Exchange of contracts - can this happen at any time of the day?

leiigh25

Hi, I just wondered if exchange of contracts can happen at any time during the day?
If all solicitors are in the office and ready for the call at say 5pm, can exchange take place? Or is there a cut off time during the day?
I am currently waiting to exchange, i spend all working day with anxiety waiting for a phone call, should I give up hoping after a certain time?
Many thanks for your help.

wilkowilko

We exchanged at 4.55pm :-)

That was a very nerve wracking day for us as we needed to complete the next day!

leiigh25

Thats a little reassuring, thank you. How does it work? Does your solicitor call you beforehand?
We are meant to be completing on Friday so my anxiety is sky high! Found our house 7 months ago, been a complete nightmare from start to finish! So exchange would definitely help calm my nerves right now!
They say buying a house is stressful, but this is next level

pinkteapot

Assume you've given your solicitor confirmation they can go ahead and exchange? Everyone in the chain does that, then the solicitors do, erm, something, then you'll hear you've exchanged (or you should). I would just phone the solicitor and ask - they'll be used to people bothering them on exchange day. Just ask if it's still happening today and if not, exactly why not.

SmashedAvacado

leiigh25 wrote: »

Hi, I just wondered if exchange of contracts can happen at any time during the day?
If all solicitors are in the office and ready for the call at say 5pm, can exchange take place? Or is there a cut off time during the day?
I am currently waiting to exchange, i spend all working day with anxiety waiting for a phone call, should I give up hoping after a certain time?
Many thanks for your help.

It can happen any time of day, but is most likely to be limited to your solicitors office hours, as its a rare solicitor prepared to take the contract home with them and do it via mobile (which is possible).

Surrey_EA

SmashedAvacado wrote: »

It can happen any time of day, but is most likely to be limited to your solicitors office hours, as its a rare solicitor prepared to take the contract home with them and do it via mobile (which is possible).

Had one like this just last Friday, although it is terrifically unusual!

Ithaca

wilkowilko wrote: »

We exchanged at 4.55pm :-)

That was a very nerve wracking day for us as we needed to complete the next day!

Yep, same for us! Had my wife and daughter camped out in the estate agents while I was hovering by my phone at work in case the solicitor phoned, and exchange was confirmed at 4.55pm for a completion the next morning.

Never again!

AdrianC

"During office hours" doesn't always mean "the solicitor is in the office".


When we bought our first place, the vendor's solicitor "forgot" to confirm that the funds had been received before heading off to the golf course. THAT was fraught...

Cheeky_Monkey

It doesn't even need to be the solicitor themselves - any of the secretaries (I've even known it to be the receptionist) can do it as exchange only requires a phone call.

However, it will only be between the hours the offices are open.

Surrey_EA

Cheeky_Monkey wrote: »

However, it will only be between the hours the offices are open.

Unless, as mentioned above, the solicitor takes the file home with them and their opposite number is happy to communicate 'out of hours.'

There is no requirement that the actual exchange procedure must take place during normal office hours.

Tiglet2

*Surrey_EA" Where there is a chain, it would very unlikely that all the solicitors would effect an exchange outside office hours (maybe in Surrey where there are multi million pound properties and extortionate conveyancing fees!). Just don't want people to think this is possible and give them false hopes or make them believe they can start instructing solicitors to do this outside working hours, as some clients do have unreasonable expectations.