When Should I Receive Funds After a House Sale?
Is it immediate?
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Content Written By: Kirsty Rowett - Last Updated: 10/11/2025
So, you’ve been through the process of getting your house up for sale, exchanging with the right buyer and agreeing on a completion day—what happens next?
It’s natural to wonder when you’ll get the money from the sale—it’s what you’re selling for, after all—so we’re here to help you prepare for the most important day of the whole house sale process and answer some of your biggest questions.
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House completion: Money transfer and handing the keys over
Completion day often can’t come quickly enough, but it’s important to prepare for it properly so you can do what you can to help things run smoothly at the time. You can expect it to happen within four weeks of exchanging contracts.
“As most of the work has been done by the time contracts are exchanged, there isn’t any need to have a long gap.
“In fact, in some cases, people exchange and complete on the same day. But this can be tricky to arrange and is generally not recommended. People usually have between one week and 28 days between exchange and completion.”
What happens on completion day?
As the seller, it’s your responsibility to hand the keys over in a timely fashion and have everything moved out of the property so it’s left in the state the buyer is expecting when they step in for the first time as the owner.
Things can get complicated if you’re part of a property chain, since everyone involved needs to complete on the same day—the transfer of funds by each buyer’s solicitor must happen early enough to account for any delays with the bank transfers as they pass from firm to firm.
Here’s a timeline of what to expect:
A Timeline of Completion Day
The first person in the chain completes their property purchase.
The second ‘link’ in the chain completes and gets the keys.
The third ‘link’ in the chain completes and gets the keys.
The fourth ‘link’ in the chain completes and gets the keys.
Sellers, particularly in longer chains, are expected to have their houses ready to vacate the morning of completion day so buyers, along with removal vans and the like, don’t run into any frustrating delays.
Read more: How Long is the Average Property Chain?
The funds you will get for your house will be sent from the buyer’s solicitor to your solicitor, who will then call you and, if you’re using one, your estate agent to confirm that completion has taken place.
When does the seller get the money after completion?
You can expect to receive the money from your house sale on the day of completion or within one or two business days afterwards. CHAPS transfers are relatively instantaneous, but delays are not unheard of for such large sums of money.
Some solicitors charge small fees for same-day transfers, so be sure to check with them as early as possible so there are no surprises on completion day.
When do you hand the keys over to the buyer?
As a seller, you’ll need to make sure your house is in perfect condition and contains no items the buyer isn’t expecting—you might agree on items to be left, such as furniture, while the contracts are being drawn up for exchange. Once you’re ready to leave, you will deliver your keys to your estate agent, who will keep them secure until the time comes to complete.
Blake Morgan offers advice for sellers when it comes to preparing for completion day in its Seller’s Guide to Residential Property:
"Your solicitor will complete all of the necessary steps leading to and during completion on your behalf. However, your input and cooperation with a number of matters can help to ensure that the process is as smooth as possible."
Please ensure that:
- "Any money that you are due to pay on completion is sent to your solicitor at least a day prior to completion"
- "You return any documents that you are requested to sign promptly"
- "You are ready to vacate the property as early as possible on the day of completion – try and avoid last-minute packing delays."
Your keys won’t be handed over to the buyer until the completion has been confirmed by your respective solicitors—it’s the solicitor’s responsibility to authorise the release of the keys to the buyer once the funds have been successfully transferred.
They will also settle any outstanding mortgages on the property and update the ownership status with the Land Registry to close off the sale.
Can you get the money from a house sale quicker?
If you go down the traditional route and sell your house on the open market, your buyer will pay the deposit, usually 10%, to secure the property, but this will be kept secure by the solicitor until completion day. The total balance due, including the deposit, will be transferred in full to the seller’s solicitor on the day, so it’s not possible to release the funds any earlier.
However, if you sell to a cash house buyer, you can save yourself weeks of waiting for the funds and get the full cash amount within a matter of days. The same process for transferring ownership and paying solicitor fees will still apply, but a buyer like The Property Buying Company will sort all of that out for you, including paying the fees themselves.
For the convenience, the offer you get on your house will typically be lower than its market value, but it can be worth it to get the funds quicker when you consider that it can take 30+ weeks to sell a house in the UK, according to Zoopla.
If you need to push your house sale through quickly and you don’t have time to wait for a buyer on the open market, simply enter your postcode below and we’ll be in touch with a free cash offer.
Frequently asked questions
How much are solicitor fees for selling a house?
The costs of hiring a solicitor to sell your house legally are different from firm to firm, but you can typically expect to pay upwards of £1,000 for the service if you sell on the open market. If you sell to a cash buyer like The Property Buying Company instead, the solicitor fees will be covered by the company as the buyer, so you won’t need to budget for it.
Can funds be delayed after completion?
Once a house purchase has been officially completed, this means the funds have landed with your solicitor from your buyer’s solicitor, so there shouldn’t be a delay in getting that money to you thereafter. However, in some cases, such as when the last completion happens after 3pm or the completion day happens on a Friday or before a bank holiday weekend, there can be a delay of a few days until you get the cash. This won’t be the case if you sell to a cash buyer instead.
Should I buy another house before selling mine?
The order in which you buy and sell a house is entirely dependent on your personal circumstances, but buying before selling can be a good way to avoid the messiness of a complicated chain. It requires you to be in a comfortable enough position to own two properties at once, but you may be subject to extra tax if you don’t sell yours shortly afterwards.
Edit Log
10/11/2025 - Content rewritten by Kirsty Rowett
10/11/2025 - Content updated in line with Editorial Guidelines (Reviewed by Mathew McCorry)
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