Come moving home day, the big exciting start-of-a-new-era day, the next big adventure, what actually happens? Well, sometimes it all goes smoothly, sometimes not, really.
It all depends on how things pan out with payments before you can get your hands on the keys to your new front door. This is Completion Day. The completion of the contract when funds are transferred. However, your solicitor needs to transfer funds from the sale of your house to pay for your next home when they receive funds transferred from the buyer of your house.
Sound confusing? Less so if the buyer of your home is a first-time buyer or somebody who was previously renting a place. Then their funds will transfer to you. And then transferred to the owners of your next home.
However, human inconsistencies can creep in at this stage. It’s not unusual to find some sticking point where a solicitor has gone out for lunch or has been so snowed under with other cases that they have temporarily forgotten you.
When the transfers go through depends where you are in the chain. Your contract will stipulate not only a date, but also a time of completion. Quite regularly, that’s set at 1pm. It might seem a bit arbitrary, but say your first-time buyer who isn’t in a chain is able to transfer their money to you early morning, you still have some time not to vacate your premises and wait for your transfer in turn to be received by who’s selling to you. If you’re unlucky then you won’t be able to move in until later on in the day. Which could mean some explaining to do to your removals company.
It is though in your rights to contact your solicitor at midday and request the state of play. You are paying the solicitor after all. And you don’t have to have that fixed 1pm contract time to move out. You can negotiate another time. It’s fair enough also to chase your solicitor, make a nuisance of yourself by calling every half hour after 12. Make sure you’re not forgotten.
If you’re local to Swindon and surveying the market right now and you’re reading this to prepare yourself for the time and day you move, we are a premium estate agent. Let us show you houses for sale in Swindon and once you decide on a property, help guide you through the entire process.