How long will it take

darrensen

Hi all,

I'm just trying to work out when we might expect to move.

We're FTB and the seller is moving to a chain free home.

The stage we're at currently is, filling out the mortgage forums (all arranged) and filling out the solicitors forms. Today we're going to pay our lender to arrange the survey.

I'm guessing, but i'm kind of thinking something like 15th-26 Aug. Would that be a fair estimate?

Obviously if the survey brings up issues that'll but a hold on things, but if things go smoothly, what do you think?

Thanks
Darren

hazyjo

Are you buying a flat or a house? Flats can take a bit longer. Average is around 12 weeks from offer to Completion - obviously some will take a month, others will take five (like my last purchase and there were only three of us in the chain - arghhh!). I'd guess it could be done in less if only two of you in the chain.

Get everything turned around as quickly as possible and ring or email fairly regularly to see where you're at and what the solicitors are waiting for.

Jx

darrensen

Thanks for your reply. Sorry forgot to mention it is a house.

superbabe612

We've just sold to an investor and we're in rented so we didn't have a chain. The whole thing happened in 8 weeks from offer to completion, and that included an extra 10 days waiting for paperwork. It seemed like ages but we appreciate we're quite lucky compared with some time-lines.

Like hazyjo said, keep checking on the progress.

Good luck with your purchase!

sonastin

Things which will affect how long it takes:
- whether the lender receives your application forms/payment for valuation first time or it goes missing in their system and you have to resubmit (happened to me once)
- how quickly the lender is processing new applications (tends to be that best offer gets inundated, slows down to a crawl, offer gets pulled off market and someone else gets inundated, backlog clears)
- how quickly the surveyor can get access to the property
- how quickly the vendor fills in the paperwork that his solicitor gives him
- how long it takes for your local council to return searches
- how quickly your solicitor acts on everything he needs to do
- how quickly you vendor's solicitor acts on everything he needs to do
- how long it takes for the mortgage underwriter to put together your details and the surveyor's report and issue a decision
- whether or not your solicitor receives that decision first time it is sent or if you have to chase it because its lost in the post (happened 3 times - recieved on the 4th time of sending!)
- if your vendor is linking the sale of this property to the purchase of his next place, all of the above in relation to his purchase

and that's not including anything you have influence on such as whether you're happy with the fixtures and fittings list that the vendor offers, whether you want additional surveys based on survey results, how quickly you respond to your surveyor, etc.

Mid-august isn't a bad estimate but it depends on so many factors outside your control that I wouldn't be booking anything just yet!