Remster

With our 1st baby due mid. Nov. we have just embarked on a house purchase YES I AM A BARKING MAD!!!

The house we are selling is being bought by 1st time buyers so no chain involved. The house we are purchasing has 1 upward chain link.

How long did it take you to complete? Please state chain length.

Cheers.

SiPie

No real help I'm afraid

It's just that I feel sorry for you guys and your lunatic property system, with chains etc

Good luck with your move

Nicci

My housemate agreed to buy a house last Friday and he wants it completed by the end of Sept. He has no idea how long the chain is. I think he is mad.

Good luck

RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

By all accounts our was a "perfect" move.
By that I mean the chain didn't break, all legal stuff went without any hitches & all monies were transferred on time. In fact nothing went wrong at all.
Start to finish it was 11 weeks from offer being accepted, 4 people in chain, 1 above us & 2 behind us.
If you are moving into a brand new house, no onward chain then quite a bit quicker, my brother moved in 3 weeks like this.
Some friends of ours have spent the last 14 months moving.
Their chain broke 4 times for various reasons, offers made were withdrawn late in the day etc etc.

The thing to bear in mind is the longer the chain the more potential there is for things to go wrong, mortgages not accepted, changes of mind, problems with legal stuff etc, it just multiplies the potential problems the more buyers are involved, so if you can, be in a small chain.

Good luck.

Ro.

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

The minimum you are looking at - with NO hitches whatsoever, and I mean NO hitches is about 6 weeks. It CAN be done in a shorter time, but that's just down to luck.

If you are buying a new house that's built, there is nothing wrong with yours and you have first time buyers with a mortgage promise and the deposit are the kind of cirumstances I am talking about

dsmith

We had next to no chain. People buying ours came from rent. People moving out of our new one went into rent.

That was till 9 weeks. Various queries over roof repairs after a survey - getting quotes and negotiating money off etc.

duSTI's PA

We compleated on June 10th this year (1st time Buyers ) we had put the offer in back in Feb/March so it was about 4mth's all in told , there was no ongoing chain as they moved to AUZ ,

RallyMarshal

I just completed on sale/purchase. 2 people below us and 1 above. Offer made in March and completed yesterday so 5 months or so but we did have issues with the people at the bottom having trouble with getting mortgage.

However the people above us took out a 2nd mortgage and moved so we rented/moved into the vacant house for a month before we completed.

Paul..

Patt@firstime

6 weeks should be achievable with a decent solicitor

OllyK

Took us 4 weeks from offer to moving in last year (no chain in either direction), moved the week before Xmas.

Remster

Good input guys, thanks for sharing your experiences.

I had thought somewhere between 6-10 weeks as being a reasonable time scale presuming no complications. The 1st time buyers have their mortgage in place, as do we, and the upward chain are buying in Scotland so their offer is binding etc.

Fingers crossed.

I already have visions of my wife in labour in the back of a removal truck! It might be of advantage to us if it did take a few weeks longer. This way, at least baby would be here and we could still get in just before Christmas.

Kyl3cook

with no chain in either direction, it's looking at 5-6 weeks (not helped by our solicitors forgetting about the sale)...this is selling my house, but even so, it's the same thing.

Brit_in_Japan

No chain, vacant possession - 4 weeks (but I had to kick the solicitors almost daily)
My mother moved about 3 years ago, vacant posession, no chain, no mortgage (therefore one solicitor could act for both parties), 12 days.

scoob_babe

Our offer was accepted on Dec 1 (having already accepted an offer from first time buyer 3 weeks earlier). Completed on the 27th Feb.
Had issues over the Xmas period with people not working and dumb idiots forgetting to book survey so it took 14 weeks over all. We had no chain above us.
Oh and make sure your employers are nice as I had spent lots of time on the phone kicking solicitors

Hol

iTrader: (1)

Ill let you know Hopefully before Xmas!

John Catlin

24 hours quickest with me taking all risks.

Normal about 8 weeks.

4 weeks from signing contract seems normal

douglasb

About 5 years ago I went from viewing to completion in 6 weeks. First time buyer below me, couple I was buying from had a second home to move to temporarily until they found what they wanted.

As already said, longer chains can cause complications.

The norm from exchange to completion used to be 4 weeks (it may have been a legal requirement) but in my case it was 1 week - which I think is more typical these days.

While the Scottish system doesn't have chains breaking as accepted offers are binding it isn't perfect either, particularly when the housing market is active. Having to pay survey fees on properties where your offer isn't successful and having to pay a lot over the "offers over" price are memories from buying and selling in Scotland.

[Chris]

I've just exchanged on a chain with the same length of yours - it's taken 3 months. My advice is get good solicitors (I have a recommendation if you haven't already)

Ge the personal numbers of your buyer and vendor - so you can keep in contact and get them moving.

If any of the properties are leasehold - apply early to the management company for any information.

Answer solicitors questions and information requests quickly. And agree dates with everyone in the chain!

It's all about the communication