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Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

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Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Property/DIY

Realistically what's the shortest amount of time it takes to buy a house?

39 replies

Fortress · 08/06/2011 20:23

Hi would love to hear opinions. We had an offer accepted on a house yesterday, it's chain free and we won't need to do a survey. Our solicitor isn't due to go on holiday... I'm due dc3 in 8 weeks...
Tia

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Eglu · 08/06/2011 20:26

We exchanged within 6 weeks on ours. No chain, we were renting and the other couple were building their own.

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Fortress · 08/06/2011 20:32

Okay, that sounds good! What kind of things can hold up a sale? Selling our place took 6 months from the offer!!

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Mumswang · 08/06/2011 20:37

We're chain free. Vendor chain free. Mortgage sorted. The survey was very quick. All very straightforward. What has held it up is the local searches. Our local authority has made half the department redundant and so they have a backlog. It took 3 weeks. We're hoping to exchange next Friday which will be 8 weeks from having the offer accepted

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Fortress · 08/06/2011 20:43

Fingers crossed for you mumswang! Will you hope to complete 2 weeks after exchange?

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IHeartKingThistle · 08/06/2011 20:48

I don't wish to be the voice of doom and gloom but is it definitely 'chain-free' as in ready to go? Ours was probate and therefore 'chain-free' but they told us that probate had been granted when it hadn't even been applied for . That put everything back and the whole thing ended up taking 6 months.

I really hope it goes smoothly for you though - new house and new baby is so exciting!

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Fortress · 08/06/2011 20:58

That's so annoying iheartkingthistle! This house is being repossessed. Bit of a long story but we sort of know the couple through a family member and we think their d day is around 7th July. Now that they've accepted our offer though I'm really hoping they don't drag their heels! They've been there 30 years!

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Fortress · 08/06/2011 21:04

Thanks Iheartkingthistle and that's so annoying re not having applied for probate yet! This house is being repossessed. Bit of a long story but we sort of know the couple through a family member and we think their d day is around 7th July. Now that they've accepted our offer though I'm really hoping they don't drag their heels! They've been there 30 years!

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IHeartKingThistle · 08/06/2011 21:10

We got here in the end though! The neighbours couldn't believe we were the original buyers!

I don't know anything about repossessions but I hope it all goes through super-quick. Is it going to be a bit awkward given that you know them? Hope not.

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Fortress · 08/06/2011 21:28

Thank you! It's slightly strange but we really wouldn't ever mix with them socially Iyswim. When we viewed it, it was the first time i'd seen the wife in maybe 5 years. They're in their 60s we're in our 30s. Very difficult for them :(

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Mumswang · 08/06/2011 21:34

We hope to complete a week after exchange. We too have a baby due, in 8 weeks

Last time we moved house I gave birth 10 days later (3 weeks early) so I really hope we have a little bit longer this time

Good luck with your purchase

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IHeartKingThistle · 08/06/2011 21:36

That's tough. Hopefully the fact that they know you and know about the imminent arrival might hurry them up a little bit!

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Fortress · 08/06/2011 21:50

Oh good luck mumswang! I don't know why we do it!!! I'm just hoping we've got a couple of weeks to rip up dusty carpets etc before this baby comes! My stress levels aren't great!

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SybilBeddows · 08/06/2011 21:53

mine took about a month I think, I was FTB.

good luck.

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Firkytoodle · 08/06/2011 21:57

We bought our first house from our landlord and it took 8 weeks from offer to completion.

When we sold it took 3 months from putting it on the market (it sold very quickly).

Our current house was a vacant ex-rental and we were renting too. We put in the offer in November and finally got the keys in the middle of February. The hold up was the crap solicitors who lost documents and took forever. By the end we were phoning them up twice a day. With a fast and efficient solicitors we could have been in a month earlier, but we went in-house because we thought it would be faster. The mortgage company were excellent- Britannia- and really speeded up our application when we requested it.

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ThunderboltKid · 08/06/2011 22:06

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn at poster's request

Imnotaslimjim · 08/06/2011 22:09

I bought and moved into a house in 4 weeks, and that included land and coal searches (its a ex-mining town) it all went really smoothly. Hope it all goes well for you and you have time to get your own stamp on it before the newest addition arrives

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Fortress · 08/06/2011 22:49

4 weeks sounds very nice [hopeful] and yes do keep me posted :)
Good tip to ring/chase up everyday, thanks.

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microserf · 09/06/2011 07:30

we did ours in 10 weeks (chain free). there was an insurance problem due to the death of the joint policy holder in the other flat, which took the additional 2 weeks. we could have done it in 8.

it really all depends on the solicitors (and no survey probs of course!). ours kept going on unannounced holidays and seemed unmotivated. turned out she'd resigned! the posting thing is annoying, why they can't use email beyond me...

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Pernickety · 09/06/2011 09:34

When we sold our last house it went through within 7 weeks. We were out of the loop as we were renting but the people who bought it had a chain below. We felt that the estate agent was key in driving the process forward. We had to contend with solicitor's on holiday and maternity leave. If the estate agent isn't driving things forward at a good pace, keep hassling them. Get dates for when things will happen by if you can so you know when to ring back and find out if it has happened. Good luck!

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noddyholder · 09/06/2011 16:36

It takes about 2 months. I did it in 3 weeks once but was a cash sale and an empty house.

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SybilBeddows · 09/06/2011 16:40

do chase solicitors as well. I had a delay because the solicitor got confused and thought I was waiting for my mortgage agreement (even though I was cash buyer and had told them so in writing) and they passed that message back to the agent who waited a few days before contacting me so it took a good few days of Chinese whispers before they realised.

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Fimbo · 09/06/2011 16:41

If you can (but probably not in your case, op) get contact details of the people you are buying from, we did this with our last house and honestly the time and information you can gain is invaluable. Our buyers solicitor was a trainee and out to impress and so was incredibly slow checking and double checking everything. In the end our buyers asked us to jointly write an email telling her we were exchanging on x date and to get on with it (dh is a solicitor although not in property!) in the nicest possible way.

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SybilBeddows · 09/06/2011 16:49

Fimbo I regret not doing that, I think it would have been smoother and less stressful if me and the vendor had had the odd phone convo or email to reassure each other about where we were with things.

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CafPow · 09/06/2011 16:55

Our move took 8 weeks, we moved in 5 days before DD2 was due, 9 days before the actual date!

Good luck!

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Fimbo · 09/06/2011 16:56

Sybil, it was great. Our buyer and I were in contact all the time. She used to ask me questions because she knew dh was a lawyer. The solicitor at the last minute decided that we needed a window in an extension checked. The extension was up prior to needing kitemarked windows but some jobsworth from the council came out and insisted the pane of glass be replaced. This would have delayed exchange considerably. But lo and behold spoke to buyers and the lady's brother had his own glazing firm, he came out, measured up, ordered the glass and installed it. He wouldn't take anything for it either although we did give him something. It was like something out of a fairytale, I was stressed beyond belief and it all just floated away........