Timescale from offer to moving

totalguitar

We put our house on the market on Jan 3rd and accepted an offer on Jan 5th. We made an offer on the house we wanted on Jan 5th and this was accepted. I'm told there are 5 in the chain and the house we are buying is the end of the chain as they are going into rented housing. We have had all of our searches done and returned, the mortgage is ready, we have had our survey done as well. We haven't had anyone around to survey our house (the buyer says he has paid his survey fee, could the survey have been just an external one?) and the EA says everything is going smoothly all the way down the chain. SO...when would you expect us to get a moving date and any idea how long away it may be before we move. I need to book leave from work in advance.

calleyw

It really depends on how much your solictor kicks everyone else.

I believe an average time scale is between 8-12 weeks.

I can't remember how long it tooks us last year. But we ended up with an extra few weeks tacked on because the vendor would just not move earlier.

We where lucky we in a chain of 1. It was a FTB buying from us and who we where buying from was not buying but renting or something.

All the best. You might want to start packing and sorting out stuff you want to chuck now. For the last few weeks we down to have a set of cutlery each, a large and small plate each. As well as a glass, mug and dish each. So less to pack.

Mind you even on the last day we where only just ready in time to go and hand the keys over It takes a lot longer than you think to clean and tidy everything up.

Also keep a box that goes in your car that has a kettle, cups, a set of cutlery each and plates etc. Coffee/tea and UHT milk and sugar so at least you can have a hot drink with out rooting through all the boxes.

And the best tip I had was make the bed first. As by the end of day the last thing you want to is put the beds together when all you want to do is just go to bed and sleep for a month.

Also find out where the nearest takeaway is before you arrive. As I am sure you are not going to want to cook on your first day/night there.

All the best :beer:


Yours


Calley

Doozergirl

Expect it to take 3 months. You won't get confirmation of your moving date until you all exchange contracts - this will normally be one week before moving day.

You'll start to know a rough moving date about a month beforehand, BUT do not finalise your time off until you have exchanged and have the date in stone, because it virtually always changes and you will end up wasting the holiday. I can't remember a time we've completed on the right day. Let your employer know that you will be needing time off to move and ask them for some flexibility in the exact day.

Jorgan_2

Get some real facts from your EA. Everything going smoothly doesn't mean anything. Ask the EA to go down the chain & confirm exactly what state the chain is in & that all parties involved have had their mortgage offers issued. If they won't do it then ask your solicitor to do it. Keep a note of what you have been told & chase again next week to see what has changed. Keep chasing. If everything is going as smoothly as your EA says you should be looking to discuss exchange dates very shortly.

The reason it can take 12 weeks to complete on a sale, once a chain has been completed, is that a lot of people don't keep chasing estate agents & solicitors. I am an EA and we chase every sale at least once a week. If a survey hasn't been done 2-3 weeks after a sale has been agreed we chase the buyer & his mortgage company to find out why. Likewise we make sure the purchaser has paid for & their solicitor has applied for the searches. We also keep the pressure on those in the chain, chasing other solicitors and agents where necessary. Usually we can get to being in a podition to exchange within 5-6 weeks. I admit we can't do this in every case, leasehold properties can take a lot longer. We also update our vendors on a regular basis as to what is happening.

JennyW_2

you sound like a very nice ea . Hope mine works as hard as you do once we've got an offer...... :rolleyes:

Jorgan_2

Jenny- I do the best I can. Being brutally honest, if a sale doesn't complete I don't get paid so its as much in my interest to get things done asap as any body else.

suki1964

As Jorgan has said - keep chasing.

We are supposed to be completing Monday on this sale and Tuesday on my new purchase and even at this late stage my buyers solicitor still isnt satisfied and is coming back to my solicitor with queries -I dotting and t crossing really but she should have been doing this weeks ago and we are now in danger of not being ready. Unfortunately my buyer is new to the uk buying/selling proccess and didnt understand the need to keep the pressure on the solicitor.When you think that this sale has been going through since dec 3rd, to say stress levels are now at explosion levels is the understatement of the year. Even the solicitor working on the purchase of my new property is now asking for paperwork that I sent to him in November :eek:

Jorgan_2

Suki best of luck for the sale & completion.

totalguitar

Thanks for the updates. I've been in touch with the EA who promised to find out at what stage we are at and ring me back. I also rang the solicitor who will again ring me back. I've explained that I need to organise leave from work. My biggest concern is that although the buyer says he has paid his survey fees (2 weeks ago), we havent had a surveyor around yet...a tad worrying !

suki1964

Jorgan wrote:

Suki best of luck for the sale & completion.

I need all the luck I can get

Still contracts have not been signed and my removal lorry will be here in the morning. Even though the last piece of the jigsaw has been located and has been faxed, buyers solicitor still wont instruct buyers to sign till the original is on her desk :eek:

So looks like mad dashes across London are in call for come Thursday.

I started this as 40 going on 20, Im now feeling close to 80 and am hanging off the carpet by my finger nails

donna

Wow Jorgan,

what a little star you are!

I wish my EA was as good as you.

Both myself and my husband have chased our EA at least twice a week for the past 3 weeks as we acepted an offer in early January and are still to get a call from our buyers re survey on our house.

I am starting to feel like we are a pain in his !!!!!!, but on occasions he has promised to chase and call us back with an update and then we have had to call him 1/2 days later as he still hasn't called.

I would say he has no more than 25 properties on his books as he is a small independant EA.

I will defo ask him to get confirmation that our buyers have at least paid solicitor and had searches done and mortgage in place as we didn't think to chase that. We have just been chasing survey.