What is the difference between exchange and completion?

A property sale or purchase does not become legally binding until both parties have signed a contract and their solicitors have exchanged (swapped and dated) contracts over the phone. Either party can walk away from the transaction up until this point.

We do not exchange contracts until we have carried out a full title investigation and  you have carried out a full inspection on the property that you are buying. Once both parties are in receipt of full satisfactory replies to any questions which we both may have about the property.

We should point out here that any questions to be asked must go through solicitors as the contract says that you cannot rely on any information given to you directly by the other party.

Completion is the term given to the day that the sale or purchase goes ahead – money is transferred and keys are handed over.

Exchange of contracts and completion can take place on the same day but often people will choose to leave a period of around two weeks between exchange and completion.

This allows you to make final moving arrangements and finish packing when you know that the sale/purchase is legally bound to go ahead on a date written in to the contract.