How long did it take you to find your home to buy?

GingerLs

My partner and I have been searching for a property to buy since January and I'm now getting fed up, as I really invisioned being in our own home by now, or atleast in the conveyancing process.

It's beginning to frustrate me as we have the deposit there and we so want to buy our own home together but instead were in a cold, damp, miserable rented house (we chose cheap private rent to enable us to save more and be chain free) We want to start a family but our life feels like its on hold until we get our home. 

How long did it take you to find a property to buy? How many houses did you view? Is it normal to take so long? 😣 

dimbo61

First time we put our house on the market on Friday morning, first viewing Saturday morning and house sold.
Found dream family home within 7 days of frantic looking.
Second time we were looking for a retirement bungalow but ended up with 4 bed detached after 6 months of searching.
Keep looking and consider larger search area or different types of property.

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

Well, how many houses have you viewed and what are the reasons for rejecting them? Are you being realistic with your budget?

Last time we moved we viewed 5-6 houses and came back to the first one we viewed. We didn't move this year but we would have offered on the first house we viewed. 

MaryNB

I viewed two in two weeks (would have viewed a third but the EA never responded). Offered on the first. I had been keeping an eye on the property market for a few months before I started viewing. 

Anytime I have doubts about it I remind myself that given my budget, my selection in the area where I want to live is extremely limited. I don't have the funds to be fussy. Puts my mind at ease. House fits all my basic needs and I am fed up of living in a house share. 

ARH_2

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster said:

Well, how many houses have you viewed and what are the reasons for rejecting them? Are you being realistic with your budget?

Last time we moved we viewed 5-6 houses and came back to the first one we viewed. We didn't move this year but we would have offered on the first house we viewed. 

Exactly this.

Once you have a clear idea of what you want, where it'll be and are budgeting at a realistic level, it should take a few weeks to get an offer accepted.

If you're viewing many properties and rejecting them it'd indicate that you're unclear on what you're looking for. If you're unable to find properties you want to view, your budget/expectation might not be realistic. 

elsien

Viewed 3, tried and failed to view a 4th, went straight from the viewing of the one I bought to make an offer.
My choices were somewhat limited. A few weeks in all as when I saw one that was much better than the others in the same price bracket for what I was looking for, I just went for it.  By then I knew what I could expect in the areas I could afford. 

Moneyminded

It took me a year of looking (and many, many viewings) before I found my current house. I was relatively new to the area so part of the process for me was understanding what I could get for my money in different areas and where I felt comfortable living. I ended up with a property that is very comfortable for my needs. Like you, I got frustrated with the viewing process as everyone says how difficult/ long winded the buying process can be but for me the difficult part was finding somewhere that I could see myself living in. It wasn't until I started viewing properties in real life (rather than browsing online) that it became clear to me what was really important to me - driveway, nice back garden, good sized lounge, etc. Good luck on your search, hopefully you will find something that catches your eye soon.

skm1981

We viewed 3 houses, the first one I liked but wasn't convinced, the second, I didn't like the location and the third I loved, but had to make a few compromises, north facing garden and I really wanted south and it was on a corner plot which I didn't want, but put an offer in, that was accepted.  12 weeks into the process, turned out the house we were buying had issues with the deeds and a ton of conditions attached, so we withdrew and then put an offer in on the first house we viewed.  Thinking about it now, wish we'd just put an offer in on this first house at the very beginning as it is definitely much better suited.  We now face a potential situation of where we're going to complete on our sale before our purchase (unless I can convince our buyer to delay another possible 12 weeks - unlikely). 

I think unless your a multi millionaire, you'll have to make compromises on what/where you buy, so maybe just try and be as open-minded as you can.

MovingForwards

Kept an eye on the property market for 3.5 years while saving.
Viewed one property before being ready to buy, drove away from another without viewing (both open house viewings, no booking in or messing the seller around). 
Kept an eye on another property, while scraping the rest of the money together and being in a position to apply for a mortgage. Viewed it 4 months after I first saw it, and kept looking at it online, offered on it a few hours after viewing. Been living in it for over 6 months now.

I knew from the photos it was the one I wanted, when I pulled up outside I couldn't wait to go in and look around. Walked through the door and knew it was my home. 

Rambosmum

Our first home, around 6 weeks - we viewed 13 properties before we found the right one. It then took 5 months of conveyancing. However it was quite a buyers market at the time and we had lots to chose from. We had seen the property we ended up buying on rightmove at the beginning of our search and discounted it for many reasons, we viewed it as we had run out of houses to view and it had been on a while. It was completely different in person, and absolutely right for us.

Our most recent house, took 4 months to find - we sold our house in November and didn't find this one until the end of March, and our offer wasn't accepted until end of April. 

We have some friends who have been house hunting for 4 years, but they are perfectionists with little vision - they are utterly unable to see potential in things, and will not do any work at all. It if a house is not exactly as they want it, decorated to their taste and in perfect condition, they won't even consider it. Yet they won't buy a new build as they don't feel they are value for money. After 2 years (in which time we'd bought, sold, bought, got married and had a child), I sat them down  to discuss this with them and whilst I think they understood what I was saying, they still haven't bought anywhere and are living in a dingy, horrible flat, that they hate and are probably running the risk of not having the family they really want. They are paralysed with fear of making the wrong decision and therefore making none. 

What has stopped you fining your house? What is wrong with ones you have seen? 

MaryNB

Rambosmum said:

We have some friends who have been house hunting for 4 years, but they are perfectionists with little vision - they are utterly unable to see potential in things, and will not do any work at all. It if a house is not exactly as they want it, decorated to their taste and in perfect condition, they won't even consider it. Yet they won't buy a new build as they don't feel they are value for money. After 2 years (in which time we'd bought, sold, bought, got married and had a child), I sat them down  to discuss this with them and whilst I think they understood what I was saying, they still haven't bought anywhere and are living in a dingy, horrible flat, that they hate and are probably running the risk of not having the family they really want. They are paralysed with fear of making the wrong decision and therefore making none. 

A big thing for me was finding somewhere that (décor wise) would suffice but not new enough that I would feel bad about completely redoing it. The house I'm currently buying has a perfectly adequate bathroom and kitchen but I've already redecorated them in my mind.