Article from ‘Todays Conveyancer’

Sarah Dwight sent through an article of interest.

I responded to it and I considered that for those interested in the completion process and the timeframes it might make interesting reading.

Link to : ‘Todays Conveyancer’

Research confirms rising expectations from conveyancing clients.

Chris Harris, 27th January 2014

Research by myhomemove, the UK’s leading provider of mover conveyancing services, has revealed that the length of time between ‘exchange and completion’ when buying or selling a property, has dramatically decreased in recent years.

The traditional industry standard of 28 days has been shortened in 85% of cases to within 14 days, and in nearly a fifth of cases reduced to simultaneous exchange and completion, as people expect ‘instant results’ when buying or selling their home.

myhomemove research* has revealed that:

•85% of home movers complete within 14 days of exchange

•62% of home movers complete within seven days of exchange

•32% of home movers complete within two days of exchange

•16% of home movers exchange and complete on the same day

Doug Crawford, CEO of myhomemove, explains, “Traditionally estate agents would advise their clients that 28 days was the standard between exchange and completion, allowing people the time to plan their move, book removal vans and organise their families before the big day. However in recent years, this figure has been reduced, with 85% completing within 14 days of exchange and nearly a fifth of our clients signing contracts and picking up the keys on the same day.”

When asked by myhomemove for their views on this shift, nearly 40% of estate agents believed it is down to their client expecting “things to happen instantly” – an expectation that has been developing since 1990s; the last time estate agents regularly remembered the time between exchange and completion being 28 days.

Continuing, Doug said, “Our research suggests that this shift began during the 1990s and grew throughout the 2000s, mirroring the emergence and establishment of the internet. Today people generally search for properties online, so it’s no wonder their expectation is to be able to ‘click and buy’ and to reach completion as quickly as possible.”

Comments

(posted here in date/time order so as to create a ‘conversation’)

Posted by matt faizey at 22:28 27/01/14Great article. There is much more to write on this topic though exploring how and why a widely ignorant public are being not only allowed, but often spoonfed these expectations along the way.
This blog :http://moversandstorers.co.uk/gazumping-gazundering-completing/ explores the problems too. But in truth, this article you have written i would like to use as a springboard for a better blog post this week. It is about time much more text space was devoted to the folly of ridiculously short timeframes between exchange and completion.

Posted by Rob Hailstone at 16:15 28/01/14

Might I suggest that the public are “ignorant” because we, as a profession, have not educated them sufficiently as to the risks involved generally when buying a home and the risks in particular, when exchanging and completing quickly? Maybe that is something we should address?

I’ll keep this updated with any further comments / replies.

Matt

matt@mgtr.co.uk

Click Here to go back to the blog homepage.