Timescale to buy a house

Addy1

Hiya,

This might be a stupid question but we are first time buyers and need to move in August so just over 5 months away.

We have been told by mortgage advisor to go ahead and put in an offer if we see one we like.

My question is, is it too early to start looking? I have no idea how long it takes to buy a house! I am veiwing some properties next week, but I am worried if we see one we like it will be too soon for us to put in an offer.

Any suggestions?

Stevie1

I agree with your mortgage advisor.

You may not see something you like instantly. Even if you do and have your offer accepted (sadly not always the case), the sellers may not want a very quick process or may be in a chain.

I would suggest though, in contrast to how most people think, that you should go and view houses that are what you're actually looking for rather than anything and everything in your price range. Looking at houses that are not in the right area, wrong size, wrong price etc. is counter productive IMHO + sellers can tell you're not really interested/time-waster straight away.

Anyway - go and view and take your time! Good luck

Addy1

I have been quite selective in what we are viewing, cos we need certain things like off road parking, garden, upstairs bathroom etc. so seems like we are doing the right thing.

So just to clarify, say if we get an offer accepted in a months time for example, a 5 month time scale to completion is not unusually long? Obviously I know it depends on upwards chain and everything.

Also, who decided on completion date? Do we have any say in it or does the vendor and the people above them in the chain decide? Because we have moving out of rented accom to take in to account.

Thanks for the advice!

MadMonkey

TBH it depends on the rest of the chain - if some people need to push for "s fast as possible completion" then having you in the chain may not be appealing.

As long as you are honest with the people you offer on it may not be a problem.

Addy1

Thanks.

Just wanted to make sure the agent and vendors didn't think we were wasting their time starting to look now. It will probably take a while to find somewhere anyway and allowing for chain collapses etc etc, it might take that long anyway I suppose!

mrs_deadline

It easily could, especially with so much uncertainty in the market just at the moment.

In fact, the other thing to ponder is what you'll do if the transaction drags on beyond when you really "need" to move. It's a good idea to have a backup plan in place, be it extending the tenancy month by month, moving in with family, or whatever, because if you get fixated on a particular completion deadline you are prone to end up very, very stressed out and it's a stressful enough process anyway.

Best not to let on to sellers or estate agents that you're under any constraints whatsoever, as this puts you in a much better bargaining position.

Addy1

thanks for that, that is something we are a bit worried about, but we are hoping our landlord will be willing to extend our rental month by month as you said. We have a large dog so finding another rental would be difficult! Worst case scenario we both sleep on separate friends sofas for a month or so (no family within 100 miles).
Good tip about not letting on to the agent, I hadn't thought of that.

space_rider

I would start now too. I have viewed a house and moved in within 3 weeks and house before that was 2 months but that was because there wasn`t a chain.