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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Offer just been accepted: do you think we could complete before Christmas?

20 replies

notamum3210 · 01/11/2015 14:40

we're first time buyers and just had our offer on a house accepted yesterday. is it too optimistic to expect to have everything completed by Christmas?
We're chain free and our finance is all in place - seller has no chain either.

OP posts:

SevenSeconds · 01/11/2015 14:45

It's difficult to say because it depends if any issues arise from the surveys etc. For us, with two properties in the chain, it took exactly three months from offer to completion, and that was with everything going pretty smoothly, so I'd say you'd have to be lucky, sorry. It's certainly possible though!

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 01/11/2015 14:46

It's possible. Is it empty?

InvasionOfTheBodyShatners · 01/11/2015 14:47

It is possible, but unlikely. 8-12 weeks, even for very straightforward transactions, is a realistic target.

Our last sale took 13 weeks. No chain either way, no renegotiating after the survey, no problems. It just took bloody ages because the solicitors were slow and neither party was pushy.

Original poster

notamum3210 · 01/11/2015 14:48

It's vacant yep - according to the agent, seller is moving away from the area. not sure if that will make it go quicker or slower. we're about to book our survey and have a solicitor in place. we're not in a desperate rush but it would be nice to have it done by the end of 2015

OP posts:

InvasionOfTheBodyShatners · 01/11/2015 14:50

The house we sold was empty too, but still took 13 weeks. There's no reason for delays sometimes. Don't set your heart on being in for Christmas anyway

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 01/11/2015 14:51

So it sounds like there is someone living there. You need to check that they would want to move to your timescale, and be out by Christmas. I'd do that via the Estate Agent. And also let your solicitor know you are aiming to be in by christmas.

Original poster

notamum3210 · 01/11/2015 14:53

No there's nobody living there it's just the seller who managed the property as a landlord (it's previously been rented) is moving away from the area entirely. It's completely empty.

OP posts:

specialsubject · 01/11/2015 15:10

searches and solicitors will be the hold up. Make sure your solicitor turns things round quickly and has ordered the searches. BUT if your council is being slow with searches there's nothing to be done.

BTW if it is empty and as you are FTB - when you get nearer, complete on a day that is NOT a Friday. Everything is much quicker that way and you'll find it easier and cheaper to get removals done.

and with an ex-rental, it is even more important to change the locks when you move in. Loads of people could have had keys.

PurpleWithRed · 01/11/2015 15:15

I have a friend who is a solicitor who managed it in 6 working days. So it's doable. I managed it in 8 weeks with no chain, vacant house, small prearranged mortgage, house just over 10 years old so out of guarantee but still in good nick, all documentation in place. It takes a ludicrous amount of time for the amount of work involved.

Tfoot75 · 01/11/2015 15:23

Ours was around 8 weeks no chain either side and vacant. It is possible but probably only if you insist on it to start with! Otherwise solicitors are quite slow off the mark ime.

Bearbehind · 01/11/2015 17:03

I think you'll struggle, realistically you have 7 weeks.

Solicitors don't generally like to have things on the go right before Christmas or New Year so that pretty much rules out the last 2 weeks or the year.

If you and your vendor push really hard it might be possible but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

potap123 · 01/11/2015 17:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PogoBob · 01/11/2015 17:08

We accepted an offer from a first time buyer on our house on Halloween 2011 and had completed by Christmas, seem remember that we moved the weekend of 10 December so 6 weeks.

However this only happened because we and the buyers were fully committed to making it happen IYSWIM, both sides dealt with paperwork asap and chased the estate agent and solictors on a regular basis (to be fair the estate agent and both solictors were efficient).

We were moving into rented temporarily so there was no chain to deal with.

good luck

RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 01/11/2015 17:13

The quickest we've done it is six weeks - we were not getting a mortgage, didn't have a survey, buying a house where the vendors were moving abroad (into rented temporarily) and our buyers were also not dependent on a mortgage/also had no survey.

Next time we accepted an offer on our house then took a couple of weeks to find somewhere ourselves and from then it was eight weeks till completion. Chain of five buyers/sellers, with us buying a vacant house.

Last time I think it took nine weeks - short chain of our vendor (had already bought somewhere else and moved out), us, our buyer and a FTB who also happened to be getting a BTL mortgage. Things would have gone quicker but for a) our buyer's searches which took six weeks and b) their buyer who was a complete arsehole dropped their offer immediately prior to exchange and held up everything due to not having a mortgage offer till the very last minute. Our chain was complete mid October and we completed on sale/purchase a week before Christmas. Our buyers were uber keen and we were in daily email contact with them, agreeing to keep pressure on all involved which I think made a huge difference.

It is achievable, but depending on factors beyond your control you might have to accept it'll be more likely to be New Year before you are in.

RingDownRingUp · 01/11/2015 17:27

I think you'll struggle with getting the survey and searches done in time. We found that everything shuts down or operates on a go- slow from Mid Dec until the first Monday in January.

We offered at the start of Nov and completed at the end of Jan (having aimed for Christmas).

jevoudrais · 01/11/2015 20:30

Yes it is possible, but unlikely. We had the keys six weeks to the day of accepted offer, our vendor was supposedly desperate for a quick sale and yet still managed to delay us by a fortnight, we were ready to go from week 4.

You just don't know what might show up on surveys etc. I would try not to get your hopes up just in case.

Original poster

notamum3210 · 01/11/2015 20:35

thanks for the responses - obviously won't get our hopes up too much. we're not in a mad rush as renting atm.
it's quite a recent build (10 years old or so) so i'm hoping survey won't be too treacherous. thanks for the tip about getting locks changed- totally didn't think of that!

OP posts:

VulcanWoman · 01/11/2015 20:38

If I were you I'd take you time and plan for the New Year. I was in the same position, needed to get in before New Year so my Son could get a school place, the stress was unbelievable. Didn't make it in the end and had to go to appeal. Anyhoo you'd be in a right mess for Christmas, best to have Christmas where you are.

TheUnwillingNarcheska · 02/11/2015 08:12

We had our offer accepted on this house early Nov and moved Feb. Everything shuts down for Christmas and new year. Plus our buyers had really slow solicitors.

But there were two houses in our sale.

Previously when renting we have always overlapped rental properties and overlapped our first bought house. It gave us two weeks to sort out the empty new property, decorate etc, then move our stuff in, then sort out cleaning down the old place.

Sadly we can no longer do that as we bought and sold.

Good luck.

NorthernLurker · 02/11/2015 08:16

We did it in just under 7 weeks but it wasn't Christmas. I think you can do it but will have to chase hard.

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