Contracts | How do I exchange contracts?

Miller Metcalfe posted on 7th August 2018

The last (legal) stage of your property journey is the exchange of contracts. Once this has started, you cannot pull out (without losing your legal costs and deposit)

Once your offer has been accepted on a property and all of the necessary checks have been completed, you will be asked to pay a deposit on the property. The deposit is usually 10% of the property value (sometimes 5%). You will be required to pay the deposit on the property before the contracts can be exchanged.

You pay your deposit to your solicitor (or conveyancer) along with any other costs you have incurred such as stamp duty. As well as this, you will need to sign all the necessary legal contracts and documents provided to you.

IMPORTANT: It has become common for scammers to intercept emails between solicitors and buyers, providing you with the wrong bank details for your deposit transfer. Please remember to check bank details with your solicitor directly to avoid any loss.

Both yourself (the buyer), and the current owner of the property (the seller), will be required to sign the contracts. Once signed, they will need to be sent, via recorded delivery, back to your solicitor/conveyancer. You will then be notified when these have been received.

At this stage, it is important to get your buildings insurance in place ready for the contracts being processed. It may also be useful to consider other protection at this point such as life insurance. Speak to one of our protection advisors at any time, simply visit our financial services page for more information.

You will then be issued with your date of completion. This is usually around 2 weeks after the contracts have been processed, although sometimes this can be quicker. It is important to use this time to plan your move and get all of your items in check.

Miller Metcalfe

Miller Metcalfe are approachable, friendly and committed to making your move as quick, simple and stress free as possible – just what every estate agent should be!

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Contracts | How do I exchange contracts?

Miller Metcalfe

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