Conveyancers exchange and complete on matters every day but as clients you may only buy and sell property a handful of times so exchange and completion are not everyday terms. We therefore want to set out exactly what these terms mean;
 | Exchange of contracts – ‘Exchange’ This is the point at which the buyer is legally bound to purchase the property and the seller is bound to sell the property on the agreed completion date. Each conveyancer will hold a contract signed by their client and any deposit funds will need to have been provided and cleared.
Historically conveyancers would meet in person and ‘exchange contracts’ by handing over their client’s signed contract to the other conveyancer. Now, instead this process take places by way of a series of telephone calls and the postal system.
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The first conveyancer will
then give the next ‘a release’ until a set time that day, usually 4 or 5pm. The
release is a legal promise to the conveyancer that should they call by the
agreed time, the first conveyancer will exchange contracts with them. This allows time for the whole chain to go through the exchange
process.
This process repeats until the top of the chain is reached, this will usually be the conveyancer acting for the person who is selling but not buying a property. When the last conveyancer is reached, they can exchange contracts with the conveyancer they are selling to. This conveyancer then goes back to the person who gave them the release and exchanges with them, until the conveyancer at the bottom of the chain is reached and the final exchange can take place.
If for any reason, exchange cannot take place by the agreed release time, the process will have to start again the next day.
Once exchange has taken, each conveyancer will post the original contract of their client, to the conveyancer acting for the other party.
Completion
Completion is the day that the property changes hands and the buyer gets the keys.
The balance of funds required to purchase a property, including legal fees, stamp duty etc. will need to be with your conveyancer in good time for completion. More often than not this must be at least the working day before completion to prevent any delays.
The conveyancer at the bottom of the chain will send their client’s purchase monies to the conveyancer acting for the seller. Once received, the conveyancer acting for the seller will confirm completion and ‘release the keys’. This is confirmation to the estate agent that completion has taken place and they may release the keys to the new owner.
If there is a chain, this process will continue until the last conveyancer receives funds. As such the further along the chain you are, the longer completion will take.
If you would like to discuss a sale or purchase please contact us on 01394 277 941 or at info@fairstep.co.uk, alternatively fill out our contact form, and we would be happy to discuss your requirements in further detail.
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