As a potential 1st time buyer I was wondering what the timelines are for buying...
From putting an offer in on a place, to getting the keys.
I know the "chain" system will obviously make a difference.
Ball-park figures? Or is it a "how long is a piece of string" situation?
Ta - Rick
Mine took me 6 weeks but the place I bought was empty.
S-o-o many factors but between your offer being accepted and your arriving with the furniture lorry, assume about 6-8 weeks.
6-8 weeks would seem pretty optimistic. Of the four I've bought, none took less than 3 months. Something always crops up to drag it out even when everyone in the chain is as willing to move quickly as everyone else.
This is a million dollar question! And I'm no expert!!
When I've bought places the normal guide from the estate agents and solicitors is 6-8 weeks from offer being accepted to exchange of contracts, and then 2-4 weeks to completion.
But obviously, there are circumstances that will vary greatly in every case. It can be very frustrating!
If you have a mortgage offer secured, the place is vacant possession, a good conveyancing solicitor & the wind is in the right direction, it can be done in 5 days!
Our current house took about 4-5 months as everything went tits up towards the end. I would say 2-3 months would be average.
It is frustrating, everything seems to move very quickly at first, then grinds to a halt for weeks.
Good luck though. 😀
Get an "agreement in principle" from a mortgage supplier. So when you find the right house you can move quickly.
Between 1 year and 1 month for me, over 6 properties.
But as a first time buyer you can 'force' the issue. With our current house we were coming back from abroad and consequently were not selling as well. We told them when we wanted to be in; about 4 weeks before the due date they said that further up the chain there was a problem. I told them that as we were at the bottom it wasn't our problem! We moved in on the day agreed originally, somewhere further up the chain somebody moved into temp accomodation.
Usually 6 - 8 weeks with each house I have had (3 in Scotland and 1 in England), although the garage I am buying is taking for ever. Seller was messing me about, would have walked away if it wasn't the closest one that there is to my house 🙁 That has been ongoing since the end of September, and should complete before Christmas they are telling me!
i bought an empty house, it took 6 weeks.
a friend of mine is in a chain, it's taken about 8 months so far, and in all fairness, he's not much closer to the keys than when he made his offer...
i'd suggest not bothering. have you factored in the £50/month you WILL be spending in BnQ every month? - and a grand a room to fix when you discover it's been plastered with coal dust, and wired by drunks on a budget? and the £200 / month you'll need to save in case the roof blows off, or the boiler goes bang, or the double glazing fails, or the suspened floor goes rotten.
etc, etc, for gods sake buy a new house, not a 100 yr old terrace.
as others, anywhere from 6-8 weeks up.
as for buying a new house, depends if you like paper thin wall, boxy room and postage stamp sized gardens.
Cheers for the feedback sofar!!
Def looking at a fixer-upper : )
Gonna start doing homework on auctions too
Bought a flat recently , took 11 days from seeing the advert to completion. A house took five weeks. The house I'm living in took four months. Have your mortgage offer in place before you go looking seriously if you can. Estate agents will treat you a lot better if you can prove you're ready to move quickly. As awhiles says, either buy a good un or be prepared for a long drag if you are living in whilst doing up.
Mine took 3 weeks, which was a cash buy on a property with no chain.
Sold mine and bought another - taking 6 weeks so far and a wee issue popped up, so expect this to hold up things a couple of weeks. I reckon 6 - 8 weeks is possible depending on solicitors. Problems occur if your / their solicitors identify any 'issues' that they can take some time to resolve 😉