How does it work when you are buying and selling, completing on same day?

[IWillAlwaysBeinaClubWithYouin1973]

I've moved into a rental so count me out of issue, but ex-H still in our marital home. He's buying another house with a small mortgage plus most (but not all) of his share of the equity. So on the day of completion he gets his share of the sale proceeds into his bank account (and my share into mine)? And our old mortgage is paid off by our solicitor? Does that mean that all at the same time his new mortgage monies are paid to his vendor's solicitor, and he also has to transfer the remaining required portion of his equity?

Sorry if I'm not explaining it very well but exH seems to think he will sell our house, still live in it, get the money and THEN set a completion date for his new house. I've googled but I think I'm putting the wrong search terms in so please do give me a steer!

He has to be out in order to get the sale money- vacant possession is required on completion.
But let his solicitor deal with it, so long as you won’t be buying on the same day, it’s probably best for you to keep your distance.

If you are exchanging and completing on the same day it means that you get the keys to your new place and your buyer gets the keys to your old place. All monies are exchanged by the respective solicitors. You will have deposited any extra monies with them, SDLT, deposits, balances etc in advance and you move out.

What your exH is saying doesn’t make sense. Only if he has a very specific agreement from his buyers and they’d be mad to agree to him living there once they own the house - are they cash buyers? No mortgage lender would agree to this, as previous poster said they all insist on vacant possession.
Most usual way is that everyone in the chain completes on the same day (and often exchanges on the same day) and there is a ‘money cascade’ starting with the bottom of the chain going up - it can feel a bit dicey nearer the top of the chain if the money doesn’t come through before banks close and you hear stories of people having all their possessions stored over night in removal vans and checking into hotels but if it’s a small chain this shouldn’t be an issue.
maybe check what’s happening with your solicitor. Not sure what your relationship with ex is like but would it be amusing to see him evicted and homeless whilst waiting for completion on his new place?

@JinglingGin I told him today to check with his solicitor, I asked had he really intended to move out and put his furniture into storage?

@Doggymummar not its not exchange and complete on same day - I'm asking about completing on both an old and a new property, on the same day, so you can move out of one and into the other.

@DelphiniumBlue so he has to leave before completion? I didn't think that was the case? I was asking about his "plan" (!) to stay after completion on our old house, and then sort out completing on his new house. I don't think he has to move out before completion, unless house buying has changed that much since we bought it. I thought he had to move out on the actual day, in the morning. He thinks he can stay. But I definitely don't think he has to move out beforehand, it's not a rental.

His buying and selling will complete on the same day. He won’t have to move any money - it is all done by the solicitors and banks. Any left over equity (eg your share) will be distributed by the solicitors (you need to be in contact with them so your funds go straight to you). He will have to be out of the house he has sold by an agreed time on completion day (often 12 noon). People often achieve this by having the removals people take most of the stuff the day before and just sweeping up the last thing son the day, storing them overnight in the trucks. Or, if the allele has somewhere else to sleep, taking it all the day before. Depends how much stuff there is. And then in the afternoon you move in to the new one. As a pp poster says, with a long chain you sort of hope that some of the upstream people can get out earlier to make it work better and it relies on the money flowing fast enough.

He will have to move out on the day of completion, once the money has moved and the sale of your house is completed you will no longer own it and he will have to be gone to allow the new owners to move in that day if they wish. If he is buying a new property he will have had to send any additional funds needed to the solicitor for that in advance, then when the purchase of his new property completes he gets the keys/moves in that day. He cant stay in a house that you/he doesnt own anymore!

Once the sale is completed it's not his house anymore so he will have to be out! I've just received sale contracts to sign for our house and it clearly states we are expected to leave the property vacant by midday. The new owners will be expecting to get the keys and move in on the day of completion.

So no he can't live there after completion, unless I suppose there's an arrangement that he rents from the new owners for a period of time

@SlenderRations this was exactly my understanding.

I suppose realistically you can’t just sit back and watch the chaos unfold as it might affect your funds being realeased if possession isn’t vacant. I would give your solicitor and EA a heads up that this is what he thinks and let them sort it with them.

He has to leave on the day of completion, technically before the funds can be released. In practice this usually means by the time stated in the contract, usually 2pm but can be earlier.

You’re right, he has to move out on the day of completion. The exact timing can be a bit unclear - I’ve sat outside the house that we now owned waiting for the previous owners to finish emptying it! But once they’ve paid him (and you) the money, it’s their house. He doesn’t have to complete on his new purchase on that same day, he could wait, but he would need somewhere else for him and his stuff to live until then.

@JinglingGin your scenario happened to us last week. We were the top of a chain of three, moving into an empty house. Our buyers had a first time buyer, who completed before midday. Our buyers completed mid afternoon and we didn’t complete until after 5pm, by which time the removal firm had to go.

We spent the night in a hotel and paid an extra fee for the furniture etc, to be delivered the following day. It really should be more instantaneous in this day and age.

@Bluevelvetsofa so stressful! When we moved our buyers were the bottom of the chain but were doing some kind of part buy first time buyer scheme so the money was coming from two different places which slowed it down. We only completed at 3pm and there were two more above us in the chain - I never heard if they managed to do it before 5 but I was getting lots of stressed phone calls from their agents whilst we were waiting to complete!!! Really is a stupid system. Tbh what the OP partner is misguidedly thinking happens might actually work better…

Unless you have a massive savings account, you can't own 2 houses at the same time. You need to have sold the first one (and have emptied it of everything) and be homeless for a few minuites until you buy the new one.

All the money from the sale goes to the Solicitors. In your case, they will pay off the mortgage, pay you your share, pay the estate agents, themselves and any stamp duty. Then collect together anything remaining, any cash he adds in, and the new mortgage, and send it to the next solicitor. Then he can collect the new keys, and start emptying the vans.

Unless you have a massive savings account, you can't own 2 houses at the same time. You need to have sold the first one - you know the number of people that have asked me why he hasn't moved into his new house yet, been asking that for 2+ years too - I think I am going mad. All professional people who own houses themselves too. But that's a thread about people being obtuse but it does make me question my sanity hence this thread!

He'll have to move out on the day of completion - there's normally a time put into contract, but it can happen anytime from 11am onwards, so certainly aim to be out and have house cleaned by the time in the contract.

You will get your share as soon as solicitors have time to sort, his half will be separated and go into an account with his mortgage funds and these funds can be used for ongoing purchase.

Tell him to check with his solicitor.

Well they probably mean:
"Has (the old house been sold yet & has) he moved into the new house yet?"

The bit in brackets isn't needed to be spoken out loud because it more typical that one only owns one family home at once.

Sell the house and still live in it? Where exactly does he think the buyers will live?

Your ex is wrong.

At exchange, contracts are exchanged and deposits go up the chain but there's no change in ownership. He can stay put at that point but won't have the sale money (technically he'll own the deposit money, but in practice that stays in the conveyor's account).

At completion, money goes one way and ownership goes the other way at the same instant. The seond he gets the money he no longer owns the house, and cant stay in it.

Generally each purchase in the chain triggers the next one automatically, but it is possible to sell your house and sit on the cash for a while before buying thre next one. You just have to sit on it somewhere else - not in the house you don't own.