What Happens on Completion Day

Even the smoothest of property transactions can seem to last a lifetime. You’ve been waiting for this moment for weeks, maybe months, and finally your completion day is on the horizon. Here’s what you need to do and what to expect.

Complete your packing up

Between exchange of contracts and completion you should’ve almost finished packing up all your belongings from your current property ready for the move, except for maybe a few essentials. On completion day you move into your new home, so you need to spend the morning making sure everything is packed away – minus anything that you have agreed will remain in the property for the new owners.

Clean

Once you’re all packed and ready to go, it’s good practice to make sure the house is free from rubbish and ready for the new owners to move right into. After all, you’d be disappointed if you got to your new home and you had to spend hours cleaning before moving in.

Get confirmation from your solicitor

The solicitors complete the transaction and the sale/purchase is now finalised. Your solicitor will confirm this with you and at this point you must vacate your property and you’re all set to…

Get your new keys!

It’s now time to head to your estate agents and hand over your keys ready for the new buyers to collect. You can then go to the estate agents dealing with your new purchase and collect the keys to your new home. Keys can also be picked up from the seller directly if there are no estate agents involved.

Move in

It’s up to you when you move into your new property. You could do so straight away, or stay with friends or relatives for some time beforehand if you’re going to do renovations to your new home prior to moving in. Even if there is no work to do, you may choose to wait a few days before moving in to take your time unpacking and waiting for any new furniture to arrive. It’s your house now so the choice is yours.

After completion

Your solicitor will be working away in the background for you, making sure that the transaction is registered with the Land Registry and transferring monies as required. Please note that it isn’t uncommon for any monies to arrive to you after completion and you cannot wait until monies are received before you vacate your old property. We always request monies from you and your mortgage lender (if applicable) prior to the completion date, to minimise the risk of any issues with money transmission on the day that could delay completion taking place.

After completion, your solicitor will write to you to confirm completion has taken place and provide you with a final statement of account. Any documents that you receive relating to the property should be kept in a safe place.

The DRN difference

At DRN we have a highly skilled team of conveyancers to help with your new house purchase and the sale of any existing property. We also have an online conveyancing quotation tool which allows you to get a no obligation quotation immediately, just click here to access it and to find out more about our service — DRN buying and selling your home