how much to pay during exchange

The_Palmist

I just found out that we will be exchanging on Monday. My solicitor had left me a bill which includes her fees and my deposit totaling to about 32K.

I have money in three different banks and I want to know how much do I need to pay her on Monday so she can proceed with the exchange. Also it could take 3 days for the money to appear in her account if I transfer the normal way.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

WestonDave

Unless you have agreed otherwise she will need 10% of the purchase price to pass on on exchange, and this will need to be cleared funds on Monday, which will mean paying for at least one CHAPS transfer, which you will need to contact your bank to arrange.

The_Palmist

could she ask for full amount and if she does do I have to agree ?

Yorkie1

She only needs the 10% deposit, plus any other fees which you agreed to pay at this stage of the proceedings (we don't have a copy of your contract with your solicitor).

If completion is pretty soon thereafter she may well want all of the funds required from you at this stage. Any outstanding solicitors fees are paid at this point too. Otherwise, she just needs the rest of the funds cleared a day or two before completion date.

Soot2006

We were given a breakdown of costs before exchange which was clearly subtitled as " due before exchange" and " due before completion" -- might be worth asking for something similar?

The_Palmist

I have a breakdown of costs but it lists the total amount due and don't mention exchange or completion. I have checked the contract I did with Solicitor as well, there is no mention of how much I need to pay before exchange. If She is happy with 10% that shouldn't be a problem but other wise I would struggle to get it all done on same day.

hcb42

she is going to need deposit to exchange.

you will need to go to bank!

The_Palmist

There are four people in the chain with me being at the bottom. On Friday, the dude above me called up and said everybody is waiting on me. What I don't understand is he hasn't paid his solicitors so how are they ready to proceed ? He has only paid £250 towards fees etc. but apparently his solicitors were ready to exchange.

Yorkie1

As you are at the bottom of the chain, the chain starts with you; he's right in that regard. Focus on what your position is, and ignore what he's doing.

If your solicitor has said you're ready to exchange on Monday, I assume that all paperwork is sorted out and that there are no outstanding searches or enquiries etc.

Your solicitor cannot exchange without having sufficient funds from you to pay the deposit - usually 10%. If you have not yet transferred that money to the solicitor's account then I doubt he will be in a position to exchange unless you CHAPS him the money.

If you have transferred the 10% but not the rest of the balance including solicitors fees, then when is your completion date? Has your solicitor discussed this with you yet? Everyone has to agree the completion date in order for exchange to occur too. You will need to transfer the funds so that they arrive before the completion date.

I was very careful in planning my dates for completion as some of the final money was coming from my parents. I wasn't prepared to authorise Dad to sell his investments until exchange had happened, in case something went wrong and he lost money on the deal. I therefore made sure that there was sufficient time for each stage of the money movements to occur.

Bear in mind that if you plan to transfer money through BACS or a cheque, you will need time for funds to clear. There are also daily limits to BACS transfers online. CHAPS transfers cost about £30-40 each time but only take a couple of hours if authorised early enough in the day.

The_Palmist

Thanks, thats very informative. There was a hold up [3 months] further up the chain. All paper work on my side has been completed ages ago. Solicitor did not asked for money before because we didn't knew how long we had to wait. There was some driveway access issue up the chain and I have been waiting patiently. All of a sudden I got a call on Friday afternoon saying we need to exchange today, else the guy on top will pull out. Understandably my solicitor wasn't very pleased with such short notice. So we agreed on a completion date and said we will exchange on Monday.

I have been careful with planning dates as well as I have money in ISAs and other high interest accounts. A small % is coming from an account which is not mine. I wasn't expecting such short notice as things have been really really quiet over the past few weeks/months. They kept asking for more time.

If I have to pay full deposit I will be doing three or even 4 CHAPS transfer, which negates a bit of interest I planned to earn by keeping money in different accounts. I understand £100-£120 is a small cost in the scheme of things but I would rather have it in my pocket than elsewhere.

The_Palmist

An update:

Solicitor was happy to accept 10% today and rest to follow. Saves me doing multiple CHAPS