How quickly can you buy a property?

[rigmarolo]

Asking as a FTB - saw a very well-priced property for sale at the weekend, owners desperate to sell asap so don't lose the property they are buying. (Previous would-be buyer of their property let them down.)

They want to complete by the end of this month ie less than 3 weeks away.

Does anyone know if that is even feasible??! 😮

Searches are taking a while so doubtful. Solicitor could advise.

We're ftb and the seller has no chain. Takes at least 4-8 weeks if you have everything ready, mortgage offer, documents

Thank you, that's what they said. I assumed when the estate agent said quick he meant Christmas, not end of Nov!

I was in a chain. First time buyers - cash buyers - us. That's it, 3 parties in the chain and the best kind - FTB and cash. It still took nearly 5 months. We were filling out forms and sending them back the day we got them, chasing the chain through the agent to hurry them up etc.

3 weeks is wildly unrealistic. They say 10-12 weeks if everything goes smoothly.

How many in your chain?

If you have a DIP, mortgage offer takes 1-2 weeks.

So thats doable,

And if you buy the searches from previous buyer then thats also sorted.

If you have a good soliticitor its certainly doable to be far enough along the process by 3 weeks that everyone will just hold on for a week or 2 more.

We were in our house within 4 weeks of putting in the offer, but it was a private sale, empty and we were first time buyers. It was so quick we still can't believe it.

@LemonSwan

If you have a DIP, mortgage offer takes 1-2 weeks.

So thats doable,

And if you buy the searches from previous buyer then thats also sorted.

If you have a good soliticitor its certainly doable to be far enough along the process by 3 weeks that everyone will just hold on for a week or 2 more.

@LemonSwan mmm, mortgage offers can take that long but our vendors applied for their mortgage 4 weeks ago and don't even have a valuation survey booked yet so I wouldn't bank on it.

I’d say theoretically possible if no chain but you’d need to get all parties on board immediately. If you’re waiting for searches and surveys that will def hold things up.

You can check how long local searches are taking I'll find the link

www.search-acumen.co.uk/covid-19-coronavirus

3 weeks seems laughable. We previously sold to cash buyers, we were abroad so no onward chain, everyone was eager for a quick completion and it took 10 weeks. We bought last year as cash buyers, again no onward chain as buyers going into rented, took 12 weeks. If you go ahead with the purchase make sure you’re be pressured by their ridiculous timeline into potentially making poor decisions like skipping a survey.

I supose all you can do is make an offer and say that you'll move as fast as it'll possibly go. If you reply to emails straight away, send forms back the same day etc at least it will prove that you're making every effort and they'll likely wait for you as realistically nobody would be able to buy it any quicker.

Yes agree with PP, make sure you don't do anything silly in order to cut corners though!

You can check the local authority to see how long searches are currently taking to come back.

How big is your deposit and do you have complicated income eg are you self employed? Are you choosing a mainstream lender or looking at a smaller lender for a lower rate? We had a deposit over 40% and easily fitted affordability criteria, both been in salaried jobs for over 3 years and our mortgage offer came back the day after submitting it. We also avoided the small building societies as we wanted to move fast and were willing to pay a slightly higher interest rate for speed.

Are you getting a survey and if so will you be happy to pay for and order survey and searches before your mortgage offer is confirmed? If not you can’t progress as fast.

As they had a buyer before you may be able to buy their searches, ask your solicitor. Also a lot of the conveyancing work from the sellers POV eg draft contract and PIF will have been done. It might be doable I would say depends on how risk averse you are regarding paying up front before mortgage offer, how good your solicitor is and your deposit/income size to speed up the mortgage.

As cash buyers, with searches but no survey, we managed it in two weeks (a few years ago now). It was tough, and we had to find a solicitor who could commit to our pace, but we got there. It was a repo and the bank insisted on a 2 week turnaround (and didn't take it off the market, it was a nightmare but a very brief one!).

On our most recent purchase the searches alone took over 8 weeks...

Buying a property is a big commitment. Don't get bounced into things because of other people's timetables.

I have bought with cash on at least 4 occasions with vacant possession and not one has taken less than 12 weeks - often much longer. I suppose you could do it faster if both sides solicitors on board with timetable
My last purchase last year took 16 weeks as the sellers solicitor was snowed under

If you can buy the searches, and are happy with what you see, the survey and mortgage admin would seem to be the longest processes.

Do not be rushed out of getting the level of survey you feel necessary, or following up any survey issues.

Why did the previous buyers drop out, I wonder

If it’s all straight forward and your conveyancers are good, it might just be possible. My parents completed their last sale/purchase in 3-4 weeks which I found very impressive. When we bought our place, it was just us and our vendors. We were in rented and they were moving in with family while they waited for their new build to be completed. We were 6 weeks exactly from offer being accepted to getting keys. Good luck.

We are in Scotland though which might make a difference.

We did viewing to completion in just over 6 weeks this summer, in Scotland. Cash purchase, property empty. We didn't have a survey other than the home report (supplied by the vendor in Scotland which speeds things up).

Theoretically possible, you'll need to apply for your mortgage as soon as the offer is accepted and get your searches paid for that day too. And be prepared for a same day exchange and completion (which isn't an issue as your currently renting/ living with family?) But don't hand your notice in until after wards!

Is the vendor in a chain?

Did the previous buyers who let them down have searches completed? Perhaps you could find out their solicitors from the vendor as some of yhe work might have been completed already and the process might be quicker.
3 wweks seems a bit unrealistic though!

Yes, previous buyer had searches and survey done and we could buy them, but are there any legal issues with this - especially around the survey - if we haven't commissioned it? If the surveyor had missed something but his/her contact was with the previous buyer not us?

We're both full-time employed with good deposit and mortgage agreed in principle so would hope it wouldn't take that long. But shocked some of you saying it could take weeks! I had assumed 24 hours max - what is there to look at, surely either the answer is yes or no?

The buyers have no chain and are ready to go - were all ready to sell but previous buyers too slow so they dumped them as desperate to get the sale through before they lose the place they are trying to buy.

I quite like the house and am tempted by the very good price but not sure I like it enough for this mad rush. The estate agent said a number of other potential buyers who viewed it at the weekend are putting in offers today - suspect it will go to someone who's a cash buyer and so no mortgage to sort, and who is happy to move at this speed.

Ah well.

The mortgage isn’t as simple as a yes or no - the offer can be quick but usual process is: you pass initial checks for affordability/credit check and get the AIP then this is passed to an underwriter who checks the application in more detail. They might look at bank statements, outgoings, income etc. They also verify ID and source of deposit.

If they are satisfied they will pass the application for a valuation, where a separate team values the property to ensure it is worth the price you have agreed on. The bank will probably own more of the property than you so they need to ensure it is a good and safe bet. Depending on how much deposit you have and if the property fits the criteria, this might be a ‘desktop’ valuation where they look at the property against others in the area to see if the price seems right. Or it might need to be a physical valuation by a surveyor (different to your own survey) which obviously takes longer. If this is satisfactory then they will proceed to offer. I think this process varies hugely by the lender. Are you using a broker? That will probably speed it up as they will know the lenders exact criteria and be able to provide them with all the documents up front instead of days back and forth chasing up one pay slip or bank statement!

You can buy the survey but would have no come back against the surveyor if they missed anything. I’m not sure in reality how much ‘come back’ you would have against a surveyor anyway - if you have ever seen a survey there is a lot of general talk and arse covering, if the house is pretty new I would probably be happy with their survey. You can reuse the searches they are the same for all buyers.