Duration of sale

[flowercrow]

If an offer is accepted from someone paying cash and there is no chain and the property being purchased is empty, how long should the process take before the purchaser can move in?

There will be a number of other variables, despite the lack of chain and no mortgage lender, that will affect the speed of a sale. It might be as quick as 4 weeks, assuming everything is perfectly straightforward, without any delays.

However there are some local authority's where search results can take 8 weeks, which may affect things. There may be an issue with the title, or a planning breach that could take time to sort.

Basically, it varies.

Assuming no great problems 6-8 weeks would not be an unreasonable expectation.

Thanks very much. I am completely naive in this area.

Freehold or leasehold? Leasehold often takes a bit longer as you usually have to get a property information pack completed by the freeholder, which can add time.

I have bought a vacant, repossessed (so owned by building society) leasehold flat, albeit with a mortgage. It took 4 months, despite us being entirely ready within the stipulated 28 days.

Next we bought a vacant freehold house, with cash not a mortgage. It took nearly 8 months between offer and completion.

In my limited experience, it's anybody's guess how long it will take as there are several people involved, all with various financial and personal stuff going on. Either party can cause delays, either solicitor can cause delays, any of many surveys might throw in a need for testing/negotiation/remedial work and on and on and on.

I'm told it can easily be done inside 4-6 weeks. But that's not been my experience of buying empty property!

AwkwardPaws - freehold.
Sandboy OMG how stressful! I don't know why it all has to be so hard.

I sold an empty flat to a cash buyer and it took 5 months due to his slow and incompetent solicitor who frequently disappeared for weeks on end, most noticeably the day we were supposed to exchange and complete.

I bought a house in four weeks with a mortgage and a family that moved out. They moved on day of completion which was 4 weeks after the offer was accepted.

Basically, it varies massively.

Five months? That's dreadful.
So, with exchange and completion, once contracts have been exchanged does that mean it's a legally binding sale? And what exactly is completion- is it the day the seller gives the buyer the keys?

Exchange = exchange of contracts, legally binding, completion date is set and becomes binding.
Completion = payment and keys given. Can be the same day as exchange but 1-4 week gap is usual to allow time to book removals etc.
I don't know if you are the vendor or buyer but you could make your offer / accept the offer based on exchange within a certain period?

Thanks AwkwardPaws. I love your name.
My mum has inherited and is so generously going to buy me a small house. I am autistic. She has to sell the house she has inherited first but it's supposedly in a very desirable area at a reasonable price.
She has a solicitor and knows how to do this sort of thing. I'm just trying to understand it all but it is far more complicated than it feels it should be. I really want to know how soon I can move. There is a house I would like which is 105 000. But my mum says you can't make an offer till you have the money. Is that right?

You can make an offer but you'll need to explain your position to the estate agent and it's really up to the buyer after that. Very common for people to view when their house is on the market and even more common to sell one house whilst buying another eg when you don't have the funds in your bank account.

Some will be happy to take it off and wait for your funds and some will want to keep it on. Depends if they want a quick sale or not.

I would absolutely go and view it and make an offer if you like it.

Oh great thank you. I will see when support worker can come with me.

Thanks @flowercrow, I like yours too! I have a pair of crows nesting in a tree at the end of our garden, they are lovely.
If your mum has inherited very recently, there may be something called probate which can make the sale a little slower. Your mum's solicitor would be the best person to ask about time frames. If you use the same solicitor as your mum for your purchase, it might help speed things up as they will know exactly where the funds are coming from. You could always view the place you like, it's good to see a few places anyway, as you can compare what is available.
I found the free guides on this website useful when I bought my first home: hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/

Good luck!

Thaks so much AwkwardPaws I will read it. I love crows but added flower to sound less like an overgrown goth.
I don't have a solicitor so my Mum will do all that. Yes, there was something to do with probate. I really want to go and see the house so texted my Mum to see if she is okay with my going. It's only small but it would be my own first ever home, something I could never have afforded myself. And no one would be able to take it away from me. It's like a dream come true. I would still far rather the family member hadnt died but I know she would be very happy for me to be settled an have a home.

Booked to see a few houses next Friday with support worker - very excited!

We’ve recently exchanged contracts (with a mortgage). It took 6 weeks and 2 days. Although my solicitor annoyed me by being laid back. I ended up chasing up Highways agency myself and also kept in contact with the vendor whenever there were outstanding queries etc to ensure that my solicitor didn’t waste time sitting there waiting for the answers to appear. I get the sense that conveyancing solicitors are mostly reactive! She didn’t seem in any hurry, even though I wanted it done quickly.

Completion was supposed to be a few weeks after exchange, but the vendor’s now buying somewhere and completion date pushed back another month.

If the property had been vacant, no reason completion couldn’t be same day as exchange (or very soon after).

@flowercrow good for you it's very exciting!

I bought an empty house. I had no chain and was a cash buyer. Took 4 weeks 2 days from offer being accepted to completion

MeMeMeow and Redglitter how exciting that it's possible. Do you think some moves go fine but it's the problematic ones people post about?

I put an offer on a house in May and finally completed in September.

Delays included an incompetent vendor's solicitor using out of date forms and taking up to a week to reply to telephone calls, the vendor going to India "for business", the Portman Building Society who agreed my mortgage and then moved at a snail's pace to make it happen, my mortgage broker pissing off and getting a new job and finally, the vendor returning from India and taking time out to change his name by deed poll, forcing us to wait while all his title deeds and documents were registered with his new name. For no reason he'd share with us.

Four months all told.

oh ICantBelieveIDidThis how stressful. Was it worth it?

Nope.

Mum has accepted an offer on the house from someone chain-free.

My sale was chain free, vacant possession and I was a FTB, with no chain behind me.

Every time I think about selling up and leaving, I remember how stressful it was buying this place and I give up.

ICantBelieveIDidThis I'm sorry. Why wasn't it worth it in the end? Do you like the house you're in now? Are you still traumatised by the experience?