How long to complete, FTB and no onward chain

longwalks1

What sort of time frame can you expect on the sale of a vacant property (with no mortgage) to first time buyers?  both solicitors have been instructed and the property is standard construction 3 bed semi.

Just wondering what sort of timeframes people are experiencing/seeing at the moment?

Mark_d

I think it should be very quick, possibly around 2 months

RHemmings

Took me three months. As a buyer, not seller. 

penners324

I bought my current place in 6 weeks, sold a flat in 5 months....

our_des

It might not be as quick as you hope it will be.

Our offer was accepted 17th September 2023, completed 2nd February 2024. The property had vacant possession, no onward chain, we were FTB and no mortgage by the vendors, they'd bought the freehold and obtaining certificates from the ManCo (still a service charge for maintenance of the communal areas on the estate) and the vendors solicitor had missed multiple errors on the title deeds from the original new build sale (the used the same sol) that had to be corrected which held up the sale. 

RHemmings

our_des said:

It might not be as quick as you hope it will be.

Our offer was accepted 17th September 2023, completed 2nd February 2024. The property had vacant possession, no onward chain, we were FTB and no mortgage by the vendors, they'd bought the freehold and obtaining certificates from the ManCo (still a service charge for maintenance of the communal areas on the estate) and the vendors solicitor had missed multiple errors on the title deeds from the original new build sale (the used the same sol) that had to be corrected which held up the sale. 

I think that's still quite quick compared to some of the horror stories on here. 4 1/2 months if I count correctly. 

Exodi

Similar situation and mine still took nearly 6 months, mainly on account of issues that were impossible to know from the outset (e.g. the water board not being aware the house existed and had been supplied water for the past 10 years!).

I think that's why people commonly respond 'how long's a piece of string' - it could be 2 months, it could be 6.

I think the only advice I can give is try your best to be patient.

FTB's really do wind everyone up (particularly solicitors) when they're chasing for updates every 15 minutes, or threatening to pull out because they have't heard of any progress for 2 weeks... some refuse to deal with FTB's for this reason, it can be exhausting.

If you set your expectations on 6 months, at least you won't be pulling your hair out (and making your solicitor pull their hair out) 1 month in.

lika_86

We did a similar transaction in 10 weeks a few years ago (would have been seven if we hadn't had to wait three weeks for the sellers to send through stuff to begin with).

But I had a solicitor who was super responsive and I had familiarity with the conveyancing process so knew who to chase and when.

We also had no major issues come up during the process.

our_des

RHemmings said:

our_des said:

It might not be as quick as you hope it will be.

Our offer was accepted 17th September 2023, completed 2nd February 2024. The property had vacant possession, no onward chain, we were FTB and no mortgage by the vendors, they'd bought the freehold and obtaining certificates from the ManCo (still a service charge for maintenance of the communal areas on the estate) and the vendors solicitor had missed multiple errors on the title deeds from the original new build sale (the used the same sol) that had to be corrected which held up the sale. 

I think that's still quite quick compared to some of the horror stories on here. 4 1/2 months if I count correctly. 

It could have taken much longer if my best friend hadn't been my solicitor