Christmas is a time to get together with family and friends, eat and drink until we are merry, and generally have a stress-free time, but it is also a very stressful time for people exchanging and completing before Christmas, with the hope of getting their decorations up before Santa arrives!

There are many reasons why people rush to complete their moves before Christmas: a fresh new start ready for the New Year, a wish to be in a larger place to accommodate family and friends over the festive period, or perhaps just a need to have a larger fire place for Santa.

The result of this brings with it a sudden rush, and extra pressure upon residential conveyancers to get the matter across the line ahead of the Christmas break.

We will do our very best to get you in before Christmas, but in order to help the transaction run more smoothly and give yourself the best chance of exchanging and completing before Christmas, here are a few things you can do:

  1. Make sure your mortgage offer is in place: Make sure that you have your mortgage offer in place as soon as possible in order to potentially prevent any last-minute delays.
  2. Make sure your survey is completed at an early stage: Surveys can sometimes lead to price re-negotiations and the revelation of unforeseen issues. Getting this in place early will allow you to sort any potential bumps in the road, and if negotiations are needed on the purchase price, there will be plenty of time to ensure a new mortgage offer is prepared if the price changes.
  3. Make sure that any signed papers are returned to your conveyancer promptly: Understandably, the postal service will be under much greater pressure than usual, so it is imperative that you return signed papers to your conveyancer as soon as you can.
  4. Order any sales packs, or ask your solicitor to obtain the packs on your behalf: Where service charges are paid to any management company, managing agent, or landlord, there is often a management pack providing all the necessary information that any buyer’s solicitor will need. The management company will usually make a charge for providing this information, and it can often take a number of weeks to be sent through once payment has been made.
  5. Confirm your Completion Dates: Christmas cut-off dates vary from firm to firm, as each practice will have different requirements as to when they close for Christmas. It is therefore important to ensure that any “agreed dates” are communicated to your conveyancer as soon as possible so that they can ascertain whether the other firms in the chain will be opened at this time.

Christmas is a magical time of the year, and there is nothing better than knowing that your clients have been able to move in and get their tree up before the 25th December. Following the above steps will hopefully help the transaction move more swiftly.

Scott Bailey’s team of expert property lawyers have carried out thousands of property purchases and sales throughout the region, and it’s fair to say there are not many streets in the New Forest that our conveyancers have not had experience of! For a truly local and expert service when buying or selling your property, you should contact our trusted team by email at [email protected] or telephone on 01590 676933.