Exchange of contracts - what exactly happens?

Pinto2013

G_M wrote: »

OK - let me clarify further.

No, your solicitor will act on your instructions.

He will ask you to sign the contract in advance, for convenience, and hold it 'to your instructions'.

You can ask him to delay, or cancel, the contract at any time. He will, in any event, give you advance warning of the impending Exchange, usually by phone but maybe in a letter, and seek confirmation that you wish to proceed.

He will also ask for your preferred Completion date (which like the Exchange date you will have left blank on the contract). He will then negotiate with the other side (and all others in the chain) to agree a Completion date, and only when everyone is ready, and both Exchange and Completion dates have been agreed by all parties, including you, will he make the 'Telephone Exchange', insert the dates, and post them off.

The alternative would be to negotiate both the dates, and then get all the clients in to sign the contracts and insert the dates - which could take days or even a week, during which time any one of them might change their mind and not sign, leaving the others in the chain commited!

Thanks for your patience. The above is great. Exactly the detail I needed to understand the process and how to deal with it.