How long does it take to complete on buying?

[Deadbydaylight]

We are first time buyers in scotland.

We put an offer in and it was accepted (yay!). We have a decision in principle from the mortgage lenders and a meeting with them on Thursday to finalise and get the mortgage.

The mortgage lenders want to carry out their own survey, which is fair enough. How long do you think it will take to get everything finalised?

Just we do have to give a month's notice on our current rented house, although I think we will end up paying for April regardless and just leaving early, which is fine. It actually gives us more time to move and relax about it rather than panic.

Do you think end of April is unrealistic? Assuming nothing goes wrong?

I once bought a vacant possession without a mortgage and no survey. It took 6 months. His solicitors were dreadful. It was a specialist conveyancing solicitors where no one seemed to have ownership of any individual case and the next person dealt with whatever it was and no one carried forward the case. He sent us profuse apologies and changed solicitors after about 4 months
You never can tell

I have a chain free buy to let I am buying. Lady is selling as husband has died and she can't face to manage it. Its been over 3 months and i still have no idea when we will exchange. Her solicitors seem useless but then she appears not to know anything when asked. So in answer to your question, it depends how on the ball you and the seller is, with pushing the solicitors and sorting paperwork

It took us 6 weeks, in Scotland and could have been quicker if we'd wanted it to be. But our mortgage lender was happy with the home report and didn't want to do their own survey, and we had a broker to push things along. It also helped that the seller had already moved on months before and was very keen to get his money! So it is doable but I suppose it depends how long the lender takes with their survey.

Re the overlap from renting, don't make it too long - we had a month and it just meant the stress dragged out for longer and we couldn't enjoy our new home properly until it was done. (On the plus side that place was squeaky clean when we finally handed the keys over and we were very glad to see the back of it!)

FWIW based on talking to friends who've bought either side of the border I do think it's generally much quicker in Scotland than England.

On the renting side, we actually may know someone who would possibly want the house to rent themselves, so leaving wouldn't be difficult. The lady we rent from is lovely too and we just need to give the place a good last clean which my parents will help with.

I think end of April sounds likely then from what you've said. I can't see this being drawn out, the seller wants to move somewhere else for work so can't see why they would slow it down.

I had no chain and it took 5 months to sell, the relocating buyer was using a mortgage and haf nothing to sell.

Then when I bought recently, it was a cash purchase and still took 4 months to complete. The searches had also already been done as it had been up for auction.

The system is crap and solicitors and people not doing their paperwork promptly, which slows things down. Then the searches can take forever.

I'm from England but from offer being accepted ..

First house ftb and no chain property was empty it took 14 weeks

Second house short chain took 17 weeks

New house we had offer accepted 5 weeks ago and not much movement since really. We had mortgage in principle and valuation booked in from lender. It's all the legal stuff that takes the longest

8-10 weeks is usual kind of timeline. A mortgage in principal is not the same as a mortgage offer. Your solicitor won't progress missives until they have this.

Types of things that can delay progression of the missives - any title issues. Any issues that arise from the searches, issues in relation to your sellers onwards purchase, any delay in you providing your evidence in relation to your deposit, any alterations that have been carried out to the property.

Searches do not take long to come back once ordered. Couple of days max. These are not ordered by your solicitor but by the sellers.

@Outnumb3red why did I pay for searches when I was a FTB then? Of course the solicitors order them.. that's who I pay the money to order the searches, isn't it?

@Outnumb3red I have bought and sold in England many times the searches are always ordered by the purchasers solicitor.
There is no rhyme or reason to how things move it can seem like a short simple chain and then something can go wrong beyond people's control. Mortgage lenders can make particular requests that slow things down.
I made an offer last July still waiting to get into new house as someone up the chain has received some very poor advice and now it has to go to court tomorrow.
However I have completed in 7 weeks in the past on two occasions offer Jan 4, complete March 23 and offer 29 March, complete May 27.
April I would consider overly ambitious.
I would suggest you ask for a certain delay between exchange and completion so that you do not pay rent and own for too long.
Typical in my experience formal mortgage offer including valuation can take up to 3 weeks.

I'm talking about Scotland as that's what the OP asked about. the seller provides and pays for the searches.

@Outnumb3red despite having read the thread twice before replying I missed that.

I don't think anything will be found in the searches, but I don't think I know all of the searches that are done. I know of flooding, environmental impact, possibly building projects nearby, is there anything else? The area has never flooded and I'm already aware of possible houses going up opposite but not bothered about that. I knew as soon as I saw the house they would build opposite as its a large, flat area, didn't really need to check the council website. But they are having problems getting the plans approved and have for years so may not happen for a while.

Searches that are standard are Coal, Property Enquiry Certificate and title & personal searches.
These show issues with any coal mining or nearby mine shafts that would be an issue, PEC shows info from the local authority and will include planning etc and may disclose if the property has been altered. Title search gives info on the title. Will also show if any charges registered against the property - and the personal searches to ensure the seller isn't inhibited in any way.
Searches can disclose if anything further is required. They are not just for your benefit but that of your lender. What might not be an issue for you can be an issue for them.

Last year I bought a house in Scotland, no chain, vacant, and it took 5 weeks.

It's not vacant at the moment but I guess the seller might hold it up if they can't find somewhere to move to? But then I figured they would have rejected the first offer then.