Exchange and completion deadline achievable?

Golden_Glow90

We have a deadline to exchange and complete by 28th July.  We have 3 in the chain, all are happy for this to go ahead.  Top of the chain have signed and returned contracts for sale and purchase, middle of the chain has signed contracts for purchase only.  Solicitors at the bottom of the chain have said they will send out contracts tomorrow once they've written their final report.  Does this mean that we'll exchange soon?  I'm getting super anxious now as if we miss this deadline, the chain could collapse due to expiring mortgage offers and RICS surveys.  If we've all agreed a completion date, is it just down to the solicitors to negotiate when they will exchange the contracts? 

canaldumidi

Top of the chain have signed and returned contracts for sale......

Signing of contracts is just one very minor, quick and easy step in the process. You have told us nothing about the other 42 steps, some of which are time-consuming and others which might hit 'bumpers' which slow down or even de-rail the process.

Does this mean that we'll exchange soon? 

No.

We have a deadline to exchange and complete by 28th July. 

You may need to have a Plan B in your back pocket eg finding a different property or staying put. Is this deadline immovable?

Golden_Glow90

canaldumidi said:

Signing of contracts is just one very minor, qhick and easy step in the process. You have told us nothing about the other 42 steps, some of which are time-consuming and others which might hit 'bumpers' which slow down or even de-rail the process.

Does this mean that we'll exchange soon? 

No.

Our sale and purchase was sorted out weeks ago, final enquiries were done back in May and searches has come back before that.  The middle of the chain were just waiting on the management pack (which they received over a week ago now) to answer some final enquiries, searches were back in April.  The bottom solicitor said it should only be a few hours worth of work left to do.  I understand that contracts can be sent out and signed well before but in our case, the solicitors held off as we weren't sure if the developer at the top were going to give us an extension to exchange.

All of our solicitors are being very vague with updates and I think it's because they don't want to get our hopes up which is why I'm asking for people's experiences on here.

[Deleted User]

Golden_Glow90 said:

canaldumidi said:

Signing of contracts is just one very minor, qhick and easy step in the process. You have told us nothing about the other 42 steps, some of which are time-consuming and others which might hit 'bumpers' which slow down or even de-rail the process.

Does this mean that we'll exchange soon? 

No.

Our sale and purchase was sorted out weeks ago, final enquiries were done back in May and searches has come back before that.  The middle of the chain were just waiting on the management pack (which they received over a week ago now) to answer some final enquiries, searches were back in April.  The bottom solicitor said it should only be a few hours worth of work left to do.  I understand that contracts can be sent out and signed well before but in our case, the solicitors held off as we weren't sure if the developer at the top were going to give us an extension to exchange.

All of our solicitors are being very vague with updates and I think it's because they don't want to get our hopes up which is why I'm asking for people's experiences on here.

@Golden_Glow90 I would say in my experience once you are at the kind of stage you are at it can suddenly move very quickly.

If I were you I'd probably be asking very specific questions instead of looking for an update per se. 'Are we in a position to exchange contracts once we have signed the contract?' (Looks for a yes / no answer and further details if necessary). State that if you aren't waiting for anything else you want to exchange contracts asap or state an ideal day. When we were at this stage after solicitors agreed we were in a position to exchange, I emailed each morning my written consent to exchange contracts so they weren't waiting on me.

From what you've said it sounds like all the ducks are in a row and it may just be a case of making sure that the days don't roll in to each other because it's easy to suddenly be 5 days down the line but no further forward.

Golden_Glow90

Deleted_User said:

Golden_Glow90 said:

canaldumidi said:

Signing of contracts is just one very minor, qhick and easy step in the process. You have told us nothing about the other 42 steps, some of which are time-consuming and others which might hit 'bumpers' which slow down or even de-rail the process.

Does this mean that we'll exchange soon? 

No.

Our sale and purchase was sorted out weeks ago, final enquiries were done back in May and searches has come back before that.  The middle of the chain were just waiting on the management pack (which they received over a week ago now) to answer some final enquiries, searches were back in April.  The bottom solicitor said it should only be a few hours worth of work left to do.  I understand that contracts can be sent out and signed well before but in our case, the solicitors held off as we weren't sure if the developer at the top were going to give us an extension to exchange.

All of our solicitors are being very vague with updates and I think it's because they don't want to get our hopes up which is why I'm asking for people's experiences on here.

@Golden_Glow90 I would say in my experience once you are at the kind of stage you are at it can suddenly move very quickly.

If I were you I'd probably be asking very specific questions instead of looking for an update per se. 'Are we in a position to exchange contracts once we have signed the contract?' (Looks for a yes / no answer and further details if necessary). State that if you aren't waiting for anything else you want to exchange contracts asap or state an ideal day. When we were at this stage after solicitors agreed we were in a position to exchange, I emailed each morning my written consent to exchange contracts so they weren't waiting on me.

From what you've said it sounds like all the ducks are in a row and it may just be a case of making sure that the days don't roll in to each other because it's easy to suddenly be 5 days down the line but no further forward.

Thank you.  This is what I'm hoping for.  My solicitor keeps saying that we are ready to exchange once the bottom of the chain confirms which doesn't really help as we've been ready for a few weeks.  The bottom of the chain are so laid back about it all, I actually think they're just a little naive about the whole process so didn't think to chase but we have asked them to (everyone consented last week to exchange phone numbers so we could keep each other updated as all of our solicitors operate by email only and sometimes we'll wait 2-3 days for a response).  I think now that all solicitors know that we need to complete by the end of next week, that they will just crack on and let us know if it's not going to be doable but as we're approaching the 6 month mark, I think everyone is getting very anxious.

Alfrescodave

Surely the 28th July deadline is for exchange of contracts, completion date can be later? - unless maybe a new build is part of the process.

Also do all parties have removal companies arranged ?

Slithery

Alfrescodave said:

Surely the 28th July deadline is for exchange of contracts, completion date can be later? - unless maybe a new build is part of the process.

The OP mentioned expiring mortgage offers. The relevant date for these is completion, not exchange.

trakky14

Who knows, depends on the bottom. Your agent should be chasing....has everyone booked movers yet? That can add delays. I'd say unlikely personally so get a plan B.

Golden_Glow90

trakky14 said:

Who knows, depends on the bottom. Your agent should be chasing....has everyone booked movers yet? That can add delays. I'd say unlikely personally so get a plan B.

The agent is struggling to chase as the bottom is buying a HA property. We have no plan B as if we lose this house then the whole chain collapse as we would have no onward purchase and the rest of the chain will be unable to wait. To be honest I’m at the point now where I wish we’d pulled out when we first started seeing delays

trakky14

Golden_Glow90 said:

trakky14 said:

Who knows, depends on the bottom. Your agent should be chasing....has everyone booked movers yet? That can add delays. I'd say unlikely personally so get a plan B.

The agent is struggling to chase as the bottom is buying a HA property. We have no plan B as if we lose this house then the whole chain collapse as we would have no onward purchase and the rest of the chain will be unable to wait. To be honest I’m at the point now where I wish we’d pulled out when we first started seeing delays

I feel for you, this must be incredibly stressful. Can you not extend your mortgage offer etc? 

From personal experience you need to telephone your solicitor EVERY day for updates at this stage, do not wait for emails. Agents should be ringing daily too given the circumstances. We had a deadline for our previous move and it got to the point where I had to call them 2 or 3 times a day to chase and they got so fed up of me they actually got their fingers out. I would be expecting them to find out what the issue is and what they are doing about it considering the risk to everyone if you don't get this done by the 28th. 

Fingers crossed you get some answers, we exchanged and completed on the same day a couple of times, it's definitely possible. But make sure people are getting moving quotes and booking movers now!

canaldumidi

the chain could collapse due to expiring mortgage offers and RICS surveys.

RICS surveys don't expire, so have no impact on the Competion date.

Mortage offers can frequently be extended. Is it your mortgage offer that expires on 28 July? Or someone else in the chain?

If yours, have you asked your lender if they'll extend the offer?

If someone else, given you've all swopped phone numbers, why not call and suggest they ask their lender to extend?