Moving home is often rated as one of life’s most stressful events, coming in just behind the death of a spouse and major illnesses. In our experience, much of that stress stems from uncertainty, including the fact that no-one knows how long a house sale will take. When you’re selling a house, it can feel as though your life is on hold until the sale goes through. But how long does the entire process take? We thought we’d take a look at the various options for selling your home.
A broad overview
As you might expect, more desirable properties are easier to sell than less desirable properties. Essentially, the bigger the target market is for your specific type of property, the more likely it is to sell. This might mean that three and four-bedroom homes fly off the shelves in family-friendly areas, whereas one-and two-bedroom homes might be preferred in yuppie-centric cities.
As a general rule of thumb, those with very large houses — such as those with 6 or more bedrooms — often find that buyers are much less common, and they can take much longer to sell. The same applies to luxury properties, notably those that have extensive grounds or especially picturesque building work. This is because they exceed the typical price cap of the area, which limits their market substantially.
In addition, the area of the country plays a big part. If you live in a particularly desirable area with a fluid housing market, you may find that you can sell most properties within 8 to 16 weeks. If you are in an area where the housing market is less fluid, properties can languish on the market for up to 40 weeks.
Areas that are ranked worst for property selling times by home.co.uk include:
- Rotherham
- Knightsbridge
- Sunderland
- Mayfair
- North Shields
All of these take over 250 days, on average, to sell properties, with Rotherham taking 279 days on average.
The fastest-selling properties can be found in:
- Rainham
- Bristol (pictured below)
- Strood
- Swindon
- Northampton
These take under 94 days, on average, to sell properties, with Rainham being the fastest at 87 days.
These lists are not particularly surprising: Knightsbridge and Mayfair are two of the most exclusive postcodes in London, which means that houses tend to be priced well above what most people can afford. Rotherham, Sunderland and North Shields have long had issues with job creation, leading to fewer people are moving to the area and subsequently a surplus of housing stock.
Rainham positioned itself as an ideal place for London commuters to buy, with housing being well below London averages, and the other four have vibrant economies that offer plenty of jobs as well as extensive student populations.
The old mantra applies: location, location, location.
How can you sell your home faster?
Most factors (location, economy, size of the property) are beyond your control, but you can make your property appear more desirable to encourage a faster sale. First, price is everything in many areas. The lower the price, the more likely your property is to sell faster. However, too low, and you may be shooting yourself in the foot. According to a Which? Survey, properties that were overpriced took longer to sell and eventually sold at a lower average price compared to properties that were valued correctly.
Then, you need to make your property look desirable. Go for a neutral look throughout, eliminate any clutter and keep the garden tidy. It’s also a good idea to eliminate any rubbish or litter outside your home.
When you do get an offer, a lot of the delays often come from the local council. This is because the local searches can take as little as 24 hours or can take as long as three or four weeks, depending on the precise systems that the council uses.
Ultimately, the time it takes to sell your property can vary, but you should always allow at least 10 weeks, and in slow-moving areas, allow up to 10 months. Also remember that whilst you can make your property more desirable, there are a lot of factors you cannot control, with the all important location being one of them.
