Survey to Completion Date

Keanu

Can anyone give their experience of what the timescale is between completion of the survey on the house I'm selling and the completion (when I have to move out)date?

I know this can differ wildly but any guide/experience would be gartefully received.

I cannot find somewhere to buy so am in a position where I will probably have to rent - not overly keen on this (for financial and practical reasons) so how long can I put the buyers off moving in?

lilaliboo1

It's kind of 'how long is a piece of string' and depends on:

* how much you chase people up
* whether everything is in place ie searches, mortgage etc
* how many people are trying to move at present through the people & companies you are dealing with
* whether there is a chain

However on average my own experience (with the element of sod's law) has been around 5 weeks between the survey being received back and completion (ie moving in/out).

To minimise stress I suggest you tell your buyers that you are anticipating 6-8 weeks (Christmas is right in the way) but that you will be pushing things through as fast as you can.

If you tell them it will be done in 4 weeks you will end up being constantly hassled by them and they could try to blame you etc. for their extra costs and hassle if it doesn't work out. In my opinion it is far better to take things at a reasonable speed. Then if it happens sooner - that's great.

I also understand that exchange is at least a week before completion if you are dealing with a first time buyer, as they have to be allowed a 7 day 'cooling off' period.

Keanu

Realistically looking at the end of January then.

As I said, it would suit me if things were delayed now - it's just how long before the buyers get fed up?

lilaliboo1

If the buyer is serious they may wait a few more weeks than they wanted to. I would say 3 months would not usually be the end of the world, depending on their circumstances of course. They have already paid for a survey so are fairly committed. You have presumably been up front with them about when you will be able to move?

However if you are serious about selling, renting might be a good idea. It's sometimes a bit of a gamble to be 'off the ladder' for a few months but, with prices not really rising at present in most areas right now, you are less likely to become priced out of the market than perhaps a year ago.

Make sure you visit lots of potential properties, you may find one you like all of a sudden.

Watch out - If you keep your buyers waiting too long and the prices start to fall, they may try to renegotiate the sale price downwards. You would (probably) also be buying property at a lower price though so that might not matter.

littleangel

Having just been on the other side of your dilemma, I'd actually recommend a bit of honesty. I kept getting lied to - in that time, my lease ran out, I put my stuff in storage, stayed on a friend's sofa for 2 weeks, flat-sat for friends of friends for 8 weeks, stayed with another friend for 6 weeks... and 6 months to the day after my offer was accepted, pulled out of the sale. I was sick of hearing "just another couple of weeks", and not knowing what was going on, or where I was going to be living next week. There were several people in the chain and so no-one was happy about it, but I'd been up front the whole way through and I'd given them 6 weeks warning of the fact that I was going to pull out if no progress was made - I guess they just didn't think I'd do it. Went back to the drawing board, only looked at places without a chain, and was in my new flat in just under 6 weeks. Whereas if the vendors had been honest with me from the start, I would have been better placed to sort out my situation and get a short term let - knowledge is power - and everyone would have been happy.

Sorry, I've just re-read that and I sound a little bitter about the whole thing! It was possibly the most stressful time of my life and I still resent the people that made it so!

But (calming down now) it's probably a good idea to think about how your delays will play out for your buyer - yes, they've had a survey done, but in the grand scheme of things, that's not a huge amount of money. Until you exchange, they can pull out just as easily as you can. Delays are a reality of the English property system, but if you're not honest about them, after a while, it will turn into a bit of "the boy who cried wolf"...

Keanu

Hi Littleangel

thanks for the perspective from 'the other side of the fence'.

I do appreciate, and agree, with your sentiments and have been honest with our buyer.  We have looked around and, given the time of year and the general climate of house selling at the moment, unfortunately we can't seem to find something that will suit us.

We are aware that we will need to utilise the option of renting if nothing comes up in the next month or so (unlikely).  As you say, I'm expecting this to be stressful but we can only delay the move for so long before the buyer will expect completion.

One other quick question, and I'm aware this is only of general relevance due to location, etc, but was it expensive to keep belongings in storage?  What was your general experience, would you recommend?

Cheers

theGrinch

the shortest period I have seen was 2 weeks...the longest well technically its when an offer is withdrawn.

Usually you are looking at 6 to 10 weeks.