How long to buy a house?

the_flying_pig

How long's a piece of string, I suppose, but I wondered what others thought might be a fairly standard amount of time, say '3-4 months', '6-8 months', etc that one might expect it to take between:

(a) starting to look for a house to buy [for the very first time, having not looked at all previously & having no idea about price, few thoughts about location, etc, but not having to sell first];

and

(b) actually moving in?


My starter for ten was something like 4-6 months?

csgohan4

depends, but about 3 months minimum, unless your a cashbuyer and doesn't want to do a survery

Surrey_EA

There are a huge number of variables that will affect the timescale.

However, from the day you've identified somewhere to purchase and there is a complete chain then allow 12 weeks.

Some will be as quick as 4 weeks, some may take 12 months.

the_flying_pig

hmm, thanks for the thoughts. bit of a silly question, I suppose.

AlexMac

Just looked at the files on our last three purchases; still on the laptop (sad geek, eh?): maybe we've been lucky but 3 months seems to be our average...

• the most recent; 2014; a leasehold flat; less than 3 months (3 June memo of sale - 20 Aug completion; but the vendor had already moved out and both they and the shared freehold Company responded promptly to enquiries.
  
• 2011; a freehold; 3 June - 1st Sept; despite a bit of negotiation on a retention and the vendor having to sorting out an existing rental AST.
  
• 2010/11; another leasehold; also 3 months, 4 Nov- 3 Feb, despite it being a Local Authority freeholder and a bit of negotiation on price after survey

But then our solicitor's really good and uses email not snail mail.

WeAreGhosts

I managed it in five weeks. Cash, but had a survey. There was only me, my vendor and the empty house she was moving in to, though.

wjr4

We started browsing for houses about a year ago but properly looking (online) from January this year. Started viewing at the end of June & offer accepted on our 9th viewing on 18th July. Exchanged today & complete next month!

G_M

the_flying_pig wrote: »

How long's a piece of string, I suppose, but I wondered what others thought might be a fairly standard amount of time, say '3-4 months', '6-8 months', etc that one might expect it to take between:

(a) starting to look for a house to buy [for the very first time, having not looked at all previously & having no idea about price, few thoughts about location, etc, but not having to sell first];

and

(b) actually moving in?


My starter for ten was something like 4-6 months?

I started looking for my ideal next home 3 years ago.

I haven't yet found it.

BelfastFTB

Congratulations rjw4!

And hello flying pig.

In my experience/opinion, biggest delays come during the conveyancing process - the checks and paperwork can hold things up for months. You've mentioned the house-hunting and negotiation processes, but having a survey, an offer accepted and a sale agreed is followed by what could be lengthy and frustrating exchanges with solicitors if they throw up anything unusual.

We viewed on 17 Dec, had an offer accepted a day later and then a mortgage approved in mid-January. A month later, the solicitor picked up on an easement issue, and only this evening were we advised we could exchange within a week or two, and complete within four weeks. So most of 2016 was spent wondering when we should start packing!

BelfastFTB

I should add, this is with the added benefit that our vendor has somewhere to go to, and we are FTBs, so not in a chain. Relying on third party patience while an application for rectification goes through must be near impossible.

Owain_Moneysaver

I'm in Scotland. My solicitor said she could do a conveyance in 3 weeks and it actually took 3 weeks and a day.

Maybe 6 weeks overall from view to move?