Solicitor's requesting deposit & remainder of fees - no exchange date

Thrugelmir

Callie810 wrote: »

It is more to do with the fact that I know sales can still fall through right up until exchange. Because we have no idea of dates and I had read that the deposit is normally transferred once the exchange date is confirmed I was asking whether or not it is normal for the money to be transferred this early.

Your solicitor cannot exchange contracts unless they are satisfied that sufficient funds are in place/available to effect completion.

I suspect that you are confusing exchange and completion. The completion date is normally set on exchange of contracts. This may involve other parties in the chain also.

kinger101

There isn't a set exchange date. Your solicitor will exchange when all parties agree and have their ducks lined up. One of those ducks is having your deposit. I think your solicitor is requesting a bit prematurely. Just tell them the funds will be transferred when all outstanding queries have been resolved.

G_M

As the solicitor clearly says things are moving forward well, so the solicitor is simply getting everything (including funds) ready.

Exchange date and Completion date to go on the contract, can both be agreed by phone in a single day - whereas transferring funds often takes longer, eg if coming from a couple of different acouts etc.

In theory, you might get a phone call at 11.00 on Wednesday from your solicitor saying "I've checked with the other side (and up the chain) and everyone is ready. Proposed Completion date is one week from today. Are you happy with that?"

If you said yes, he could Exchange that afternoon............ assuming of course that he's got your money!

As for the possibility of the purchase falling through; yes, it might. In which case you either ask for your money back or ask hime to keep it till you find a new property - your choice.

Richard_Webster

I worry about the use of the phrase "exchange date". This suggests that some kind of ceremony takes place which needs to be arranged in advance so you cannot do it before the day - like getting married.

Obviously there may be things that have to be done still, so that a solicitor might say something like "we should be able to exchange by [some date]" but there is nothing magic about it. If everyone is ready it could happen earlier, or more likely, some as yet not known about delay may be discovered up or down a chain.

As GM has said, it is all done on the phone very quickly. So the point really is to establish formt he solicitor how close he thinks you are to exchanging. Better for him to be ready than not.

MataNui

It would take about 24 hours for your solicitor to receive and verify your deposit. It could take several weeks for them to get a response from the vendors solicitors to even the simplest of questions. You solicitor is being premature. You are possibly nowhere near exchanging.

I would want to know what the outstanding questions are and when exchange is likely to happen before arranging payment of the deposit.

always_sunny

looks like a template message... I received one of those too and when I asked they said that nothing was due till exchange, so it is in preparation, though I had provided the solicitor with proof of funds.

Beside, if you do transfer and the sale falls through, they will charge you to send it back to you... that's when I told my solicitor I will send it the day before.

AND, the Solicitor will not exchange till he has managed to request the funds from the lender and that takes a while too. So no rush.

eddddy

I suspect the solicitor sometimes has to deal with FTBs who are less 'on the ball' than you.

e.g. The solicitor requests funds because exchange is imminent, so the buyer puts a cheque in the post (which must clear and delays everything by a week).

If, for example, you mention to your solicitor that your funds are in an instant access account, and you will do 2 transfers by Faster Payment on 2 consecutive days (assuming you have a £10k payment limit), your solicitor might be more comfortable about leaving things for the moment.

kinger101

^^
worth checking out with your bank beforehand how much the faster payment limit is - it varies for £5K to £100K.