How long does it take to actually exchange on the day of exchange? Chain of 5.

[Honey1975]

Hoping that today is the day to exchange contracts. Was meant to be yesterday but didn't happen as one document was outstanding.
Solicitor is going to start the process first thing this morning.

Not really sure what the actual process is or how long roughly to expect it to take. Does anyone know?
We are in a chain of 5.

Just want that call, preferably before yet another long weekend of waiting & wondering!

It's really variable (property lawyer here). I would allow 2-3 hours at least.

Thanks Champagne, fingers crossed all goes to plan today!

Solicitor at the top has just announced they can't exchange today as vendor hasn't arranged buildings insurance! FFS!! Now we've got to wait all weekend, mh nerves can't take much more!!

Has anyone else found the exchange process has taken several days? I can't help but worry🙁

Don't worry, it isn't unusual at all.

Thank you plants that's reassurring. I suppose I thought it was going to happen seeing as we'd been told that everyone was ready to exchange! Why would they say that when they clearly weren't ready!

It could be that the solicitor thought he was ready but forgot to tell their client that the risk passes to them on exchange. More likely it was in a written report on title sent to their client who didn't bother to read it properly. The solicitor could be from a factory conveyancers where contact with clients is at a minimum.

You don't normally have an exchange date booked in. Once every one is ready to go you exchange. The completion date is almost always set but it doesn't work like that with exchange.

The process is that the solicitor at the bottom of the chain rings the one above, confirms the contract is agreed and 'releases' the contract for a period of time. If you are talking 5 in a chain you would want to allow 3-4 hours. The release goes up the chain to the top. The top solicitor actually exchanges contracts (over the phone) and then it works its way back down the chain.

Exchanges on a Friday are better avoided because usually it is fairly busy with completions. Most people want to move on a Friday. Also it could be that the solicitors also have a life and might want to leave on time or even a little early so they can go away for the weekend etc.

Plants thank you for explaining, that helps. I think you're probably right that he didn't read it and realise he had to have it in place. Also your point about Friday's being busy makes sense.

Who decides then when everyone is ready to exchange? It was our estate agent who emailed me to say the chain was ready to exchange but it's only really by the solicitors doing their thing I'm guessing that any issues would come to light
like they have today.

Can it be quite common for it to take a few attempts for the exchange to be successful?

We exchanged and completed today. Funds arrived in my solicitors account at 10am and we'd exchanged/completed by 11.50am..! I was expecting it all to happen much later than that. (Short chain though, just me, my vendor, and their vendor.)

It varies who actually initiates the exchange. A good agent will know the chain inside out and will often prompt the solicitors that everyone is ready. A crap agent will push for exchange near the end of the month in the hope that they will get their commission in that month's figures. It doesn't help, you have confused and disappointed clients.

It is rare that any big issues will come to light so close to exchange. Problems usually are picked up when the searches come back or when the solicitor does their report. Problems just before exchange are usually lingering ones where the sellers don't provide full information etc.

Don't worry. Completions always come first on a Friday. A high street solicitor may have 3-6 completions on a Friday, a factory could have more. Any blips can be time consuming and obviously have to be dealt with immediately.

What solicitors do you have? The factories will sit back and wait for a phone call usually. High street solicitors will be more motivated. A higher end solicitor should be more on the ball and know the position of everyone in the chain. You do get what you pay for. It is normal in my firm to only have 2-3 completions a week so we have time to ensure that everything is dealt with promptly. A factory could have many 'case handlers' in a team with the actual solicitor working from home and only being in the office a couple of days a week. Saying that, exchanges are often done by paralegals rather than the actual solicitor as once you have reported to your client it just procedure really. The contract has already been agreed so exchange is just a few phone calls and box ticking.

Nothing that you have said has rung alarms bells. If someone was still waiting for a mortgage offer or had planning issues on a listed house etc it would be concerning. Your situation sounds fairly normal.

Thank you Plants that is so helpful. I know I'm probably worrying unnecessarily but we are just so close now and don't want anything to go wrong.

We are using a local solicitor and they have been excellent.
Hopefully all will be sorted on Monday.

Hi to follow up with a query on something you said, how does a buyer know when to get insurance for? Does the solicitor give you a few days notice and say exchange will happen on x date make sure you have buildings insurance?

We were told we are almost ready to exchange so we just phoned and arranged it and then sent the confirmation email to our solicitor. The insurers wanted a date for exchange so we just told them the next day's date as we were expecting it to happen then.

Oh brilliant that's really helpful thanks. Was worried we'd be caught out when our time comes (stuff in limbo land at the mo!).

Hope yours goes through early next week

Should we start packing the house this weekend despite having not exchanged? Hoping to complete on 23rd and with work during the week that only leaves us this weekend and next to pack everything.

Well we've not exchanged and aren't ready to yet but have started packing as it's such a big job

We're due to exchange on Monday and started packing about three weeks ago. Aim is to complete on 25th. We've sold loads of stuff, binned 50 odd bags of hoarded crap and the house is almost clear now.

Packing is a bit like buying presents for a baby early. It depends how superstitious you are.

Regarding insurance, ring around and get your quotes in advance. Then as soon as you have exchange, phone the chosen insurer to start the policy. Give them the completion date too.