Paying for a house

[Lolimax]

I'm hoping to complete and exchange next week, buying the house with money from an account, not from a mortgage or anything. Solicitor has asked not to use BACS but to CHAPS it but I won't have chance to go to the bank next week because of work. Does anyone have an alternative or does BACS take that long? It is under £100,000.

You exchange before you complete. CHAPS is a same day payment if made before the cut off time. You don't want to transfer all that money ahead of time by BACS (takes three working days) and have it sitting in someone else's account or risk it not being with your solicitor in time to complete, with you being penalised for failing to complete on time. For something like this I would make the time to get to the bank - you have to take ID with you from memory; check beforehand.

Or just transfer it now by bacs if that means it will get there in time. You'll only lose around 10p in interest.

Or a succession of faster payments.

Thank you! I'll send DH into the bank on Monday.

contact the bank concerned beforehand and make an appointment, or find out times. When I did a CHAPS payment I needed to be there by 11am to ensure it was set up in time to go through the next day. Bizarre, I know..

not a problem IF you are forewarned.

alternatively, start shifting it by online banking faster payments but be aware of the limits;£10k, £25k or 'whatever we feel like' if Santander. Send a test payment of a tenner through first to the solicitor's account to make sure you have all the details correct, and ring them to check it has been received. This is not the time to mistype account numbers.

successive big transactions may be stopped by the bank so forward planning and communication is key. No need to worry about interest as even on these sums it will be peanuts.