Timings on completion day

[HouseofDreams]

Could someone walk me through completion day? I have never bought and sold on the same day before.

exchange a week prior.
first time buyer for our house.
we are buying a house from seller, who is buying an empty property.

our new house is about 2 hours away from our current one, we are using a packing service which will pack and collect the night before and store overnight.

we aren’t sure when to set off for the new house, as it’s such a long drive.

thank you!

What time does your contract say? :)

Until the money hits your bank account and the money for the new house is taken, you still own your house and don’t own the new one.
it could be afternoon before this happens - with our last move it was 3pm! Our removals men had set off at 12 and said they’d stop for lunch and await a call from us. DH drove to the new house (well the estate agent selling it) in the morning to collect the keys as soon as everything had gone through and I set off from our old house when it had. It’s a nerve wracking time!

I think you just set off for the new house as soon as you're packed and ready to go! If you'll be collecting the keys from a local agent maybe there's somewhere nearby you can go and have a coffee or lunch but hopefully it'll all have happened by the time you arrive. If your buyers are first time buyers then you shouldn't have to wait ages as it's just their money that has to clear, you don't have to wait for it to move up the chain.

When we moved, the money cleared from our buyers at 1pm and then we got a call about an hour later saying our onwards purchase had gone through and we could collect the keys.

5:27pm for us!

money got stuck in the banking system!

we were moving to a new build and sold our old one to them so what should have been a simple transaction but they still “bought” our house and then that’s where the money got stuck!

Yes we had a problem with a stuck transfer last time. Arrived at 1ish, got the keys at 4.27pm. The movers worked until 8pm and we were very glad I had booked an hotel for the night.

Same here!
It was so late by the time we got notification that the solicitors & EA had all gone home and we were told to drop our old keys through the solicitors letterbox.☹️

By a happy twist of fate we had already moved out (a few days earlier) so I had returned expecting to have just an hour or so to do a final clean-up but I was stuck there for over 6hrs!
Our buyers weren't moving in straight away either, in fact I later learnt from my old neighbour that no-one turned up for several weeks!🤔

Your removals men probably charge overtime from a ridiculously early time like 3pm so they will be setting off as soon as they are all packed up. You need to be organised for someone to get the keys to the new house from the agent as soon as the agent gets the nod from your vendors' solicitor to release them.

We were in a similar chain to you (although we were buying an empty house and selling to first time buyers).

Our sale completed at about 11:30.

Had same chain and situation to you- completion on our old property was at about midday (which is also when our contract said we had to be out), we did a 3 hour drive to our new place and by the time we were there completion had happened on the new property too. Bit weird to drive for that amount of time while you're technically homeless but you just do it and trust it all works out!

As someone who’s sale didn’t complete - money got stuck down the line - don’t go until sale and purchase has been confirmed. I had a much longer journey and of course we were to complete on a Friday. So the movers had packed everything down the choice was to camp out on bare floorboards or stay in a hotel. We chose the latter and the moving company stored our property in their trucks fur the weekend. Nightmare.
However the usual time is 1pm - if no glitch that’s when money should have been all transferred and keys available. Then set off - you can drive quicker than the movers.

That sounds stressful @mondaytosunday- but if sale is confirmed I don't see how hanging around makes much difference even if purchase isn't, if there is a hold up with the purchase you wouldn't be able to stay in your own property as you no longer own it.

It can't really be predicted as its to do with when money hits the bank.

We where no chain and I'm a first time cash buyer and money had already been sorted and transferred to holding (no mortgage to deal with). Everything online said to expect it by from as early as 9am but that it wouldn't be later than 11am really.

I actually got the call to come collect the keys from the EA just after 1pm and my solicitor didn't actually confirm it until after 4.30pm (and I was already at the house by then lol).

We are in this position. So does that mean by 11.30am you had to be out your house? I need to be organised!

What time do removals pack the van if they're doing it that morning usually?

Your solicitor will phone you when everything has gone through. At that point you legally own your new home. So confirm to your insurance company. Assuming you have read all the meters and taken photos to confirm you can drop the keys off and drive to your new house to pick up the new keys. Or. You can leave the keys with the estate agent or your solicitor and drive to your new house and await the phone call. Don’t forget to read the meters in your new house as soon as you move in. You might want to change the locks too.

People moving in are generally flexible but the house of course isn’t yours any more so you really need to get out asap unless they’re happy for you to be moving out whilst they are moving in. Better to be ready by midday. Most completions ( I’ve moved a lot ) happen between 12 and 2pm

I was in a similar sized chain. We got the sale confirmation around 11.45 and purchase confirmation about an hour later. We didn't quite clear out until 1pm ISH as our movers didn't empty the house until completion day so we had to clean after they left. ( We didn't have a long journey though).

I'd pack up and set off as soon as you have cleaned up the old house.

I’ve moved so many times in my life and have tried different ways and seen some interesting experiences!

normally completion is late morning lunch time, that’s on your sale, you will get a call from your solicitor telling you, you sit tight and wait for the call to say your purchase has gone through that’s when you go. Your solicitor should be able to give you rough time lines nearer the time.

you say you’re having a package the day before and going into storage? It does make things easier, I assume they will leave a bed and essentials a small van load basically. You might find it more cost effective if you’ve only the one lorry full to buy a blowup bed so you don’t see the removal men at all on the day at your old house.

with it being a two hour drive, I don’t know if you have children, I’ve done this just the two of us and with 3 children - men take everything completely apart from stuff you need to camp out in the old house - blow up beds, basic cleaning, kettle etc. morning spent doing last jobs and infact nice and I rushed. Phone calls come through. Into the car and up to your new house collect keys set up camp in new house and have time to look round etc do any cleaning . next morning the men arrive nice and early and have the full day to get you moved in. I found this worked well and was less stressful. I’ve also done where they’ve left essentials and collected them in a van the next day, dropped essentials into new property mid/late pm with rest arriving next day, this I think was more stressful and cost more.

We were at the bottom of the chain and didn’t complete until 2pm. No idea where it got stuck. Our seller completed on their purchase after 4pm, there were another two houses in the chain so I suspect they didn’t complete that day.

In your situation I’d set off mid morning, then hang around in a cafe or similar (I know our sellers did after they dropped off the keys).

There were three people in our chain. The ftb at the bottom completed at 11am. Our buyers completed at 3pm. We completed at 5.20 pm and we have no idea why there was a delay. We moved to a new build and the sales person was due to finish at 5pm, but stayed until we got the keys, because the following day was her day off.

On the other hand, the removal company couldn’t unload in the dark and had been waiting at the house since 1pm, so they went home and we had to stay in a Premier Inn and pay another £350 for them to come back the following day.

We still don’t know why there was a delay and who was responsible. My feeling is that the useless purchase conveyancer had a lot to do with it.

We had packers who came the day before, and finished off the morning off the move. They were out by 10am. Then we did a final clean and tidy.

Thank you all that’s really helpful.
no kids but we do have pets.
will aim to be ready for 9am, and await the call.
perhaps set off around 10/11am if not heard yet, due to the drive?

I feel like either way you are going to be waiting around so once your house sale has gone through or even before I would start driving. I can't see much benefit to sitting in an empty house. I would expect the money moving up the chain would be around the same time as the drive anyway.

Enjoy your new House of Dreams OP

On my last sale and purchase the vendors were a real pain although their estate agents were ok. Monies arrived late morning and I needed to get in to my new house asap as had been between houses and living in my van for 6 months through Covid. I also had to work that night and wanted to pull carpets up ready for my furniture to arrive a couple of days later from storage. ( house was minging). Even though the house was mine the vendors refused me to collect keys until 1pm. The estate agent was miles from my new house so needed to get there and sit around waiting until 1pm exactly. Picked up keys and drove to the house. Vendors had left but they’d had a packing service and left lots of dirt. Vendor arranged cleaners that afternoon while I was pulling carpets up.
in previous moves I’ve usually arranged to get a key to buyers beforehand and leave copies in the house. I think the latest monies have gone through has been about 2pm