Exchange of contracts happening tomorrow what should I expect?

Brigmeister30

Hi everyone
We currently have our Mortgage offer and we are going to the solicitors tomorrow to what I am presuming is to exchange contracts however I have read that this normally happens via a phone call? We also havent had a completion date I rang today and the solicitor said we put forward a date and this is subject to the sellers agreement. She is moving to a chain free property and we are FTB so I am wondering how many weeks I should suggest until completion date. Ideally I would like this to happen in the next three weekends... Is this possible?
Thanks

DaftyDuck

Reading between the lines, you are going to the solicitor to sign contracts. The solicitor will then talk to the vendor's solicitor, who will talk to the vendor, and agree a mutually suitable time for completion. Signing isn't exchange, but the contract needs to be signed before it can be exchanged.

When you are at your solicitor's today, you will be asked what you want. Try to be clear, but don't have too-high expectations. You will be told how far through the legal process your solicitor currently is; they may still have a few days or even weeks of business before they are ready to exchange. They may be ready to do it tomorrow; only they can tell.

When a date for completion is agreed, exchange can be agreed, subject to all the legal wranglings being sorted. On the day of exchange, your solicitor should confirm with you that you are ready to proceed. That can be a simple telephone call or, Heaven forfend, a text if you use some of the online agents.

Completion itself will be a weekday. Try to avoid a Friday if possible. Solicitors are busiest, they and banks don't work Saturdays, so any problems are delayed for days. Shouldn't happen, but best planned for.

Brigmeister30

Thankyou! We only had our offer accepted on the 28th of January so I dont know whether to expect another month of waiting or not. Ideally the wednesday or thursday before easter would be ideal as we have time off to move but am I been too unrealistic?

Alter_ego

Brigmeister30 wrote: »

Thankyou! We only had our offer accepted on the 28th of January so I dont know whether to expect another month of waiting or not. Ideally the wednesday or thursday before easter would be ideal as we have time off to move but am I been too unrealistic?

It may be realistic, talk to your solicitor. Tell them the date you'd like to complete. They will then negotiate with the seller to see if it's possible.
Exchange of contract and completion can be the same day but usually not.

agrinnall

Hopefully you have this in hand already, but you will be required to pay the agreed amount of the deposit (usually 10% of purchase price but can be different) to your solicitor at exchange, so you should make sure it is in an account where you can do the transfer, preferably by Faster Payments to avoid fees, but if necessary by CHAPS.

Also, if you're going for just before Easter I would strongly recommend Wednesday rather than Thursday as the banks will be closed on Friday and Monday (and it's likely that both solicitors will be too) so if it goes wrong on Thursday you could easily be waiting until Tuesday to resolve.

Brigmeister30

Does anyone know the usual time between signing contracts and exchanging?

eddddy

Actually, I would talk to the EA (or seller) about completion dates first.

The EA will get on the phone to the seller (and the other EAs, if there is a chain) and you might get provisional agreement on target completion dates within a few hours.

Then you can both (all) tell your solicitors. Obviously, one or more of the solicitors may say the date is unlikely.

If you just talk to your solicitor, they will just send a letter or email to the seller's solicitors....
.... who will then write/email the seller....
.... and the seller will write/email back to the their solicitor...
.... who will write/email to your solicitor...
.... who will write/email to you.

It could take weeks!

This is one of the things people pay EAs fees for.

G_M

Brigmeister30 wrote: »

Does anyone know the usual time between signing contracts and exchanging?

In the good old days it was typically a month.

It's got much shorter tese days, and as said above, it can be same day - though that is very stressful ad difficult. From your point of view, you can't book removals, day of work or anything till you Exchange (as dates can always change till it's actually happened), so a gap give time for arrangements.

Tell your solicitor how long a gap you'd like and what day you'd like to Complete ideally. Then it has to be negotiated as the other side might have a completely different preference. f you want a month, ask for a month. If you want 3 days, ask for 3 days.

pinkteapot

G_M - OP's question (that you quoted) was about the gap between signing contracts and exchange, not between exchange and completion.

OP - G_M's info about the gap between exchange and completion is spot on.

Most solicitors will have you fill in a little informal form when you sign the contract, with your completion requirements. Eg preferred dates, dates you can't do, minimum time you need between exchange and completion. The completion date is normally blank on the contract when you sign it, and added by your solicitor right before exchange. Agreeing a completion date is a negotiation between all parties in the chain.

As for time between signing contracts and exchanging, it's very variable. Some solicitors send you a draft contract really quickly, then your signed copy sits with them for ages while all the searches etc are done. Some don't send it to you until later in the process, when you're nearer the point of being ready to exchange. Ask your solicitor what stage you're at and what the remaining steps before exchange are.

SmlSave

Brigmeister30 wrote: »

Does anyone know the usual time between signing contracts and exchanging?

It is technically possible to exchange the same day if you are signing the docs at the solicitors and they have your deposit funds, but it's unlikely.

Exchange is not prearranged as the whole chain have to be ready to go .

I would also suggest dates through the estate agents first and then tell your solicitor what has been suggested

Brigmeister30

Could anyone advice me on any final checks that are done as well? When we got the mortgage offer the only things I had to supply were bank statements and wage slips for Halifax. Will they request anything else or contact employer prior to completion? And how do they do this? Made contact with estate agents they said they would look at our file and give us an update as to where everyone was