we signed contracts yesterday so why didn't we complete today?

[CrapBag]

We signed late, after 5pm but I was expecting to exchange today. Completion is set for monday. I do not want to be one of those where you exchange and complete on the same day, plus I don't know how we would do it because I wouldn't be able to transfer the money to the solicitor without internet banking and the computer will be packed.

The solicitor said I would need to transfer the funds Friday so I was assuming completion was imminent. Hope its tomorrow but why wouldn't it have been today? This bloody sale and purchase has been stressful enough without this at the end now.

Your solicitor needs your deposit in cleared funds before they can exchange.

Are you getting a mortgage? Solicitors need to order the funds usually about 5 working days prior to completion.

Signing the contract doesn't in itself mean anything. Your solicitor should contact you before exchange to confirm you're still happy to go ahead.

You sound confused about the process, speak to your solicitors to clarify.

Oh, and don't rely on internet banking - most have a £10k upper limit for transfers. You need to go in branch with ID for large transfers.

Oh great. Yes we are getting a mortgage. He told me I would be transferring the funds Friday, asked me who my bank was and if I have internet banking and said it was good because Lloyd's have a limit of 25k. We will be transferring more than 25k though. Which he knows.

This is not sounding good at all!!

I will be messaging him first thing.

Most internet banking also has the option to phone up. That has always worked okay for big transfers for me. (When the computer says no) Is the solicitors with the same bank - if so it will transfer instantly. Otherwise you might need to send it by chaps rather than BACS to get it quick enough. can't help with the completion question only bought and sold in Scotland

Agree with msfreud, you do sound confused about the process.

You may not have exchanged because the other solicitors had gone home as it was after 5pm. However, signing a contract merely means that your solicitor holds the signed documents from you in readiness for exchange whether that is today, next week, next month or anytime after that.

When your solicitor is ready to exchange, they will contact you to confirm that you are happy to go ahead and with a completion date of ? Once you say yes, they will have your authority to go ahead and do the exchange.

You may need to go into your bank and ask for the funds to be transferred as a Chaps or BACS payment (They'll charge you around £25 for this) but it does mean you can transfer a large sum all at once, otherwise to do it for free means transferring in instalments. If you go into the bank, take ID (passport/driving licence and a utility bill no more than 3 months old). Your solicitor will not exchange without the funds being cleared in their account, and the monies must come from your account and not a third party.

internet banking is not appropriate for the kind of sums involved. Make an appointment for CHAPS as described above - it takes about 30 minutes to do and should be done about 11am to guarantee same day transfer.

this is to be done before completion; for exchange you 'only' need to have transferred the deposit.

your solicitor's job is to guide you through this.

May I borrow this thread to ask about my situation - am planning to downsize, have deposit in cash for smaller house, but balance will come from sale of house, which I own outright. So funds won't come in (from purchaser) till completion, is that right? and I won't have a mortgage, of course. Any problems this might cause?

That's perfectly normal thesilvery you just complete in a chain.

That's what I thought, thank you. Have reached advanced age without much experience of all this!