House move.. exchanging contracts?

[Supermagicsmile]

We are buying a new build property and they have given quite a tight deadline to exchange.
I have explained that we need the money from the sale of our current property to use as the deposit for the new one.
Does that mean we'll have to exchange and complete on the same day?

Is the deposit required on exchange? Sorry, am new to all this!!

You (through solicitors) usually receive a 10% deposit from the house you are selling and then use that to pay the 10% deposit on the house you are buying. So need to fund any difference through cash
The deposit % can sometimes be reduced though, when we sold our house we were asked if we would accept a 5% deposit which we did

You just need to exchange with your buyers before exchanging on the new build.

How can you be new to it if you’ve bought a property before?

We were first time buyers before so had the deposit in a savings account and could hand over on exchange. This time our deposit is from the equity from the sale of the property.

Your solicitor should be sorting all that out. The deposit they receive from your buyers will be used to provide the deposit you need for your purchase.

Sorry for the stupid question but how would that work in terms of numbers? E.g. Say the person buying mine has a deposit of £15000 and I needed £40000, how would I make up the difference before completion?

Yes you will need to exchange both on the same day or the sale and subsequently the purchase (although you run the risk of being homeless if you exchange on the sale first and separately). Your solicitor will handle this for you by way of a simultaneous exchange on both properties. The deposit will then be “bounced up” the chain or held to order pending completion. You shouldn’t have to write on mumsnet you should get a better solicitor next time.

You would need to provide the rest of the deposit before exchange on your purchase can take place so that you have a 10% deposit. Alternatively, your solicitor can ask the buyer’s solicitor to accept a lower deposit for the purpose of exchange which is at the seller’s discretion

SOrry your solicitor can ask the SELLERS solicitors to accept a lower than 10% deposit

Yes solicitor and your vendors solicitor generally agree to transfer a smaller amount if that's all that's available. Your liability is still 10% though. Don't worry about it - it's really normal and common!

Whilst it’s common, if the difference is a big one (i.e £15,000 when you need £40,000) it’s also common for the seller to say no on the advice of their solicitor. It all depends on the lawyers along the chain really.