To expect house sale and purchase to complete before Chirstmas?

[AliceRR]

We accepted an offer on our house and had an offer accepted on the house we want to buy in the last week or so.

I delayed slightly as I haven’t changed my passport or driving licence since getting married 2.5 years ago!

I have submitted ID with correct address now and have just sent off driving licence to get it updated to correct name so hopefully that’s not an issue.

We got memorandum of sale today and understand Property came off of market today

I am 27 weeks pregnant, due in Feb and would like to move by Christmas. Sellers said they would accommodate this as they have somewhere to move to.

Our solicitor suggested that might be a bit optimistic and it might be but how unrealistic is it? What is your experience?

We know the solicitor who is doing our conveyancing, he’s a friend of DH, so this might help but obviously we cannot account for delays at the other end or with surveys etc.

Realistically I could go on mat leave early Jan. I have 20 days hol and if I use those immediately before my due date my last day at work would be 11 Jan.

Plus I won’t be able to do much physically (lifting and painting etc) whether it’s December or January I suppose.

But it will be more difficult and stressful the closer I get to my due date...

6 weeks I would think would be absolute minimum with no issues. I would assume it would be into the new year, if its sooner it would be a bonus.
I think when we moved from having offer accepted mid Jan we moved in end of March

Depends on so many factors...are you having a mortgage? Are your buyers having a mortgage? Do your buyers have somewhere to sell?

Also what is the tenure of the properties in the chain?

Ours took 8 weeks and that was with a lot of stress and chasing

Do you know the sellers? I only managed to speed up our sale by being in contact with the sellers. Then the solicitors couldn't drag heels as we would let each other know about documents/hiccups.
But are the sellers going into a chain or is their next house empty?

We accepted an offer in early September and just about made it in for Christmas so I say it's unlikely you'll be in unless things go incredibly smoothly.

Honestly I know this is a crap answer but it is how long is a piece of string.

We had our offer accepted on the 26th February on a property which was chain free, and we completed on the 11th August. It was a long 6 months.

We had our house offer accepted last year about end of October, no onward chain and we were first time buyers and we managed to complete and get keys on the 20th December so it may be doable, me and the seller were texting couple times a week to give updates about solicitors etc and chase the solicitors if there was any delays, good luck !

You would be incredibly lucky to be in by christmas, and even if you were you'll only be in with a day or two to spare so will it be worth it to spend christmas in an empty house?

For context I had an easy buy - chain free, ftb going to an empty chain free flat, mortgage already agreed, no extensive surveys and it still took 12 weeks.

Freehold properties

Purchaser of our house is a first time buyer but needs a mortgage I think

We need a mortgage which is agreed at least in principle and is not controversial in terms of how much we want to borrow

Sellers haven’t got a new house lined up but said they will sell us the house and move out ASAP if we want

Sounds like I am being a little optimistic!

Highly unlikely I'm afraid.

In my firm the files we expect to complete by Christmas are having their replies to enquiries chased and lose ends tied up.

Bear in mind that many property solicitors close over Christmas, so the latest you could complete is 20th December.

Unlikely. Even with no chain at either end it would be an optimistic time frame to get searches and whatnot done, especially with places slowing down in the run up to Christmas.

I suppose I should adjust my expectations now then!

It’s not the worst thing but i do wonder what stage we’ll be at when baby arrives and how that will work!

Is moving with a newborn easier or more difficult than moving at around 8 months pregnant 🤔 Maybe about the same!

People do it, I know.

Any advice on that welcome!

Budget to have your stuff packed for you. They will come the day before and you have literally nothing to prep except pack a bag for a few days.
Plan to stay somewhere else on the first night in - at a parent's or at a friend's so you have no probs getting baby settled.
Book a prof cleaning company to clean after removal firm have loaded up furniture/boxes in the morning.

We moved with a 21 month old and me at 8 months pregnant, was fine! Such is life.

Thanks @PicaK

I had not thought about having stuff packed (other than by DH)

My concerns are cleaning the house (I would want to do a deep clean), I would also like to paint and obviously will have difficulty unpacking depending what stage we’re at

Main thing is probably trying not to get stressed about it though and we do have family who I’m sure would help

Not what you want to hear I'm afraid but ime it is highly unlikely.

I've moved about 8 times in about 20 years (I know, I know - I was in a very unsettled phase in my life) and like others have said I don't think that is really feasible. But to make it easier for you in your pregnant state close to moving why don't you organise a packing service with a removal firm. Also keep on at your solicitor and estate, and all the people in the chain to keep on top of progress and chase up things too, and agree some dates with them all and ensure everyone including EA and solic knows that is what your all working towards.

It's usually Spring or Autumn when most people exchange, according to an EA associate.
Winter: Christmas gets in the way as all concerned tend to slow down and then the holiday.
Summer: Tends to be slower as people take holidays throughout the summer months.

We sold and got an offer accepted in the first week of Oct last week. We completed and moved the weekend before Xmas. I don't think there will be time - it usually takes at least 8 weeks. Btw it was very stressful in the lead up to as not knowing whether we would get in before - next time I will wait....

Having moved while heavily pregnant;

Budget for people to pack and for cleaners to go in the new house ahead of you and to clean your house after you’ve moved out, if you can. It seems like a luxury but packing takes a long time and is physically hard work (not just lifting but reaching up and getting up and down off the floor for example) and in late pregnancy that can be exhausting. Furthermore whilst cleaning a house seems easy, without the energy to do it properly/to your satisfaction it’s unlikely to be done how you want it before your baby arrives - and even less likely afterwards!

I’d say very unlikely to be before Christmas - there’s only 5 weeks before banks and solicitors start closing down and going away

Obviously meant last year not last week....🙄

We accepted an offer round about this time last year and 5 weeks later we moved in (15th Dec). All went smoothly and it was nice to have Christmas in the new place even though we were only half unpacked!

But I’m in Scotland so don’t know if that makes a difference in how long things take.

We moved last week, it was supposed to be a quick 6week move... offer was accepted beginning of July, short complete chain still took over 3 months and a lot of chasing of solicitors.
I would definitely pay for packers, they were brilliant! Although unpacking is interesting 😂 good luck with the move and baby

We had our offer accepted mid July. Neither of us are in a chain and it’s now looking unlikely to be done this year. I think you’re being incredibly optimistic, but you never know!