How much notice for exchange/completion?

[MollyHollyPolly]

I'm just waiting on an email from my solicitor to confirm all enquiries are complete and we can agree a completion date.

Am I looking at days, weeks?

My solicitor originally indicated mid March but things seem to have progressed quicker than expected!

Has the solicitor had all the searches back? If so, they will now prepare their final report for your review. This will include all the documentation for you to sign. It usually takes a few days to a week for them to produce the report, depending on the rest of their workload.

Is your question how long from now to exchange, or how long to then complete?

Solicitor has said all searches completed and all enquiries cleared up.

A bit of both really, this is my first sale. Can you not exchange and complete at the same time?

You can exchange and complete at the same time if you are ready to leave and give vacant possession by noon (ish) on the day of completion, and so can everyone else in the chain.

Are you in a chain? Everyone in the chain has to exchange and complete simultaneously. So you may need wait if your buyers have a property to sell. Are you buying, too?

At exchange you set the completion date. Most people prefer at least a couple of days to arrange removals / finish packing / sort utilities and insurance etc. Some people say they would like to complete in two weeks time or whatever.

But whenever the preferred completion date , get exchanged as soon as possible because then the deal is sealed!

You can but it's an added level of stress if you don't need to. Standard is a few days to a fortnight between exchange and completion so you have a buffer in case there's a sudden delay to exchange.

As soon as you've completed you/the vendor have to leave the property/properties empty and be out.

If everything is back and you just need to sign then poss exchange by end of week, and complete end of next week.
It does depend on whether you are in a chain of course, as this needs to fit with everyone else.

You can exchange and complete at the same time if you are ready to leave and give vacant possession by noon (ish) on the day of completion, and so can everyone else in the chain

Simultaneous exchange and completion in a chain is risky, and unless there's a very good reason for it, should be avoided at all costs. A couple of weeks between the two is far more sensible.

I would recommend a couple of weeks between exchange and completion to give enough time to organise finances, arrange removals and pack. It just reduces any stress.
I would never agree to simultaneously exchange and complete. Too much chance that something would go wrong.

I had simultaneous exchange and completion on my first ever purchase but we didn't have a chain and both had very specific circumstances which enabled it.

The exchange had had a last minute delay, so without committing to anything, both parties already had a completion date we were working towards.

I was moving out of rented and deliberately had overlap to enable some work to be done, they were moving in with family so had flex. It meant we could both afford to take the risk if there had been a last minute hitch.

I wouldn't be able to do it now with kids and half a lifetimes worth of stuff to need packing up. Plus removal firms need a few weeks notice.

Buyers are first time buyers and we already have another house we're moving into, so no chain luckily.

Thanks for everyone's help!