Anyone completed a sale in 5- 6 weeks? Is it possible?

[hophophippidtyhop]

We've just put an offer in on a house, which the seller has said he'll accept if we can complete in 5 -6 weeks. I'm happy to pay more to gain a longer time, but wondered if 5-6 weeks is actually possible. Our buyer has an offer and mortgage agreed in principal (don't know details of their buyer yet), and I know our mortgage will take a month to process.
Is it a bit cheeky and putting our buyers under pressure to ask if they can do it? Also don't want to say I can for things to go wrong!

possible: yes
probably: no
with a chain of (4 min?) people: vanishingly unlikely IME.

All you need is one survey or mortgage to throw up a blip and the whole process will be derailed while everyone gets together the extra paperwork.

I can't see how your seller can possibly know whether that will occur in any of the houses along the chain.

What is he planning to do if you can't complete within the timeframe? Pull out? Also, why is he insisting on this? If he's not got a good reason I would be wary that this is some kind of negotiating ploy to enable him to play hardball in a few weeks when you've invested significant money in searches.

About 10 years agao , I bought property (no chain) within that time. It's the chain bit that is trickiest. How long is the chain. Best to manage the seller's expectations. Don't jump just because he/she says to. Tell him/her that you will do your best but it isn't entirely within your control. Also keep an eye out for other property so that you don't feel desperate.

Technically yes but in reality I would say it's unlikely. Stuff always comes up. TBH the seller is not in a very strong position in this market, he's probably just trying it on - to get things done and dusted before the summer slump sets in.
There's no harm in asking your buyers, no-one wants these things to drag on.
I would just say to your seller 'we have instructed our solicitor that we want the sale completed in 5-6 weeks and that is what we are aiming for, we can't forsee any problems from our side'. If he has half a brain he'll know that you can't definitely agree 5-6 weeks but if he knows are both aiming for the same dates then you can't do much more than that. Good luck

Thanks for replies, I really don't think it's possible, he asked for this as we put in a lower offer based on what the estate agent said - £191,000 on a sale price of 195000. I'm happy to put in more just to secure the sale really. EA said to talk to our buyers monday, which has left me with that nervous stomach since yesterday afternoon! I'd rather add a bit more to the mortgage and know everyone's happy and under no timescale pressure!

Well some friends bought in 3 weeks recently. But no chain involved. We also bought with no chain involved and due to slow solicitor ours took about 8 weeks although Xmas was in the middle of that.

Yes have done it in 3 with no chain and cash so small chain and easy finances could be done in 6 but need v good solicitors.

I wouldn't offer more. Just have a nice calm meeting with the seller and let him know that you are going full speed.

I would get the estate agents to find out why they want such a short exchange. The estate agebts have the vested interest in selling the property for their commission but they will want the sale to go through not fall through.

We bought in about 4 weeks a few years ago - it was a property that went to sealed bids and we didnt get it but the sale fell through because the vendors were pushing for a quick sale and the other buyer couldn't deliver - we were lucky we had a cash buyer for our house and the mortgage already agreed in principle.

It is the solicitors that you have to push the most - I rang them every single day to make sure all the searches were done etc.

Good luck - it is very stressful and emotive make lots of lists and be prepared to push all the way.

I would say 5-6 was very average and do-able.

When bought our last house - a chain of 3 - we completed in 4 weeks.

My brother once did it in two weeks! (But that is unusual).

Sometimes sellers/agents put a time limit on to get you moving, but it ends up more flexible in reality. After all unless there is a compelling reason for the fixed time frame (have they told you of one?) no-one is going to walk away from the deal on a whim - everyone know there can be delays for whatever reason.

If you're worried about them pulling out if the time extends beyond ehat they're happy with, find a solicitor that offers to work with no fee if there's no completion.

Re: finding a solicitor who won't charge if there's no completion I don't think this is realistic or a good idea personally. 90% of the work is pre-completion - why would a solicitor agree to do all of that and then not charge you if a (potentially unrealistic and mainly beyond his or her control) time limit was exceeded? They would have to be either desperate or barking, neither of which would appeal to me. Plus there will be some costs in the form of search fees etc that would be incurred and you wouldn't be able to escape those.

It's a bit like suggesting that you get a cab driver to take you to your favourite shop but agree not to charge you the fare if it's not open when you get there...

Possible but I would say not realistic. We've done it but the people we were buying from were on a bridging loan so had already moved out. We were 1st time buyers. My dad was our solicitor. We honestly couldn't have done it faster (5 weeks).

I've done it in 20 days from first viewing to moving in. Small chain and willing participants.

It's possible but difficult. We had a chain of three - our buyer was a cash buyer and our vendor had already completed and it still took 7 weeks - and that was with me pushing hard.

If you can get everything lined up you can exchange and complete on the same day and do it all in 24 hours.

However, your mortgage is going to take 28 days and it will take 28 days to get answers to questions / searches completed.

If you want to complete that quickly you are going to have to chase your solicitor on a weekly basis. Be really pushy and make sure that papers are not sitting on anybody's desk longer than they need to.

There is no reason for it to take as long as it normally does. It can be done but people have to work at it.

And your solicitor might charge you a fee for doing it more quickly.

6 weeks ours took, but no chain involved - hold up being opposite side being slow to come back,

It's just tempting fate, I think, if I agree to that kind of timeline, and frankly I'm happy for it to take 8- 10 weeks. He only asked for it as we put a slightly lower offer than he wanted in, so have decided to just put a higher offer in and cut down chances of hassle and stress!