Buying a house - how long did it take from offer accepted to getting the keys?

[Meira]

Our offer on the house we are buying was accepted on 24th June, it's now 5 months later and we are still waiting to exchange contracts! So frustrating. I normally have no patience for anything!

Would love if you could share your experiences of house buying - hopefully the ones that turn out good though lol!

Meira Xx

 

[Prettyflamingo]

My boyfriend and I completed on 23rd dec last year and moved in on Xmas eve , the whole process from looking to moving in was six weeks , this was because we were first time buyers and they were buying a new property , all went pretty smoothly other than the previous owner of our house requesting to stay in our house a month after we bought it as there would be "no carpets in the new house " they were buying . You can imagine my response !!


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[AmeliaR]

I just read this as buying a horse! ... Then thought why do you get keys when you get a horse?? .... Think I need to go to bed

 

[Meira]

My boyfriend and I completed on 23rd dec last year and moved in on Xmas eve , the whole process from looking to moving in was six weeks , this was because we were first time buyers and they were buying a new property , all went pretty smoothly other than the previous owner of our house requesting to stay in our house a month after we bought it as there would be "no carpets in the new house " they were buying . You can imagine my response !!


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Wow that's quick! Ours was supposed to be a simple transaction, we thought we would be in by end of August! The lady who owns the house we are buying had bought it under a shared ownership scheme so there has been added complications and valuations that needed to be done but we had no idea when we put the offer in.

 

[gillian w]

I just read this as buying a horse! ... Then thought why do you get keys when you get a horse?? .... Think I need to go to bed

You're doing a me on the Reading thread.

 

[gillian w]

Its all to do with the chain.Do you know what the situation is.

 

[Meira]

Its all to do with the chain.Do you know what the situation is.

The chain is relatively short we are at the end as already sold our flat. It's def the house we are buying that's holding it up. The housing association that own 30% of the house currently have taken a long time organising stuff on their side and everyone's getting impatient now! Would never consider buying a house now that was previously bought under one of these schemes, it seems to add so much complication when it's being sold! Shame we didn't know this when we found it! It's in a perfect location and we love the house so just hoping it doesn't drag on too much longer. Plus work wise I'm a bit stuck as no point building clientele where we are now as we don't know how long we will be here for.

 

[Mobile Manicure]

We've moved 6 times in the last 13 years and every time it's been between 6 to 10 weeks.

 

[McKendrick22]

We were 5 weeks from having our offer accepted to getting our keys.

Vicki xx

 

[Gemster]

We bought a previously shared ownership property this year; Our purchase took a ridiculous amount of time given that it was completely chain free (we were first time buyers and he was moving in with someone rather than buying somewhere new) but I have to say the housing association were fab and the delays were all down to him. We viewed our flat on 23rd March and made a full price offer on 25th to stop them showing it to anyone else but the previous owner had a strop and didn't accept our offer until 29th April. We then exchanged contracts on 5th July and completed on 12th, which wound me up no end as I'd booked 2 weeks off to decorate/settle in and we ended up completing on the last day of my holiday!

 

[OBIC]

Sorry but how long is a piece of string!!!

Last time we moved six years ago it was a complete nightmare. Found property about middle June and didn't move in until end November.

People buying our house were a complete nightmare (although the guy we bought off probably thought the same about us!).

Exchanged contracts - well you'd think you're home and dry. No the day of moving we didn't complete! The people buying our house were buying ours as a second property and were short by £25K! Our removal van was sitting outside our new house and we couldn't complete! Ended up completing the next day, an extra £1K for us in interest for our vendor and storage and new removal fees! Could only happen to us!

Were supposed to move in on the Wednesday but ended up completing Thursday and not moving in til Friday as the removal firm couldn't redeliver til then! Luckily was able to stay with my aunt and uncle.

Oh yeah to top it all off the boiler packed up two weeks after moving in!!! Another £1,700!!!!

Good luck. Obviously this is unusual but be prepared for anything!

 

[persianista]

I did a 28 day completion with the house I'm in now, as I bought it from a company. So it was exactly 28 days from them accepting our offer to completion day. Extremely stressful, but at least the stress was over quickly.
I've bought quite a few properties over the years, so am fairly adept at moving the process along quickly.
What often holds things up is lawyers asking questions which can't be answered, and people not knowing what to do about it. Beyond that, price changes, when idiots try to get a few extra thousand, means at least a weeks delay, if not more, as everything has to refer back to the mortgage company involved.

 

[Joblondie]

When buying our first house there was no chain and it still took from putting in the offer in the October didn't move in til the feb was crazy! The bank was to blame for ours......

 

[Meira]

Thanks for all your replies. We are hoping we may hear some good news today. Xx

 

[Penny Vintage]

I must say ive never moved but it does really seem no matter if your mortgage free, no chain etc it always seems unpredictably drawn out. My brother in law were renting, bought a house which was in a chain of 3. The whole thing took ages due to the lawyers picking at bits but it was all on to move within 4 months of viewing to getting keys. Well 2 weeks before the move the old guy at the top of the chain put his brakes on as he was a hoarder and didnt want to rush lol. So gave him more time and guys in the middle were quite annoyed. Then my in law had to give in notice for there rental as its end of the contract. All is set for a week before there out and the top guy says he cant do it until The Day my in laws are out! So estate agents said they will help move him themselves if it gets him out lol! Time went on and 2 days before were all set to move them in there vans and to the house and the top guy pulls out and says hes changed his mind! He wants to stay in a 4 bed rather than bungalow so totally messed up everyones life. You just cant understand these people!

 

[Miss Sparkle]

We bought a house this year and it took 4 months from putting the offer in to moving. That was also supposedly a straightforward purchase as we were moving from a rental property with no chain, and our vendors were moving into an empty property where the owners were moving abroad. So a very short chain but still seemed to take a long time. Mostly due to things like the solicitors finding an 'issue', then not bothering to tell anyone for two weeks. We took to just being a pain in the a*se and hassling them. It's the only way as far as I can see.

 

[Meira]

We finally exchanged contracts today! Should be completing next Wednesday. Can't get excited yet as still feel like something could go wrong before we get the keys.

 

[SerenityNailz]

I'm a mortgage administrator and can honestly say that 90% of delays are down to the solicitors! We are just about to buy our first home and the solicitors who we have gone with were the ones who answered my email queries the quickest - if they can't email a quote over to you in a timely fashion to win your business what the hell are they going to be like once they have your money! You really have to be uber proactive with chasing solicitors- they rarely call back when they say they will! Congrats on exchanging!! x

 

[Glitter_fairy]

8 months and we were a first time buyer buying a house with no chain

 

[Meira]

I'm a mortgage administrator and can honestly say that 90% of delays are down to the solicitors! We are just about to buy our first home and the solicitors who we have gone with were the ones who answered my email queries the quickest - if they can't email a quote over to you in a timely fashion to win your business what the hell are they going to be like once they have your money! You really have to be uber proactive with chasing solicitors- they rarely call back when they say they will! Congrats on exchanging!! x

Thanks. We def lost time due the solicitor. Ours works part time so on many occasions if something wasn't done by 2.30 in the afternoon, we knew nothing more would happen until the next day... So frustrating!