how long does it take to form a complete chain

[itdc]

We got our offered accepted last month in the local area (london), and now we are putting our flat on the market. Above us there is 2 more houses (or apartments) involved. Our vendor is reluctant to put his house off the market because we haven't sole our flat yet (though we have MIP in place).

It is my first time to buy a house in a chain, I just wonder typically in london how long does it take to form a complete chain, and when should I be ready in the position to conduct mortgage application (survey and etc)?

Thx.

If you are in London it is unlikely it will get taken off the market until you are proceedable ie have accepted an offer and they are proceedable. You can request a survey whenever but might be worth awaiting having your offer formally accepted.

No one (hardly anyone ) will accept an offer from someone who isn't in a position to start proceeding. If you price your property correctly, it should sell quite quickly. The election result - in that one party won with an outright majority - should keep the housing market stable, I believe.

thanks for the reply. This is very helpful. We put our asking price at a very realistic level (just slightly higher than the valuation value for our remortgage early last year) finger across can get a buyer soon.

However, is there any general practice to make sure the chain is progress on the right direction? Currently there are 4-5 houses in the chain and i heard a lot of horrible story and stress moments when dealing all this. And also should we still be keep looking around and making offers to other houses?

There is no chain to move until you can complete it. Whether the others start their paperwork is up to them. Unless you can bridge financially your offer isn't enough.

And no don't offer on any other properties until you have one on yours. The vendor simply won't take you seriously.

The only control you really have is if you get an offer from someone not in a chain vs someone in a chain - that is why first time buyers, investors etc are in stronger positions and can sometimes get lower prices. Also have all your finances/mortgage offer in place ASAP, don't leave that - an offer of a mortgage isn't tied to a single property but is an in-principle offer. It will have an expiry date but is easier to extend rather than start from scratch each time. As a vendor I would never take my property off the market of I didn't know someone could buy it - viewers beliefs in what they can afford and want the bank will lend can be very different. It is great help if your EA is good, I found the good ones will smooth over issues etc, bad ones will let all the parties fight it out and risk things falling to pieces. I had a friend so fed up with chains etc they sold up, put things into storage and lived with in-laws for three months so they could make things 'easier' - although sounds like purgatory to me!

Good luck