From contract signing to completion - how long?

WiseOwl00

Have your local searches come back yet? We signed our contract w/c 04/01/21 and still waiting for an exchange/completion date to even be discussed. My solicitor had a lot of enquiries, and they've just been passed back and forth between the solicitors for the last 3/4 weeks. Literally everything else was sorted prior to Christmas (searches, mortgage offer, etc), just waiting on satisfactory replies from the vendors... And this is no chain with motivated buyers and sellers. We all thought that we'd be in by mid-January but here we are! Unfortunately it's such an unpredictable process. 

o_johnston

WiseOwl00 said:

Have your local searches come back yet? We signed our contract w/c 04/01/21 and still waiting for an exchange/completion date to even be discussed. My solicitor had a lot of enquiries, and they've just been passed back and forth between the solicitors for the last 3/4 weeks. Literally everything else was sorted prior to Christmas (searches, mortgage offer, etc), just waiting on satisfactory replies from the vendors... And this is no chain with motivated buyers and sellers. We all thought that we'd be in by mid-January but here we are! Unfortunately it's such an unpredictable process. 

Sounds like a similarly frustrating situation for you. Searches, queries etc. all done. Like I said the only thing left is signing the contracts (solicitor wanted to wait until everything else was sorted) and then deposit which says 5 working days but I thought CHAPS would speed up the process.

youth_leader

Good luck o_johnston, I hope next week brings you completion and the keys.

WiseOwl00

o_johnston said:

WiseOwl00 said:

Have your local searches come back yet? We signed our contract w/c 04/01/21 and still waiting for an exchange/completion date to even be discussed. My solicitor had a lot of enquiries, and they've just been passed back and forth between the solicitors for the last 3/4 weeks. Literally everything else was sorted prior to Christmas (searches, mortgage offer, etc), just waiting on satisfactory replies from the vendors... And this is no chain with motivated buyers and sellers. We all thought that we'd be in by mid-January but here we are! Unfortunately it's such an unpredictable process. 

Sounds like a similarly frustrating situation for you. Searches, queries etc. all done. Like I said the only thing left is signing the contracts (solicitor wanted to wait until everything else was sorted) and then deposit which says 5 working days but I thought CHAPS would speed up the process.

It's an absolute nightmare of a process! It feels like your entire life gets put on hold until you've finally exchanged and have a completion date. We're FTBs so have barely any furniture, and now we can't even go into shops to pick it. We've been trying to buy a house for 7 months, it's been so stressful!

Hopefully it won't be long until we're both sorted.

o_johnston

WiseOwl00 said:

o_johnston said:

WiseOwl00 said:

Have your local searches come back yet? We signed our contract w/c 04/01/21 and still waiting for an exchange/completion date to even be discussed. My solicitor had a lot of enquiries, and they've just been passed back and forth between the solicitors for the last 3/4 weeks. Literally everything else was sorted prior to Christmas (searches, mortgage offer, etc), just waiting on satisfactory replies from the vendors... And this is no chain with motivated buyers and sellers. We all thought that we'd be in by mid-January but here we are! Unfortunately it's such an unpredictable process. 

Sounds like a similarly frustrating situation for you. Searches, queries etc. all done. Like I said the only thing left is signing the contracts (solicitor wanted to wait until everything else was sorted) and then deposit which says 5 working days but I thought CHAPS would speed up the process.

It's an absolute nightmare of a process! It feels like your entire life gets put on hold until you've finally exchanged and have a completion date. We're FTBs so have barely any furniture, and now we can't even go into shops to pick it. We've been trying to buy a house for 7 months, it's been so stressful!

Hopefully it won't be long until we're both sorted.

FTBs too. Had lots of furniture picked out from IKEA and now looks like March before we can get it (had no storage space to get it earlier).

Sotts

o_johnston said:

WiseOwl00 said:

o_johnston said:

WiseOwl00 said:

Have your local searches come back yet? We signed our contract w/c 04/01/21 and still waiting for an exchange/completion date to even be discussed. My solicitor had a lot of enquiries, and they've just been passed back and forth between the solicitors for the last 3/4 weeks. Literally everything else was sorted prior to Christmas (searches, mortgage offer, etc), just waiting on satisfactory replies from the vendors... And this is no chain with motivated buyers and sellers. We all thought that we'd be in by mid-January but here we are! Unfortunately it's such an unpredictable process. 

Sounds like a similarly frustrating situation for you. Searches, queries etc. all done. Like I said the only thing left is signing the contracts (solicitor wanted to wait until everything else was sorted) and then deposit which says 5 working days but I thought CHAPS would speed up the process.

It's an absolute nightmare of a process! It feels like your entire life gets put on hold until you've finally exchanged and have a completion date. We're FTBs so have barely any furniture, and now we can't even go into shops to pick it. We've been trying to buy a house for 7 months, it's been so stressful!

Hopefully it won't be long until we're both sorted.

FTBs too. Had lots of furniture picked out from IKEA and now looks like March before we can get it (had no storage space to get it earlier).

Im moving from rented into new build.  We keep looking at the basics we need from day 1 - sofas and bed.   We find what we like available for delivery in 3-5 days, then next time we check its not available till July.  🤬

Thrugelmir

o_johnston said:

WiseOwl00 said:

Have your local searches come back yet? We signed our contract w/c 04/01/21 and still waiting for an exchange/completion date to even be discussed. My solicitor had a lot of enquiries, and they've just been passed back and forth between the solicitors for the last 3/4 weeks. Literally everything else was sorted prior to Christmas (searches, mortgage offer, etc), just waiting on satisfactory replies from the vendors... And this is no chain with motivated buyers and sellers. We all thought that we'd be in by mid-January but here we are! Unfortunately it's such an unpredictable process. 

 then deposit which says 5 working days but I thought CHAPS would speed up the process.

CHAPS will speed up the process, if the alternative is to make daily transfers over a period of time. 

Signing the contract is a formality. 

Seashell517

Thrugelmir said:

o_johnston said:

WiseOwl00 said:

Have your local searches come back yet? We signed our contract w/c 04/01/21 and still waiting for an exchange/completion date to even be discussed. My solicitor had a lot of enquiries, and they've just been passed back and forth between the solicitors for the last 3/4 weeks. Literally everything else was sorted prior to Christmas (searches, mortgage offer, etc), just waiting on satisfactory replies from the vendors... And this is no chain with motivated buyers and sellers. We all thought that we'd be in by mid-January but here we are! Unfortunately it's such an unpredictable process. 

 then deposit which says 5 working days but I thought CHAPS would speed up the process.

CHAPS will speed up the process, if the alternative is to make daily transfers over a period of time. 

Signing the contract is a formality. 

The pandemic makes getting your signature witnessed a bit more interesting than usual...

badger09

To answer OPs specific question. CHAPS payment from Nationwide can be done through online banking. Cost £20. If done before 15.00 should arrive same day. 

PLEASE check Nationwide website though

WiseOwl00

o_johnston said:

FTBs too. Had lots of furniture picked out from IKEA and now looks like March before we can get it (had no storage space to get it earlier).

It's a bit unfortunate that we're buying our first house during a pandemic. I can imagine it would have been a lot more exciting physically going into shops and choosing stuff. Now we have to rely on how stuff looks online