What was your completion time??

thriftychap_2

I am interested in knowing what other peoples completion durations were. We have sold our flat and moving back in with parents. House we are buying is in a chain of 3. Im guessing 5 to 6 weeks.

How long did your purchase take?
How long was your chain?

annie1975_2

Ours took exactly 4 weeks, and christmas time was included in that.
I remember our solicitor saying "how quick do you want to move" And we said " as quick as you can".
Ours was a chain of 3 too.

PasturesNew

Chain: Our empty house -and- 2nd-timers -and- FTBs
Start to finish: 13 weeks

At the start the estimated time was given as 8 weeks.

pmlindyloo

No chain - buying from landlord.

Cash buyer (no mortgage)

No searches (house previously purchased one year before by landlord)

No survey (lived in it for one year)

And it took 3 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see ours was not in the least complicated!

I was in touch with the solicitor every day, in constant touch with the the landlord (and him to his solicitor) and still it took forever.

Expect the longest time and smile when it is shorter!

shirlgirl2004

All our house moves have been in the region of 6 months. The last one as an example we had cash buyers for our house and the person moving out had already purchased. If only I know what the delay was.

Another move was similar in that we didn't sell a house and the house we bought was from someone that had died (or more to the point from the relatives).

Maybe we'll get a new solicitor next time although the delays didn't seem to be with our solictor.

Lavendyr

Us = FTBs, 3 parties in chain.

Offer to us being ready to exchange = 1.5 months
Us being ready to exchange until *actual* exchange = 2.5 months
Exchange to completion = 1 week.

In total therefore around 18 weeks from offer to completion. Main delay was due to the house at the top of the chain lacking building regs for work done which needed to be signed off by the local authority before exchange.

Mickygg

Chain of 3 took 3 months. This is offer to completion.

nickcc

Chain of three took three months, make sure you push your solicitor or they can sit on their behinds and do nothing. We had to agree with our buyer that we would be out within three months if not the sale would fall through, we even organised a rental property if our purchase took longer, fortunately everything worked out OK. You must keep pushing or you can be pushed to the back of the queue, weekly emails and phone calls help keep your solicitors mind focused.

phoebe1989seb

Last sale/purchase - 2011 - our chain comprised 5 parties with us buying an empty house (top of chain). From us accepting an offer on ours to completion took just over 9 weeks, but we didn't find the house we wanted to buy till several weeks into the process, so although all sales & purchases completed on the same date, our purchase only took aound four weeks - no survey or mortgage though.

Previous sale/purchase - 2007 - chain comprised 3 parties with both us and our buyers not getting a mortgage. The vendors of the house we bought were going into rented. The whole process took six weeks from offer to completion.

thriftychap_2

WOW what a varied initial response. My concern is that the couple at the top of the chain moving into an empty bungalow are elderley and the daughter is doing the administartion for them. Addded to this the uncertainty with the empty bungalow, is it a probate etc? i need to find out! although the agent saying 4to5 weeks to completion would suggest the bungalow is simply empty.

During the sale of the flat i was onto my solicitor everyday and will be doing the same during the sale. Part of me wouldn't mind it going on for 9 weeks, this would give us 3 pay days rather than a 4 week completion that would give us only 1!

Fire_Fox

Over a year: me a cash buyer and the developer. And yes the flat was complete and in theory was ready to be sold! Vendor's solicitor lost the deeds and decided to cover it up, I was long term sick so wasn't chasing anything up.

Previous purchase three to four months, we were FTBs but I don't know how long the chain was. My siblings recent sale/ purchase four months, again I don't know how long the chain was. Mention these two because I know all parties were very keen to move quickly, in both cases the vendors wanted to be in a school catchment area quickly and had already offered on properties.