Can I exchange contracts while I'm on holiday?!

[Hodorsbitch]

Sod's law (after being strung along by another vendor for four months) is that everything is coming together on our second house just as we go on holiday this Saturday. We are aiming for completion on August 22nd and are away 9-19th. Should get our mortgage offer hopefully in the next couple of days.

Has anyone had experience of exchanging while they aren't in the country? I don't want to waste the removals deposit for booking the date unless I'm very confident it's going to happen...

Sign the contract with your solicitor, on the basis that he will exchange on the sale providing your mortgage comes in and everything else is in order.

Pretty sure we did this. Book an appointment to complete the completion paperwork on your return.

Yes, as long as you have signed everything you need to and they can contact you and whoever is buying the house with you on day of exchange.

yes - you don't need to be physically there. Check all is well, be contactable as a good solicitor will ring you when everything is ready before exchange, just to confirm finally that you are good to go before committing you.

completion paperwork? Is there any? You just get final statement of finances and a form to fill in for the land registry, this arrives after completion.

I suppose the Completion Statement would be important - to make sure that the monies were available for completion to actually take place.

Thanks all, this is giving me hope! Will hopefully have a realistic chat with our solicitor tomorrow. And I guess once we are away there's nothing we can do but relax and await for calls/emails.

We were completely unreachable in rural Canada when we exchanged, as long as your solicitor is clear on your non negotiables you should be fine.