Contarct exchange date (UK)?

I am buying a property and have received contract, mortgage deed, transfer deed and land transaction form from my solicitor for sign-off. I noticed that he hasn't specified agreement date and completion date on the contract and asked me not to put any date in the contract. He has also requested a cheque for amount, which is less than my mortgage deposit. Any idea if this is all normal? I was told completion date is 15 Feb.

Contarct exchange date (UK)?
This is perfectly normal. You just need to sign the forms and return them to your solicitor.





This is how the process works, exchange of contracts happen over the phone but to enable your solicitor to do that he needs to have the sined contract in front of him. He should have explained that to you. Even though you have signed the contract, it doesn't mean that you are committed to the purchase. On the day of exchange, he will call you to make sure that you do want to go ahead with the purchase and confirm the completion date. He will then telephone your vendor's soliciors and exchange contracts. He will then call you to tell you excahnge has occured and from that point you are legally bound to complete.





The moey that he is asking for is the deposit monies that you need to hand over on exchange. This is usually 10% of the purchase price or sometimes 5% if you are obtaining 95% mortgage.





With regard to the other documents that you need to sign, once you have completed these they need to go to various places, like the land registry and also the inland revenue. You have only a short period from completion in which to register your purchase and I'm guessing because the compeltion date is very near, he wants these back as soon as possible or you can be fined.





The mortgage deed needs to be explained to you by a solicitor so i would have thought that he would ask you to come into his office to sign that so I would call him and make sure.





God luck, hope it all goes well