No chain either side - how long could it take?

Ellen016

Hi everyone,


I’m new to the forum and just looking for a little advice as the mortgage advisor/EA’s have been a little vague. We have had an offer accepted on a house that isn’t in a chain and is empty, we aren’t in a chain either.


We signed the mortgage application yesterday and they said the survey could take around 10 working days from now and we have a solicitor appointed who is on ‘standby’ so to speak.


My question is for those who have recently bought a house that hasn’t been in a chain – how long did it take from your offer being accepted to completion? We’ve been told anything from 4 weeks but I’m guessing that’s a little optimistic. Obviously I don’t expect to be in that soon but I have no idea how long it ‘should’ really take.


Thanks J

marksoton

Every property purchase is different. I had no chain at all but my purchase took about 15 weeks due to a few technicalities. I think most on here agree about 12 weeks is normally realistic.

teffers

1st Attempt - no chain either side - gave up after 5 months.
2nd Attempt - no chain either side - 8 weeks so far - expecting about 12 weeks in total.

tiger_eyes

Mine took the best part of six months due to various dramas with the mortgage lender.

Ellen016

Thank you all for your replies - so really it just depends on the circumstances doesn't it? Fingers crossed for 12 weeks!

bellaboo86

Mine was empty when I bought it and because I was a FTB there was no chain. The condition of accepting my offer was that it was completed in 4 weeks. in the end it was done in 5. I did already have a mortgage in principal when I made my offer so I don't know if that makes a difference.

bouicca21

6 months - caused by problem on lease that needed rectification.

Hoploz

If its freehold and everyone is hot of the mark with filling in their paperwork then 4 weeks is possible, but it's unusual. Often people don't get around to filling bits in, or they are missing info which then needs to be noticed by the other side then chased up. So they are frequently delays. I'd say 8 weeks was more of a possibility if all goes to plan.

Ithaca

We were three months to the day from putting our house on the market to completing on our sale/purchase. We were also effectively chain-free (or rather, we were the only link in the chain) - we were buying an empty house in the same town (probate sale) and we had local FTBs buying our place. Our buyers were living with their parents so had no issues with rental contracts etc, and although the vendors were still going through probate this ran in parallel with searches etc.

But it depends on a whole bunch of other factors... there could be a query over your deeds which will take several weeks to resolve, or missing information around planning permission for an extension, or unclear access to a rear gate etc etc. You won't know that until the solicitors get going so keep your fingers crossed but accept the fact that there may be delays.

There is stuff you can do to speed things along... fill out and return your property information docs as soon as possible, respond to queries from solicitors accurately and quickly (our solicitor was happy to accept stuff via email which sped things up), and keep nagging if it goes quiet (it was uncanny how our solicitor "just happened to be reviewing our file" when I phoned to chase!).

duchy

I had a sale fall though literally at the 11th hour - went out and found another house the very next day -empty with no chain we exchanged in 3 weeks and completed in four staying on the original schedule with our (non chain) buyers. The solicitor told me all the way through that it was impossible and wasn't going to happen but apparently all the stars aligned but I'd stress this is VERY unusual but very quick sales *can* happen !

Ozzuk

If you want to keep it moving quickly then you should instruct your solicitor to start the searches. That has a risk, they expire after a certain amount of time and you're liable for costs but I've always started searches pretty much as soon as offer accepted (and I've moved a lot!).

Searches take a few weeks, and if everything aligns you can do the whole conveyance in 4-5 weeks hence the advice to start those early.