How long does it take

80schild

To buy a house! I am a first time buyer and have just started looking but i really only want to move in at the end of May. I am looking too soon?

[Deleted User]

It could take up to 10 weeks after you have made an offer. Yes you are looking a bit soon but now is a good time to research the areas you would like. New builds take longer

ethank

Mine took 20. Flats sometimes take longer because you also have to deal with the Freeholder. (most flats are sold leasehold.)

cattie

I've found it has taken between 12-14 weeks where the property is leasehold, from offer to completion. Freehold is a little bit quicker & if all goes smoothly the timescale will be perhaps 10-12 weeks.

I don't think there is any harm in starting to look now. It will give you an idea of what is out there & not feel rushed into making a decision. If you find somewhere you like soon you could always explain to the vendor that you wouldn't want to complete untill the end of May & see how they feel about that. If they are not keen, then you can carry on viewing other properties.

bluekp

We had our offer accepted on 17th April and got the keys on 29th July. (so took about 15 weeks)

AndrewSmith

As you can see from the above it really depends on the position of the people from whom you are buying.

On a new build development you can be in as quickly as 4 weeks (assuming the house is complete), on the other end of the scale I remember dealing once with a chain of 8 which took nearly 6 months to complete.

When you are looking at possible homes for yourself ask the agents what the position of the seller is and how long is the chain.

Hope this helps

Andy

Rubyru_3

We offered in september and are due to complete on the 1st March.Small chain us, our vendor and her vendor.Its not something you should put a timescale on.

mini

oh my goodness, I thought it would take about 6 weeks, I spoke to a solicitor who said if necessary they can do all paperwork between 4 & 6 weeks, the longer the chain the more complicvated it gets I suppose, we are selling as no chain hoping it will attract FTB, worth looking out for maybe in estate agents adverts.

Good luck

Gem_

The quickest you can do is 4 weeks (if you have a mortgage) but my last one took 6 months! (and that was empty property, no chain)

you cant really put a timescale on it

G

suki1964

mini wrote:

oh my goodness, I thought it would take about 6 weeks, I spoke to a solicitor who said if necessary they can do all paperwork between 4 & 6 weeks, the longer the chain the more complicvated it gets I suppose, we are selling as no chain hoping it will attract FTB, worth looking out for maybe in estate agents adverts.

Good luck

The paperwork should only take 6 weeks IF only everyone was working on the same time scale. Trouble is your solicitor will also be working on loads of other cases and its the person who phoned last who will be getting his/hers attention. Im in the middle of a three house chain, my offer was accepted 6/11/05, I accepted an offer 3/12/05 - all of us working towards a completion 28/2/06 yet not one solicitor is ready with the contracts yet

No matter how much you are paying in fees, you yourself will be doing all the phoning and chasing, hard work and time consuming if you are at home all day - impossible when you also have a job

Start now

Greensprout

It also depends how big the chain is..

I'm also inthe process of buying my first house.

Currently been two weeks since i put my offer in, its since been accepted.
The surveys complete and ok.
My mortgage offer has been received from the lender.
Just waiting for the solicitors to finish doing their searches then I'll be sorted..

So the full process for me will probably take about 4 weeks