Average life cycle span of purchasing a property

ghuznee

I'm interesting in finding out what the full lifecycle span of the user:

1) Deciding to buy a house
2) Looking on zoopla etc
3) Viewing
4) Rinse and repeat
5) Rinse and repeat
6) Deciding and going through the formalities
7) Keys handed over.

So what is the average amount of time? Is their any official research done on this?

Thanks!

giraffe69

Five months in our case. Only a minor delay of a couple of weeks at the point of exchange because some paperwork was not in place.

dc197

Point (6) "Deciding and going through the formalities" could have a dozen of its own sub-points.

I started to type them out but the HOA is much better. You point 6 is equivalent to their points 6-14.
http://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/the-hoa-step-by-step-guide-to-buying-a-home/

jimbog

Well,

Stage 1: a few seconds
Stage 2: 1 to 2 minutes depending on internet connection
Stage 3, 4, 5: if there are some properties of the sort you like in the area you want then a few weeks
Stage 6, 7 takes around 3 months

So 3.75 months

nkkingston

1) Deciding to buy a house - Dunno, January 2015?
2) Looking on zoopla etc - August 2015 onwards
3) Viewing - January 2016
4) Rinse and repeat - January 2016
4b) approached a broker to find out what we can afford
5) Rinse and repeat - February 2016
5b) went on holiday expecting to have time to have a think about it, got a call saying someone else had put an offer in...
6) Deciding and going through the formalities - February 2016
7) Keys handed over.- who knows!

is it just the decision making process you're interested in the timeframe of? Because the thing that makes the big difference from "ooh, houses" to "ooh, keys" is 6, which can be weeks to months, which is outside of the purchaser's control, for the most part.

ghuznee

What I mean is, is there someone that took a poll from x amount of people who purchased a property. And perhaps there is an average amount of time.

I'm just giving an example of the entire process (or lifecycle) of purchasing a property to give some more understanding of my question. I understand that I'm simplifying the process.

Ultimately I'm interested if any real estate company has done any kind of poll to give that average.

I'm doing a project on purchasing property and this kind of information would be very useful.

I'd love to be able to say: "Whilst it can vary significantly - On average it takes a person in the UK, X amount of months to go through the entire lifecycle of purchasing a property"

Thanks

HappyMJ

From offer to completion it took me just over 2 months to buy.

Finding the right house could take any period of time. You could find the right one tomorrow or you could find the right one in several month.

In regards to the home I'm living in now it took just 2 weeks from the time I decided to move, viewing many properties, making the offer, going through the formalities, signing the agreement, getting the keys and finished when I moved in....but that's renting for you. It's much more flexible. If I don't like it I can be in another property within a month.

worried_jim

To sell and buy took me 8 months. Sale was dead easy but I got gazumped so had to find some where else which only took a day and worked out better for me in the long term as have been here for 13 years and am very happy.

AdrianC

jimbog wrote: »

Well,

Stage 1: a few seconds
Stage 2: 1 to 2 minutes depending on internet connection

Except those stages could EASILY take months, even years.

jimbog

AdrianC wrote: »

Except those stages could EASILY take months, even years.

It was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek

AnotherJoe

I'd love to be able to say: "Whilst it can vary significantly - On average it takes a person in the UK, X amount of months to go through the entire lifecycle of purchasing a property"

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Of what use to anyone would such an average figure be ? The average temperate on Mercury might be freezing point, but since it's generally either 500 Deg C or minus 200, it would be unwise to expect a thick coat to suffice.

Same applies to house purchase, the process could take from weeks to years to never (how would statistics cope with failures at various stages along the way?)