How long

[Contemplatinglife]

Hello hoping someone can advise. Had offer accepted on a house (Scotland) now sellers solicitor is ordering searches. Our mortgage application is with underwriter but hoping to hear back from them soon.

Roughly how long are searches taking at the moment and from there how long could it be until we get the keys? I suspect it could be how long is a piece of string but I’ve no patience! Also house is empty

You're right, time to completion really is how long is a piece of string. I'm a property lawyer and searches generally come back within a couple of days max, sometimes quicker depending what it is. There will be a bit of a diligence process once the searches and title come through, as well as the conveyancing process so it really depends what comes of that. At the moment it's taking a few weeks to get copy deeds from the Land Register so could hold things up if those are needed. I've just sold my flat which was empty at the time. It was to a first time buyer and no chain. We were aiming for four weeks and it took six because of the buyer's funding. We're currently in the process of buying a house as part of a chain. We're in week 9 and hoping to complete next week. I don't work in residential so wasn't sure of timescales - lawyer and EA both said four weeks is possible if no chain and cash buyer, six to eight should be comfortable with mortgage funding since no chain (assuming bank approve in a reasonable time - my buyer's did as did our bank for the new house). I got the impression anywhere from there up to 10/12 weeks wouldn't be unusual but it certainly could be less as I discovered. I'm not sure there's much you can do to make it go quicker other than be as responsive as possible when asked. We set a target date of entry when the offer was accepted and worked towards that rather than wait until most of the work was done to agree a date. Progress was slow to start and nothing much was done until the mortgage offer came through but once we had that and an agreed date of entry, it picked up as the date approached with most of the work happening towards the end.

Thank you @Basillify I really had no idea about searches so you’ve given me some hope that they might not take too long! We originally viewed the house at the start of the year but due to various reasons it’s been held up. At this rate we’re hoping we could be in by Christmas!

Hope all goes well with your move 🙂

Wow that's such a long time to wait. My 9 week wait feels like forever so you've been very patient! Pretty sure I'd have gone mad by now.

I'm sure Christmas is more than achievable and you'll be in before then. Once your mortgage offer comes in you can hopefully set a relatively close date of entry and it will all fall in to place before you know it. The seller will not doubt be keen to sell as well after all this time. Fingers crossed for you! 🤞

It really does feel like it’s gone on forever @Basillify just hope we’re on the home straight now.

Keep reading things about mortgage offers being pulled etc so not getting excited until I have the keys in my hand. Didn’t realise how stressful it all is. Will never move again!

Thank you hope you get some good news soon