do we get deposit money straight away?

bridiej

hopefully (all things crossed!) we should be exchanging contracts on our house next week.

as we have nowhere to buy will we be given the deposit money straight away or is it all held by the solicitors?

thanks

Bossyboots

It will be held by the solicitors. The money only becomes yours when you complete your side of the contract or the other side fail to do so.

GingeG

Sorry to hijavk this thread but what happens if vendor fails to complete after we exchange and give deposit.

Bossyboots

Your solicitor will issue a notice to to the vendor to complete Your vendor's solicitor has to return the deposit to you if completion does not take place. This is why I disapprove of the practice of passing deposit monies up the chain on exchange as the money ends up at the top of the chain and you have to rely on it coming back through to the bottom. In theory it shouldn't be a problem and the person at the top could just return it to the bottom but I really don't imagine it would work as simply as that if put to the test.

The vendor's solicitor has to hold the deposit in their client account or a special interest bearing account (depending on how long they are going to hold it) so it will be safe as long as the solicitor is not in collusion with the vendor.