What next?

bigdavecox90

So, we have currently in the process of a house purchase and have just been made aware that the final local searches have been completed.

Is it reasonable to ask how much longer we can expect before we're ready to move in?

Is there anything I can personally do to hurry the solicitors along a little quicker?

We are currently in a rented property, so want to push for an exchange date in order to give notice on the current property.

Thanks in advance

agrinnall

What you want is a completion date, which won't be set in stone until exchange. You should not give notice until you know what the completion date is, even if that means you end up paying for both places for a short time, as the alternative is that you could end up with neither place to live in.

bigdavecox90

agrinnall wrote: »

What you want is a completion date, which won't be set in stone until exchange. You should not give notice until you know what the completion date is, even if that means you end up paying for both places for a short time, as the alternative is that you could end up with neither place to live in.

Thanks for your quick response, I'm aware that the next stages will be exchange and completion, but is there a rough timescale on how long this could take?

Or will it always vary from each situation?

Surrey_EA

bigdavecox90 wrote: »

Thanks for your quick response, I'm aware that the next stages will be exchange and completion, but is there a rough timescale on how long this could take?

Or will it always vary from each situation?

I'm afraid that it really does vary dramatically from one sale to another.

You might be 1 week away or 2 months, or longer. Searches are only one part of the process. Your solicitor will have a bundle of questions/enquiries they will want to have satisfactorily answered before they will be ready to exchange. If the property is leasehold the number of questions will be even greater.

bigdavecox90

Surrey_EA wrote: »

I'm afraid that it really does vary dramatically from one sale to another.

You might be 1 week away or 2 months, or longer. Searches are only one part of the process. Your solicitor will have a bundle of questions/enquiries they will want to have satisfactorily answered before they will be ready to exchange. If the property is leasehold the number of questions will be even greater.

Thank you, in fairness, this was the response that I expected!

Appreciate your time.

hazyjo

Average is 12 weeks from offer to completion. Usually a bit longer for leasehold. Base it on that. Obviously it's an average meaning some may be 5 weeks, some may be 5 months (I've had both).

agrinnall

bigdavecox90 wrote: »

Thanks for your quick response, I'm aware that the next stages will be exchange and completion, but is there a rough timescale on how long this could take?

Or will it always vary from each situation?

The point I was making is that your notice should not be dependent on exchange but on completion.



My only experience buying in England took 11 weeks from offer to exchange, quite a shock after being used to it taking 4-6 weeks in Scotland.