How long did it take you?

nickinoo

I'm getting in a bit of a panic now as we have expressed an interest in a new build home which is due to be completed in July.

What is the average time from placing an offer on a property to actually completeting?

People are saying that we won't get a buyer to complete on our current home in time. The type of home we are in typical appeals to FTBs as we are at the lower end of the market.

I find this amazing as when we bought this place we were in within 5 weeks from the 1st viewing (this was 10 years ago & we did tell the vendor if they could't move out ASAP we weren't interested). A colleague of mine lives in the next street & she says it took 6 months to get into her house & it took 1 of her neighbours 8 months.

silvercar

How long is a piece of string?

You do seem to be in a good position, attracting FTBs and buying a brand new property.

Do you have a buyer yet? If not, the easiest way to get one is to price reasonably.

nickinoo

silvercar wrote:

How long is a piece of string?

You do seem to be in a good position, attracting FTBs and buying a brand new property.

Do you have a buyer yet? If not, the easiest way to get one is to price reasonably.

I kind of expected the how long is a piece of string response to be honest, our house is likely to be very reasonably priced & we are willing & able to take a cut in price if it means we can secure our dream home.

Ian_W

Go for it then. Check out with EAs how the market is with you, get them to value and chose the best agent and start with a reasonable price. It's certainly the right time of year and with such a short chain July is certainly acheivable, but not a certainty. If you don't try you'll never know, oh and BTW when a builder says a property will be ready in July then ... not a certainty usually also applies.
BoL.

nickinoo

Ian_W wrote:

Go for it then. Check out with EAs how the market is with you, get them to value and chose the best agent and start with a reasonable price. It's certainly the right time of year and with such a short chain July is certainly acheivable, but not a certainty. If you don't try you'll never know, oh and BTW when a builder says a property will be ready in July then ... not a certainty usually also applies.
BoL.

We are not actually choosing the estate agent ourself as the builder is paying all our estate agent fees but I believe they plan to list it with 2 estate agents.

Doozergirl

I'd have thought that as long as you're marketing at the right price that July would be acheivable, especially if you're selling to FTBs.

Two months is pretty much the average IME from offer to completion. We accepted an offer last week of November from no chain buyers and moved in the last week of January. We're selling another house and accepted asking price offer at the beginning of March from a couple selling to FTBs. Should be done by end April/first week May at latest.

nickinoo

Doozergirl wrote:

I'd have thought that as long as you're marketing at the right price that July would be acheivable, especially if you're selling to FTBs.

Two months is pretty much the average IME from offer to completion. We accepted an offer last week of November from no chain buyers and moved in the last week of January. We're selling another house and accepted asking price offer at the beginning of March from a couple selling to FTBs. Should be done by end April/first week May at latest.

That's just the sort of thing I wanted to hear, I know there are no guarantees but I feel better now.

Mark7799

Based upon personal experiences (admittedly a long time ago).

Bought a house as a ftb - exactly two calendar months from first viewing to completion. Sold the same house - approximately 14 months from house going on the market to completion.

nickinoo

Mark7799 wrote:

Based upon personal experiences (admittedly a long time ago).

Bought a house as a ftb - exactly two calendar months from first viewing to completion. Sold the same house - approximately 14 months from house going on the market to completion.

Now that's the sort of thing I didn't want to hear but it's good to know anyway.

micheleen

I sold my flat last year. Went on the market in October 2004, offer accepted Feb last year and completion was in May. The buyers were FTB's as well.
Just my experience

edit : should add also that when I bought my current house last year, it was offer in August and completion end of September. I was a cash buyer for that though.

nickinoo

micheleen wrote:

I sold my flat last year. Went on the market in October 2004, offer accepted Feb last year and completion was in May. The buyers were FTB's as well.
Just my experience

edit : should add also that when I bought my current house last year, it was offer in August and completion end of September. I was a cash buyer for that though.

It's good to know that it's still possible, I just hope it doesn't take us 4 months to get an offer.