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Where to put house purchase money temporarily?
LydiaJ
Posts: 8,083 Forumite
I am in the process of buying a house for cash. I have about £300k spread around several different accounts, and will shortly be borrowing another £75k from family to make up the purchase price and stamp duty.
I'm after suggestions of how to manage this money in the run up to completion. I don't want to be trying to transfer it to the solicitor's bank from 7 or 8 different accounts - I don't want to have to pay for 7 or 8 chaps payments, for a start, neither do I want to have to do free bacs or fp transfers with piddling little limits on how much I can transfer at a time.
I was wondering about putting it all together in one place just before completion, so I could then just do one chaps transfer - is chaps the usual way people send their house purchase money to their solicitor? I've never bought a house before.
However, putting it all in one place feels scary because I've been so careful since I got it last year to keep it with <£50k in any one place. So I wondered about NS&I. But then people are talking about having difficulty withdrawing from NS&I, so that doesn't sound good.
So I wonder if people on here can suggest a good way of doing this? I'm not fussed about interest rates - the money will be in there for a few days or maybe a week or two while I'm gradually transferring it in from all the places where it is at the moment, but that will be all.
Thanks everyone.
I'm after suggestions of how to manage this money in the run up to completion. I don't want to be trying to transfer it to the solicitor's bank from 7 or 8 different accounts - I don't want to have to pay for 7 or 8 chaps payments, for a start, neither do I want to have to do free bacs or fp transfers with piddling little limits on how much I can transfer at a time.
I was wondering about putting it all together in one place just before completion, so I could then just do one chaps transfer - is chaps the usual way people send their house purchase money to their solicitor? I've never bought a house before.
However, putting it all in one place feels scary because I've been so careful since I got it last year to keep it with <£50k in any one place. So I wondered about NS&I. But then people are talking about having difficulty withdrawing from NS&I, so that doesn't sound good.
So I wonder if people on here can suggest a good way of doing this? I'm not fussed about interest rates - the money will be in there for a few days or maybe a week or two while I'm gradually transferring it in from all the places where it is at the moment, but that will be all.
Thanks everyone.
Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.
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Comments
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The minute you have 'put it all together' and done your chaps to the solicitor, then all your money is in one account and fully 'at risk'.
Another few days won't make any difference, so just plan it all out and transfer to a single account of your choice and do a single chaps from there.0 -
1.chaps payments well we are talking 300k here and chaps is £20 its hardly goingtomake a difference, idont see why you are chaps-ing it when you could just BACS it as normal, they can wait 3 days im sure.
2.you either have it in one big account which you dont seem to want to do or have it split up,0 -
I thought BACS limits (£10k?) only applied to transfers initiated on-line? In branch or by telephone the limits should be higher.
If the worst comes to worst, you can always write yourself a cheque if the accounts in question have the facility.0 -
Loughton_Monkey wrote: »The minute you have 'put it all together' and done your chaps to the solicitor, then all your money is in one account and fully 'at risk'.
Actually it isn't at risk, or not at my risk, anyway. When you hand over the money to the solicitors, you get them to make an undertaking to pay it to the house sellers. If the bank with which they have their client account goes bust, their undertaking to pay for the house is covered by their client liability insurance. They won't make the undertaking until they've got all the money, though.1.chaps payments well we are talking 300k here and chaps is £20 its hardly goingtomake a difference, idont see why you are chaps-ing it when you could just BACS it as normal, they can wait 3 days im sure.
2.you either have it in one big account which you dont seem to want to do or have it split up,
If the money is in 7 or 8 accounts, then that would mean £140-£160 chaps fees. I don't mind paying £20, but £160 feels like throwing money away.
Most accounts won't let you sent a bacs or fp payment for anything more than £10k per working day (and a lot less than that for some accounts). If I have to pay £375k in 38 separate instalments of £10k each on 38 separate working days it'll take the best part of two months just to transfer the money. Even with £50k from each of 7 or 8 banks it would take a week of dribs and drabs trickling into the solicitor's account. I'd like to avoid that. I think (though I'm not sure) that you can do chaps payments for larger amounts. But I've never used chaps before and I don't really know. That's why I'm asking for advice.Do you know anyone who's bereaved? Point them to https://www.AtaLoss.org which does for bereavement support what MSE does for financial services, providing links to support organisations relevant to the circumstances of the loss & the local area. (Link permitted by forum team)
Tyre performance in the wet deteriorates rapidly below about 3mm tread - change yours when they get dangerous, not just when they are nearly illegal (1.6mm).
Oh, and wear your seatbelt. My kids are only alive because they were wearing theirs when somebody else was driving in wet weather with worn tyres.0 -
The only place I would pile up £300k is NS&I. Direct Saver looks the best solution. If they can do a CHAPS transfer direct to your solicitor, end of problem. If they will only do it to your nominated account you will need to do a second CHAPS payment on the same day to your solicitor.0
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lydia i dont really see what your problem is ???Actually it isn't at risk, or not at my risk, anyway. When you hand over the money to the solicitors, you get them to make an undertaking to pay it to the house sellers. If the bank with which they have their client account goes bust, their undertaking to pay for the house is covered by their client liability insurance. They won't make the undertaking until they've got all the money, though.
If the money is in 7 or 8 accounts, then that would mean £140-£160 chaps fees. I don't mind paying £20, but £160 feels like throwing money away.
Most accounts won't let you sent a bacs or fp payment for anything more than £10k per working day (and a lot less than that for some accounts). If I have to pay £375k in 38 separate instalments of £10k each on 38 separate working days it'll take the best part of two months just to transfer the money. Even with £50k from each of 7 or 8 banks it would take a week of dribs and drabs trickling into the solicitor's account. I'd like to avoid that. I think (though I'm not sure) that you can do chaps payments for larger amounts. But I've never used chaps before and I don't really know. That's why I'm asking for advice.
you can BACS more than 10k
you do not need to do it on the same day whoever is receiving the money can and will wait 3 days if this is the method you choose for payment
its upto you where you store the money
why NS and I ?0 -
NS&I I believe is the only place that has a 100% unlimited guarantee does it not?0
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opinions4u wrote: »They did. Until May.
That said, they are 100% government owned, so draw your own conclusions as to what would happen if the new NR crashed.
Did they not sell the savings arm of Northern Rock to Santander??0
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