How long to complete - first time buyers buying property with no chain

daisiegg

hazyjo wrote: »

Average is still around 3 months. I'd start looking online if I were you, but would probably try holding off on viewings/offers until next month. Our last purchase took 5 months as there were a couple of hitches along the way. Quickest I've done it all is around 5 weeks from start to finish. Was hellish though! You have to bear in mind the vendors too - pretty much everyone expects it to take 12 weeks or so, but to say 4 months at the outset might well put them off selling to you. Especially if the reason is money-based.

FTBs' finances are often a cause for concern to vendors - from my experience, many sales fall through cos of lack of funds.

Jx

We haven't told our vendor that our delay is due to finances for that reason - we just said due to lots of travel over the summer (which is true) we couldn't complete until September. They were fine with that but as you say, if we'd said we can't complete until September as we need August pay to top up the stamp duty, we perhaps would have been less attractive buyers! In reality, mortgage is in place, deposit and some of the stamp duty is in the bank, and August pay is certain, so we're as safe as anyone else.

jahudson72

There are many things that can go right and wrong when buying a house. In all honesty the best thing for you to do it not look what's on the market until you have the money to go in and put offers on the table. You'll only end up disheartened by the whole process. Not only that, being a first time buyer with a mortgage in principle agreed will make you very attractive to estate agents which means you can get the pick of what goes on. In my experience going through a sale and a buy right now, there's not much on the market worth buying (where I am anyway) and what is good, goes very, very quickly. The market is also going to slow now what with holidays and no one wants to be mid-move at Christmas if they can help it.

Saying that, it can happen very quickly from offer in. My last experience of this was very quick, four weeks I think but I was a FTB and the property was chain free. I am in the process again and my mortgage funds will be available to me in four weeks, so there's no reason I can't complete in 7-8 weeks if everyone else plays ball!

Good luck!

jojo2910

We're in a similar position to you. Our deposit will be ready in October (fingers crossed). We have been looking for about two months and have even been on a few viewings. We have always been honest with the estate agents, that if we were to put any offer in it is conditional on completion would not be until Nov. Estate agents have encouraged us to put offers in (as you would expect) as the feedback has been positive (some EA's have said that some people will wait if they have an offer, what they want is that all important offer).

We have decided that ignorence is bliss and we are trying to stop looking at Rightmove etc until the deposit is in the bank. We don't want to get an offer accepted and find we can't get the deposit finalised for some reason. If we don't know what is out there, we can't be disappointed if we don't buy it. I would precede with caution as our looking has only caused headache and heartache. Good luck whatever you decide to do.