How long did it take you from offer to exchange?

[bessr]

We’re 5 weeks in and things seem to be moving slower than I had expected. How long did it take you to exchange?

5 months!!! Nearly killed me.

Was around 10 weeks to exchange and 2 more before we moved.

16 weeks and 4 days.

3 months

The whole UK conveyancing system is so outdated and slow. Where I live now, it's done in 6 weeks, maximum 8!

5 months each time, our first buyer pulled out right near exchange.

You've potentially got a long ride yet.

10 weeks short 3 house chain

3.5 months, but it felt like twice that!

Actually shocked now I've worked it out as I really thought it took longer.

Ours took 8 months. We exchanged and completed on the same day, 12 days into our 14 day extension period on our mortgage agreement at 4.30pm on a Friday. I have never been so stressed!
We were first time buyers and sorted everything quickly, the couple we bought from were a nightmare and seemed in no hurry to get things sorted.
We were unlucky, most people manage to get it done in 6-12 weeks

I don’t think it’s true that most people manage to get it done in 6-12 weeks. Even when it is a simple purchase with no chain it often takes solicitors way longer than that.

Following this too. Made the offer the beginning of December but they didn’t find a house till the middle of January so currently at the stage of surveys now. All searches and stuff done. Hopefully exchanges before April to avoid stamp duty .

Our straightforward chain-free sale took 14 weeks. First time we were in a chain it took 5 months and would probably have been longer if the top of the chain hadn’t threatened to pull out if we didn’t complete before Xmas. Second time in a shorter chain was 12 weeks, but during lockdown when exchange and completion was the same day and everyone had lots of time to bother the EAs and sols every day 😁

When FTBs ask me I tell them to expect a minimum of 3 months from the point the chain is complete.

6.5 months with no chain at all!!! 🫠

5 months between offer and completion for sale- we broke the chain to make this happen. 6 months from our offer to completion for purchas. 7 months 7 years ago with no chain!

As a FTB with no chain, 6 weeks from first viewing to moving. Second time -offered early May, moved beginning September. Chain of four.

Just under 4 weeks from offer to completion but that was empty house, chain free with very motivated buyer/seller both pushing our respective (and responsive) solicitors hard. Our estate agent said it was the quickest sale they had dealt with (and it wasn't a straightforward property - grade 2 listed, full structural survey, rights of way, flying freeholds etc).

One thing that made a BIG difference was that we (the seller) spent several hours one night pulling together all the info we had, or we could obtain online, relating to the property into one big indexed pack, scanned it and emailed it to their solicitor - listed building consents, old deeds, rights of way diagrams, previous surveys, building regs sign-off, damp treatment certificates, ECIR, boiler service history, chimney sweeping certs, statutory declarations etc etc etc. This meant we had hardly any queries from the solicitor to deal with. We would certainly do that again next time we sell.

Seven weeks so far. Through survey now. Buyer wants to beat the stamp duty deadline but wastes time being suspicious about everything.

i also scanned every single document, literally scores of them, and sent it all to my solicitor as soon as I appointed them. Still keep on getting asked repeatedly by everyone for gas boiler service and planning permission and ID.

10 months and 27 days. Seller pulled out, she didn’t want to sell after all the messing about. Came back the day after and said if we compete, it needs to be same day. (She pulled out on exchange day). She dragged her heels every step of the way. Finally completed but I had to wait 3 days to get in as she went completely off the radar with my keys and her stuff still in my house.

Ours will be approximately 16 weeks by the time we complete (if everything is on time!), though it’s off plan new build so different to our previous moves.

Ours was about 9-weeks from offer to exchange but was held up by our EA lying about our buyers ability to proceed (said they were chain-free, cash FTB but it turned out that the EA knew perfectly well they were selling and in a chain).

It was then a further 5-months to completion but this was at our request and our buyer fell in with our wishes.

5 months and the simplest chain you could imagine

9 months and 11 months to completion. Basically it took our vendors 3 months to find an onward purchase ( just not much came on) and then their vendors another 2 months. New build at the top so another delay before developer would give occupancy date and we could exchange with long exchange period. We kind of knew it would be long from the start though.

5 months and 2 days. Fairly simple chain but our seller took a month to find her onward which slowed things down a little although I gather that’s actually quite quick.

7/8 weeks. First time buyers with mortgage and funds in place - we were desperate to buy and move in as we were only 10 weeks away from getting married and needed somewhere to live!

Luckily, our vendors were desperate to sell as they were under pressure by their vendors to move.

So our respective solicitors and estate agent was under pressure from both sides. Must say our estate agents were excellent and there were no delays there at all. Likewise the solicitors we used were recommended by the same estate agent as a firm they used a lot, located literally in the next street, of our home town, so it was very easy for us to take documents etc to estate agent and solicitor and for them to swap documents between them. When it came to signing the contract, the solicitor herself came to my house for us to sign in front of her for expediency and so we didn't need to get witnesses etc.

I put a lot of the success down to the estate agent and solicitor who really pulled it out of the bag for us. I know both professions get a lot of stick on here, but we really did have excellent ones.

In fact it was the estate agent who "persuaded" us to view the house we bought - we'd written it off just by looking at the brochure and local knowledge of it's location but she persisted and virtually dragged us to view it straight after we viewed another one close by with her which we didn't like - she said she had the keys with her for this one, and virtually pleaded with us to follow her in the car to view it there and then. We did and she was right - it ticked all our boxes in reality and the things we didn't like were easily outweighed by all the positive aspects - just like she said! She then went on to really do a fantastic job at negotiating with the vendors which was a tad problematic but she managed it very well.

The delays were all due to the council - delays with the local searches, buggered up the searches for conservation area and tree preservation orders etc - where we knew more than the council as their responses were wrong! It could have been a week or two quicker had the council not screwed up pretty simple things!

First time, offers made in August, finally moved in January. Only three properties in the chain but the one I was selling was shared ownership so extra paperwork and then in November when we were all ready, the people I was buying from “suddenly remembered” they were in a fixed rate mortgage and didn’t want to move until January.

Second time we moved, offers accepted in June, moved October half term. First time buyers into ours but three properties above us in the chain and messy divorce at the top. Our vendors went into a temporary property in the end just to get our part of the chain through.