FTB - How long from offer to excahnge?

24Sevenx

Hi all,

Basically I want to maximise the bonus in my LISA which currently stands at £15k. I want to put in another 4K on 6th April to get the 1k government bonus which I think will get added around the 27th May. My question is this - taking into account the time scales for the bonus to be added to my LISA, when would be the best time for me to view and make an offer on a place? Every house I've seen that I've liked so far has gone in a matter of days recently so would it be better until I recieve the bonus before making an offer?

Thanks

amandacat

It depends if the house you are buying is in a chain, also how good the solicitors at both ends are and how long searches in your area take. 
I recently sold a house with no chain, we were moving in with family and our buyer was a FTB. That was fairly straightforward, with good solicitors both sides and searches were taking 4 weeks in that area so it took a total of 8 weeks from agreed offer to exchange. 
I am currently in the process of buying a house (no chain again), it has been 5 weeks since the offer was agreed and due to the slowness of the solicitors this time around and the lengthy search time scales in the area we have moved to (8 weeks), we are realistically looking at early May for completion.
If you buy a house in a chain, you will need to wait for the chain to form so once you get an offer agreed, the seller has to find an onward house to purchase and it might stop there or that person might be also looking for another house and so the chain goes on. Sometimes it takes weeks for a chain to form and most people advise against starting any legal work until the chain has formed in case someone pulls out and you then lose money on searches and surveys etc. 
You are probably safe to start offering on houses now, if there is no chain you are looking at late May at the earliest and you can also negotiate your exchange date so can ensure this is after 27 May.

Thrugelmir

If you wish to stretch matters out. Easy enough to lose a day here and day there in the process. Also depends on the chain above you. Very much a question of how long is a piece of string. Circumstances differ. Two months isn't long in the general scheme of things. 

24Sevenx

That's really helpful information thank you both. I didnt want to be in the position having made an offer that the deposit would be needed before the bonus had posted but this seems very unlikely having read your comments.

Thrugelmir

More likely that you'll be the one chumping at the bit as time progresses. Property transactions are a mixture of unexpected curved balls and people's own agendas. 

CLJ2986

4 years ago it took 5 months from offer to completion in a chain. This time around were not in a chain and already over 3 weeks since our offer was accepted. Currently awaiting a mortgage decision  which is still 1-2 weeks away then I was told roughly 4-6 weeks for searches etc if there are no delays 

RelievedSheff

There is so much variation that you can't really say for sure how long it will take. The first time we bought it was a chain free transaction but it still took 12 weeks. The last time we part exchanged against a new build and from reserving the plot to moving in was 3.5 weeks.

grumiofoundation

24Sevenx said:

Hi all,

Basically I want to maximise the bonus in my LISA which currently stands at £15k. I want to put in another 4K on 6th April to get the 1k government bonus which I think will get added around the 27th May. My question is this - taking into account the time scales for the bonus to be added to my LISA, when would be the best time for me to view and make an offer on a place? Every house I've seen that I've liked so far has gone in a matter of days recently so would it be better until I recieve the bonus before making an offer?

Thanks

If you have not had an offer accepted yet I wouldn’t worry about completing before the 27th May! 

lonibra

3 weeks, vacant property, chain free, search indemnity.