How does exchange date get negotiated ?

Biggie

Hi,

Awaiting confirmation from solicitor that paperwork is all ok and we are ready to exchange after that we transfer deposit via chaps.

There are a total of 5 vendors in the chain including me and i'm at the start of the chain. Apparently everybody else is ready to exchange and I was the last according to my agent.

I have intially requested a completion date of 14th March I know solicitors need to go up the chain and agree the date with the vendors.

how long can this process take ?.

i.e will the solicitors send letters out to everyone and every accepts\rejects

what if someone rejects does it all start all over again

seems like it may take forever to agree a completion date ?.

chappers

will most likely be done over the phone and once everyone agrees a date contracts will be sent out.

Biggie

how do solicitors get an ok from the vendoe.

most solicitors seem toonly communicate via letter, will they all have to write to their client and then agree that date.

Seems like that could take forever

dubsey

With all of our sales we've gone with a date we've been given, but then we've always been easy going about it and never had a reason to need a particular date.

They do ask everyone in the chain if they have a preferred date. If you ask for the 14th March and someone else in the chain goes on holiday on that date then obviously they won't be able to complete then. Sometimes people will ask for dates that fit in with school holidays etc. People do have reasons for requesting certain dates and it is just a matter of negotiating. Your solicitor will put forward your date and that will then be passed up the chain, unless someone else needs a particular date it's not normally a problem.

Have you informed your conveyancer of any special need you have for that date because that information will also be passed on.

Our's have always been by telephone and it hasn't usually taken very long.

Richard_Webster

With all of our sales we've gone with a date we've been given, but then we've always been easy going about it and never had a reason to need a particular date.

They do ask everyone in the chain if they have a preferred date. If you ask for the 14th March and someone else in the chain goes on holiday on that date then obviously they won't be able to complete then. Sometimes people will ask for dates that fit in with school holidays etc. People do have reasons for requesting certain dates and it is just a matter of negotiating. Your solicitor will put forward your date and that will then be passed up the chain, unless someone else needs a particular date it's not normally a problem.

Have you informed your conveyancer of any special need you have for that date because that information will also be passed on.

Our's have always been by telephone and it hasn't usually taken very long

That's pretty much what happens. The estate agents also get involved with the phone calls to get a date for completion agreed.

One thing all buyers and sellers in a chain should be wary of is making commitments based on unchecked information. The people themselves will have holiday arrangements and so forth to take into account, but can happily agree a suggested completion date without checking with their solicitor that it is feasible.

The number of times I've been phoned by a client (on say 21st of a month) who says something like "the whole chain has agreed the 29th for completion." I then respond with something like "Well that's funny because I haven't heard a thing from your buyer's solcitors since I sent the draft contract to them a month ago, and if they are expecting to complete next week, I would have expected to have heard from them..."

I ring the buyer' solicitors and they tell me that they have neither their searches back nor mortgage instructions and their client hasn't mentioned the date to them.

The moral is that each person in the chain needs to continually check feasibility with their solicitors. I say "continually" because it is not unknown for a client to ask at the beginning of a transaction whether they can complete by a date say 8 weeks later. I tell them it is possible, but it is far too early to say because we haven't seen any of the paperwork yet... They don't hear the qualifications that I make and when an estate agent or someone else in the chain phones them 6-7 weeks later to agree a date they happily agree the date that they first mentioned without coming back and checking it was still feasible.

Biggie

many thanks for the post RichardWeb,

I have requested anytime after 14th March thought my solicitor soley for this reason.
However as it can be quicker I have also asked the agent to see if it's ok with all the vendors up the chain guess this clears the path a little for the solicitors.