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Contract Exchange House Buying

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MortgageSearcher
MortgageSearcher Posts: 21 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
Evening all...
Just a quick one! Is it normal practice to send the solicitor my deposit at the time of contract exchange? Or is that money sent just before the agreed completion date?

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  • kaych
    kaych Posts: 376 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    10% deposit at the time of exchange for us
  • MortgageSearcher
    MortgageSearcher Posts: 21 Forumite
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    kaych wrote: »
    10% deposit at the time of exchange for us

    I want to exchange contracts before we leave the country for 3 weeks at the end of June you see... and then complete at the end of July. This means the solicitor has a whole load of money sitting in their bank for a month! Ha Ha the solicitor always wins! Talking of which, how come my solicitor can charge me £30 for sundries (postage and calls) yet I am the one that has to call them and post stuff out to them... can't I send them a bill for £30! Just joking!
  • MortgageSearcher
    MortgageSearcher Posts: 21 Forumite
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    Any other experiences?
  • kaych
    kaych Posts: 376 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
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    isn't that 10% paid to the vendor? the solicitors don't keep it.
  • MortgageSearcher
    MortgageSearcher Posts: 21 Forumite
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    kaych wrote: »
    isn't that 10% paid to the vendor? the solicitors don't keep it.

    I thought they only transfer the funds, both from myself and the mortgage company on completion day?
  • hazybubbles
    hazybubbles Posts: 148 Forumite
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    kaych wrote: »
    isn't that 10% paid to the vendor? the solicitors don't keep it.

    No. You pay it to the solicitors on exchange. They hold on to it until completion when the whole amount for the property is then transferred to the vendors. So the solicitors do earn some interest on the 10% fo having it in their account.
  • Babiesmummy_2
    Babiesmummy_2 Posts: 914 Forumite
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    We have just exchanged contracts on a new build and we asked that we pay the whole amount on completion (23Jun). This has all been agreed with the builder and solicitor.
    Born and bred in Manchester (proud of it)
    Now living on the other side of the Pennines
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