I'd clarify with them what they mean.

We did exchange and complete same day with 24 hrs notice in 2007. It was stressful but surprisingly doable. Pay solicitors an extra £500 and suddenly things that were impossible get done. And we found a removal company where two guys on day off, hired a van, packed the house and were all done in 5 hrs and we still didn't know if sale had gone through.

It did

I'm a former property solicitor, are you sure they don't mean you need to complete both transactions on the same day? The lender normally wouldn't have anything to do with exchange of contracts and that would make more sense if it's to do with an ERC.

But secondly, exchange and completion on the same day is actually extremely common. It comes with risks of course but if everyone is ready and the money starts moving up the chain early, it's not an issue.

Good luck with your move!

I think you may have misunderstood.

I think the lender requires you to complete on your sale and complete on your purchase on the same day (perfectly normal when porting a mortgage). You can still 'exchange' on both sale and purchase a week/two weeks/a month earlier.

Not exchanging and completing on the same day.

I don't understand that requirement either. I ported my mortgage and I actually think I had 30 days to complete both purchases. But anyway never heard of it being essential to exchange and complete in the same day - I see no advantage to that. Completing on said and purchase on the same day is normal however.
But, yes I've done it same day. Issue is there's no guarantee it will happen. You have to line everything else up and just hope there are no last minute issues. It just makes it more stressful.
By the way back in the day banks used to insist on 28 days between exchange and completion so I'm doubly surprised they want it same day.

We exchanged and completed the same day both times we bought a house, no issues

I think you need to double check what will trigger the 10k charges.

I suspect you need to complete on both houses on the same day - ie always have a mortgage on a property.

Exchanging and completing on the same day is tough. We got the keys to our new house at 5.29 - estate agent shut at 5.30.
Vendors were still in the house when we got there. They left about 6pm, leaving quite a bit if stuff we had to bin or sell.
It was a VERY long day. I would do it again if it was the only way to keep a chain. I wouldn't suggest it as a prefered method.

We’ve exchanged and completed on the same day 3 times and it was fine each time. 2014, 2018 and 2020. Good luck!

I also suspect they mean complete on sale and purchase the same day.

We have just broken the chain and so on the completion of our sale the ERC was payable. This was taken out of the equity in the sale. When we complete on our purchase we will have to apply to our lender for a refund, but they have already confirmed in writing this will be refundable provided we complete by a certain date.

We exchanged on both sale and purchase on the same day and this did not impact the ERC. The mortgage redemption was calculated on completion dates.

We E&C on the same day a couple of years ago, no issues.
It was a probate property we were selling and after an initial flurry of activity our buyers started dragging their heels.
Came to a head when they said they were having a new kitchen delivered and would it be ok to store it in the (empty) house? We said no and all of a sudden they E&C 2-days later!

I can see that if you are living in the house then arranging the logistics is going to be a stressful time.

Thank you all.

I think I'm going to speak to the lender to clarify what triggers the ERC