Contract...

Pink_kitten_3

Hello :wave:

I have been lurking for a while and soaking up all the useful knowledge!

My boyfriend and I are in the final (hopefully) stages of buying our first house! We recieved the contract through from our solicitors at about ten to five today so I didn't get a chance to ask some questions before they all left! So I was just wondering if someone could help...

The contract looks a little different to how I imagined - I thought that the queries we had raised would be included in the report (we asked about guarantees etc) but they're not :huh:. Is this normal? When are they usually sent over? We have the answers to all the queries but they need to be in writing..?

And the completion date wasn't anywhere either - we have agreed this with all parties, so I thought it would be on the contract...

Sorry for being so clueless, I just wanted to ask on here instead of spending the whole weekend wondering!

PK

Doozergirl

The contract is a standard document which you don't actually see; what you sign tends to just refer to any exclusions, conditions etc.

Guarantees would be provided separately on the paper they came on, iyswim. If you asked for them as a condition of sale then your solicitor should have them. The answers to queries should be sent back to your solicitor also - these are things that you satisfy yourself to before you exchange contracts, they aren't things which appear in the document - they form part of the contract but not in the literal, typed out sense.

The dates will not be on there as they sometimes change. Your solicitor will fill in any relevant dates.

Signing the contract and sending it back to your solicitor does not commit you to anything. If there are things that you are concerned haven't been tied up then you can raise these on Monday. You do not commit until you instruct your solicitor to exchange contracts and they let you know that it has happened.

G_M

There is a form which your solicitors send to the seller's solicitors. It's a while since I did this and things have changed a bit but it used to be 'Preliminary Enquiries' or 'Enquiries before contract'. There is also a 'fixtures and Fittings' form.

These are separate from the contract itself, which is a standard document (usually the Law Society's Standard Conditions of Sale (4th Edition).

The answers to your queries should, therefore, be in writing, but not in the contract itself. Check with your solicitor (if you are using one? If you're not, you don't seem to have sufficient knowledge to do it yourself!) that he has received these responses in writing on the Prelim Enquiries.

The Completion Date will not be inserted till the last minute. This is because it might have to change. When all parties are ready to Exchange Contracts (ie you, your solicitor, your sellers, their solicitor, their sellers & solicitors and their sellers & solicitors etc all the way up the chain), then all the solicitors will add in the date of Exchange and date of Completion.

Otherwise it only needs one person in the entire chain to have a one day delay, and all the paperwork would have to start again!

Richard_Webster

(we asked about guarantees etc)

OK to ask about guarantees but generally:

Damp proofing guarantees are not much use because either:

1. Company gone out of business; or
2. they guaranteed DPC but didn't do the re-plastering and that is usually the cause of future "problems.

Double glazing companies very often not still trading or their guarantee only benefits the person who had the glazing put in and not his buyer.

Timber Treatment guarantees tell you that somebody sprayed the timbers X years ago.

Sorry to be wet blanket but I do try to warn buyers not to put too much faith in such guarantees!

On the general point, the solicitor should have copied the Property Information Form (or equivalent) and any questions he raised and the answers given.

Pink_kitten_3

Ah thank you, we thought as much to be honest - but just wanted to have it all in writing anyway. I'll get onto our solicitors on Monday to see if they have the answers.

Thank you!