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Original poster

Buying a house, how long......

24 replies

Greenkit · 16/04/2019 19:31

I put in an offer on a house (22 March), Seller put an offer on a house a few days later, both accepted.

I am in rented , seller buying vacant possession so only the two of us.

My mortgage is ready to go

How long is it likely to take?

OP posts:
Redglitter · 16/04/2019 19:38

I was 4 weeks 2 days from offer being accepted to getting my keys

mmmmmchocolate · 16/04/2019 19:38

I had the same chain as you, took about 9-10 weeks.

Our first house- same chain, took about 15-16 weeks as I recall. It depends if you hit any issues that need resolving.

SimonJT · 16/04/2019 19:39

I am in a similar situation, I thought I would probably have about six weeks from my offer being accepted to getting the keys, but I’m completing on Thursday which makes it 3.5 weeks in total!

Original poster
Greenkit · 16/04/2019 19:49

Wow, really varied answers

Anything I can do to speed things up?

OP posts:
Smart123 · 16/04/2019 20:21

I'm almost 6 months!!
No chain either!

Missingstreetlife · 16/04/2019 20:25

Hassle your solicitor. Keep estate agent in the loop and hope no hiccups. Good luck

Original poster
Greenkit · 16/04/2019 20:27

Bloody hell Smart

Thank you

OP posts:
Walnutwhipster · 16/04/2019 20:32

My son gets his keys tomorrow. Offered on the 26th March, accepted that day. I've been amazed how fast it went through, although his partner's DM is their solicitor.

Closetlibrarian · 16/04/2019 21:23

Hassle your solicitor, get the agents on board to nudge as and when needed, complete and return and paperwork promptly.

Fettfrett · 16/04/2019 21:37

Similar chain took 17 weeks. It tends to take longer if there is a flat anywhere in the chain (our vendor was downsizing to a flat) due to sorting out leasehold/freehold and management pack etc.

stucknoue · 16/04/2019 21:39

3 months is a typical length, longer if there's a big chain

mrsed1987 · 16/04/2019 21:39

we had no chain at all, either way and it was still 10 weeks

SparkyTheCat · 16/04/2019 21:56

14 weeks for same chain, 16 if Christmas included.

Echobelly · 16/04/2019 22:22

Piece of string question, but I've bought 3 times and it's been:

Home 1 (FTB, short chain above): about 11 weeks

Home 2 (Still not selling a place, short chain above): c11 weeks

Home 3 (Chain free buyer of our place, short chain above): c 13 weeks

TBH, I've been quite lucky to have relatively short transactions. My sister sorted her current place, with a short chain, in about 6 weeks, which is one of the quickest ones I know of.

BTW, OP - do not give notice to LL until you have exchanged - yes, you may end up paying double for a month, but so many renters get themselves in a pickle by giving notice and then the whole thing taking longer than they expected.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 17/04/2019 07:47

6 weeks - from offer accepted to getting the keys - for a dd in a similar situation. I had told her to expect 3 months.

HelloThere1234 · 17/04/2019 12:20

You really just need to hassle them, make their every waking moment a nightmare (well ok maybe not to that extent).

Our first house there was no chain either side, mortgage in place and it still took 9 months (we didn't know what we were doing so didn't hassle or chase)... Our recent move had a bigger chain, we were on their case and it was all done in just over 8 weeks.

Jem01 · 17/04/2019 13:10

Yes agree to hassle solicitor but also to estate agent too. Estate agent is the link between you and the seller so make sure they are doing what you are paying them to do! In the end I ensured I had daily updates from estate agent as our buyer was slowing down the chain and they needed prompted every.damn.step.of.the.way

WBWIFE · 17/04/2019 23:09

When I was a ftb and mortgage trade to go we bought a chain free empty property and it took 14 weeks

Second house we were in chain of three and it took 17 weeks

This time we are in a chain of five and it will have taken 11 weeks

MinnieMountain · 18/04/2019 06:22

Typically it's 10-12 weeks.
Our last move took 6 weeks.
Hassling solicitors is all very well but it also depends on how motivated both parties are.

Original poster
Greenkit · 19/04/2019 20:17

And now bloody easter...I shall ring Tuesday for an update

OP posts:
augustusglupe · 20/04/2019 11:40

Ours should have been straightforward...supposedly cash buyers were buying our home. They weren’t as it turned out and took forever to get their mortgage sorted. After an offer end of July last year, we eventually moved house exactly 4 months later. I think the average is about 3 months though.

Siyenne · 20/04/2019 12:15

If you have a good estate agent/solicitor, they'll do everything to assist you in speeding up the process. I work as a Part-time Sales Progressor for an Estate Agent. It normally takes 5-8 weeks 'if' everything runs smoothly and you have given notice. However as a suggestion you might want all the paperwork (enquiries etc.) wrapped up before giving notice, your solicitor can advise on this. Good luck.

Inferiorbeing · 21/04/2019 20:19

10 weeks when I was in the same situation last year. There was no issues either it just dragged out.

Original poster
Greenkit · 21/04/2019 22:34

siyenne what do you mean about giving notice?

I am living with a friend, can leave whenever or did you mean different paperwork?

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