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Sign Contract First and Confirm Exchange Completion date

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ric1982
ric1982 Posts: 222 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
Hi,

I am just wondering which one comes first. When you come near to exchange of contract do you sign the contract with your own solicitor first and then two solicitors decides on exchange and completion date or eveyrone agree on dates first and then you go and sign the contract?

My sol. said "... I will be in a position for you to attend the office to sign the contract and discuss a date for completion."

Does it matter?

Thanks
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Comments

  • Margot123
    Margot123 Posts: 1,116 Forumite
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    You sign the contract leaving the date blank. Your solicitor will then fill that ion when everyone has agreed on a completion date.

    On my last sale, I signed the contract almost 3 months before completion!
  • Surrey_EA
    Surrey_EA Posts: 2,042 Forumite
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    Different solicitors will have their own preferred ways of doing things, but what's generally the normal process is for you to sign the contract and leave it undated, then your solicitor will hold the signed contract until such time as the entire chain is ready to exchange. At that point the solicitor will fill in the dates.

    Sometimes the solicitors will negotiate the completion date, sometimes it's the estate agent.
  • ric1982
    ric1982 Posts: 222 Forumite
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    Margot123 wrote: »
    On my last sale, I signed the contract almost 3 months before completion!

    Mind sharing why did it took that long?
  • SG27
    SG27 Posts: 2,773 Forumite
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    ric1982 wrote: »
    Mind sharing why did it took that long?


    You can sign the contract at almost any point during the transaction. We signed ours on our purchase 2 months ago. Still no sign of exchange yet.
  • ric1982
    ric1982 Posts: 222 Forumite
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    Is it ok to ask for my solicitor to agree on exchange and completion date first and sign the contract just before exchange?
  • sal_III
    sal_III Posts: 1,953 Forumite
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    I signed my 1 month before exchange, then posted it to my Sol. Then she dragged her feet for ages with various details. exchange was a month ago, still no firm completion date (new build). HTH
  • badger09
    badger09 Posts: 11,211 Forumite
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    ric1982 wrote: »
    Is it ok to ask for my solicitor to agree on exchange and completion date first and sign the contract just before exchange?

    Is there a reason why you want to do that?
  • Surrey_EA
    Surrey_EA Posts: 2,042 Forumite
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    ric1982 wrote: »
    Is it ok to ask for my solicitor to agree on exchange and completion date first and sign the contract just before exchange?

    You can, but there does not appear to be any particular advantage for doing so.
  • JimmyTheWig
    JimmyTheWig Posts: 12,199 Forumite
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    Note that signing the contract means very little. It is exchanging the contracts that is the binding bit. The date will have been agreed by then.

    I find it helpful to think of your solicitor as an extension of yourself.
    Imagine (back in the days when these things were done on paper!) applying for a credit card by signing the agreement, but not posting it back to the bank. Do you agree that the fact that you signed it means nothing?
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    ric1982 wrote: »
    Is it ok to ask for my solicitor to agree on exchange and completion date first and sign the contract just before exchange?
    You'd just be creating more work for you and your solicitor, with no advantage to anyone. They're expecting you to sign everything you need to sign and (as far as possible) discuss anything which needs discussed at the one meeting. Which should be fair enough.
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