Does it make a difference if you have a short 'chain'?

[OrmRenewed]

In terms of how smoothly conveyancing goes? We are supposed to be moving asap for the sake of our buyers so don't want to have to hang around. Have found out the owners of the house we are buying are buying from someone who are the 'end of the chain' iyswim. Is that going to help?

It should help. I was in the middle of a 3-party chain (our seller was going to rent, our buyer was a first timer) and we still had a couple of delays to exchange because of people forgetting to sign documents, local crappy conveyancers permanently being out to lunch etc. It would have been far worse if there had been loads of parties in the chain!

We were in a small chain (our buyer was a buy to let and our seller was moving in with parents) but it still took 3 months from offer to us moving in. I've known longer chains not take as long, but at least with a small chain it is less likely to break down. Good luck.

LostArtofKeepingASecret that's not what I wanted to hear . We are in just that situation: our buyer is buying to let & the guy we are buying from is moving in with parents. Worried our buyer will pull out if things don't hurry up. I was led to believe we would be moving in about now (4 weeks since offer accepted)but conveyancers won't make any suggestion as to how long it will take and it's really getting me down .

Sorry, that's probably not what you want to hear OrmRenewed.

Well it's less likely to collapse with fewer links but the time from offer to exchange depends on how long the mortgage provider takes to process application and how long the slowest solicitor likes to take answering questions.

The short chain can only help though (I say this as someone in rented, buying from someone buying a new build - I live in hope)!