How long from offer to completion.

[Webb27]

So I finally got an offer on my house with the new estate agent 😊. I have accepted the offer. My buyers are cash buyers and I’m probably going into rented temporarily. How long do you think it will take roughly to completion if everything goes to plan. Thank you.

At the moment, about 4 months.

Six months, in my experience.

I'd like to know too. 6 weeks in and the draft contract was sent to the buyer about a week / 10 days ago and they've come back with queries. I was hoping for 12 weeks but there's a lot of things that can hold up the process.

I sold my house to a cash buyer at the end of July. It took 2.5 months.

I've been advised by my conveyancer that the average is 5 months at the moment.

My buyers are cash buyers and they are the reason for the delays in the (3 person) chain, because their solicitor is so slow.

3-4 months if there are no issues

Potentially, 4 weeks. That's if you're both very motivated, have good solicitors, minimal enquiries, etc.

More realistically, around 3 months.

12 weeks as an absolute minimum if uncomplicated, everyone returns paperwork promptly, answers emails etc. Prob more like 16-20 weeks.

I'd say 4-5 months.

Ours took 5 months but we had a small chain. Our buyer was selling to a FTB and we the house we were buying had no onward chain.

Even five years ago we waited four months.

It was just under 12 weeks from offer to completion for me, no chain either side. I’ve done it in 4 weeks before but that was over 10 years ago.

We were 10 weeks once the chain was complete. Overall we were four and half months as we had along search for our onward property after our buyers made their offer

So many factors to take into account. Eg an irregularity in the deeds which will need to be rectified. Honestly, no one can predict but if you can get it done in 3 months that would be very good.

May I ask… how come it takes so long? I often see threads about completion stretching out by months and I’ve always wondered how anyone over there can plan anything without a set settlement date. In Aus you make an offer and sign the contract. You then have 2 weeks to sort finances and inspections. If all is well you proceed, if not you can pull out. Usually settle about 30 days after that, sooner if both parties are ready. Our last 2 houses we bought settled 30 days after the offer was accepted. You can be penalised for not completing on the date on the signed contract. Both times we were selling the house we were moving out of so just had a bridging loan and left the house empty (but furnished) until it sold.

It depends on various circumstances.

I last moved 2 years ago, chain of 3, it took 4 months.

Ours took 3 months, cash buyers , no survey, no chain, empty house.

and we are not in Australia 🙄

We're buying a house with no chain, out the offer in on the 19th August and should complete by end of October at the latest all being well. Property searches are taking 6 weeks at the moment in my area, and need to allow for queries off of the back of that. Otherwise once that part is done it should be pretty quick. My friend offered on one at the same time, they exchanged last Friday and are completing end of October. Seller is moving into rented to allow for this

4 1/2 months, no chain, cash buyer, completed 2 weeks ago

For us it was just over 5 months but yours should be quicker as fewer in the chain. Best of luck!

May I ask… how come it takes so long?

Because of the parties involved. You make an offer, then (usually!) you need to wait for your seller to find somewhere, searches from the council (usually 6 weeks as average), a mortgage offer (can be a month or more at the moment), a survey - structural or just a basic one, and all this via solicitors who are currently overworked to the point that mortgage offers are expiring. It is a nightmare.

Thank you everyone for replying it’s really useful to get a rough idea. I’m hoping we don’t have to move before Christmas as January onwards would be better for a few reasons for us. This seems likely so that’s good.

Our offer got accepted Mid May....we haven't completed or exchanged yet.

Us- FTB with 25% deposit
Them- Going into rented (and they've already moved out )

We were six months but the chain collapsed twice.