As one of the most important decisions you’ll make in adult life, it’s probably fair enough to assume that buying a house will take you a fair chunk of time. But for first time buyers especially, it may feel like a particularly long and drawn-out process – full of delays, complications and things that just don’t quite go to plan. Patience is certainly a virtue.
In general, you can expect the whole process – from starting to look for a place, to finally moving into your new home – to take around six months. If it’s your first time, though, it’s likely to take longer (eight months is pretty commonplace), whereas experienced veteran house-hoppers can wrap things up in a matter of weeks if they move quick.
As a rule of thumb, the buying process takes approximately 12 weeks – but this doesn’t take into account the time you take to search for your perfect property. Once that’s added in, plus contingency for unexpected delays and the like, you’re best to anticipate a half-year timeline and be pleasantly surprised if it’s completed before that.
In this article, we’ll give you a crash course on house buying, the steps involved, and what to expect at each stage of the journey – including how long each phase will take…
The usual run of things (when buying a house)
Firstly, let’s map out the various hoops which you need to jump through and the order these are laid out, so you get an clear idea of the overall process from beginning to end:
Finding a property
Naturally, this is the stage that will vary most time-wise – as it depends on a number of highly subjective actors, not least your own ‘pickiness’ when it comes to properties (or attention to detail, to put it more positively). A standard search time is 8-12 weeks-ish.
Making an offer
Once you’ve found your dream home for an affordable price, it’s time to make an offer. You’ll want to negotiate for the best deal, so allow time for back-and-forth. It can be fairly swift, providing you don’t drive a rock-hard bargain – but it depends on the competition…
Getting a mortgage
If you’re ahead of the game, you’ll have started speaking to mortgage brokers/lenders and solicitors before this point – but here’s where it really needs to happen. If your credit rating is good and you’re diligent in your paperwork, this should be done in a few weeks max – but there can be complications, so be prepared (18-40 days is what we estimate).
Exchanging contracts
This is where the legal nitty-gritty comes to the fore, and both sets of solicitors will be busying themselves in the background. This can feel like its taking ages as you’re a bit of a lame duck, but you can really celebrate once this stage is done – as the sale is now in legally binding contract! Expect about four weeks for this crucial part of the process.
Completing the sale
This final phase will see you pay the rest of the cash or set up your direct debit for the mortgage payments (you should have already paid deposit by now), and settle any outstanding solicitors’ fees. Depending on the time the seller needs to pack and move out, and how long the chain of sales is in front of them, this will take about 1-4 weeks.
What to expect at each stage of the journey
Finding your ideal property (8-12 weeks)
If you’re searching for the perfect home, this can be a case of string and piece length. Before starting out, you’ll want to do your sums carefully – and make sure you know exactly how much you can realistically afford, before you start eyeing up mansions and castles. It makes sense to start talking to mortgage lenders at this stage too, so you have an idea of the amount of cash you can borrow – as well as mustering your deposit.
Once you have a ballpark figure, you can crack on estate agents, viewings and more viewings. Remember: everyone wants to beat the market, by getting a steal on the ideal property, with plenty of space in the trendiest location – but frankly, these opportunities are few and far between. So you’ll have to do a bit of soul-searching too to work out how much you are willing to compromise – i.e. whether you can settle for an 80 or 90%.
How long this stage takes is mainly up to you, although other factors such as the buoyancy of your local property market and the time of year can make a difference. You should put aside about three months to get it right – as it’s certainly worth being patient. Once you’ve found ‘the one’ and the price is the right, it’s time to make an offer!
Making and negotiating an offer (0-2 weeks, but could be longer)
This is where you put your money where your mouth is, and tell the seller what you’re willing to pay and your conditions. Naturally, negotiation is an expected and encouraged part of the process – you want to secure the best deal you can, as it’s a lot of money at stake. But you need to strike the perfect balance by persuading the seller to discount the asking price, without driving too hard a bargain as to make them look elsewhere.
Depending how this process plays out, you can be looking at anything from instance acceptance if your offer is spot on, to rejection followed by several stages of negotiation which can take days or even weeks. If there’s big interest, there may be a sealed bid – where you’ll need to submit a carefully-judged offer to beat all others by a certain date.
There are plenty of online resources that can help you make the right offer, as it can be a delicate business. Here’s a solid post on the Money Saving Expert forums to get good feedback and advice from their community of house buyers.
Getting a mortgage sorted (3-5 weeks)
If you’re already dealing with a bank and solicitor at this stage (and it’s advisable that you are), securing a mortgage should be fairly straightforward – providing you ensure there are no hold-ups at your end. On average, it will take you between 18-40 days to confirm the cash from your lender – although this can vary considerably depending on a number of factors, such as your credit rating and financial records.
First things first – you need to find a bank willing to lend you a big chunk of money. Don’t just automatically go to your current provider, as the market changes quickly and there may be better deals out there, so It’s always worth digging around before you decide.
Once you’ve found a lender, your next step should be to secure an Agreement In Principle – which means exactly that, the bank agreeing to lend you the money in principle, based on information about your finances and the property. This is by no means a guarantee, but it is a big step in the right direction and shows you’re serious – plus it can take as little as a couple of hours over the phone, as long as your credit rating is good and you have your documents to hand. If extra checks are required, this can take a few more days before the bank are satisfied that their money is safe.
You can then crack on with the full mortgage application, which is mostly more of the same – with some closer probing and more stringent checks thrown in. Be prepared to answer some tricky questions on your financial situation, but all going to plan this stage should be complete within a few days max – but again, if there are complications it can be much longer. Just be patient and diligent, and make sure you do your bits quickly!
The final stage is the mortgage valuation survey – which is basically the lender checking that the property is what you said it was, and you’re not trying to swindle extra money out of them. Depending on how strict a system the bank employs, this can take anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks – again, just sit tight. Once this all checks out, barring any last minute curveballs you should be able to celebrate receiving a formal mortgage offer in writing – and having the money to purchase that property!
Exchanging contracts (3-4 weeks)
This is now where the legal process takes over and your solicitor really earns his/her fee. Be prepared for this stage to feel like it’s dragging on, because your solicitor (or conveyancer) will be speaking with the seller’s, and lot of fiddly but crucial legal back-and-forth will be getting hammered out between them – without you doing much. If you do feel out the loop, remember you can always contact your solicitor to get an update, it’s perfectly acceptable to keep the pressure on them and chase things up.
At this stage, your solicitor will be liaising with the land registry, local council and seller – to make “enquiries and searches” about the status of the property, whether the seller actually owns it, its planning permissions, land boundaries and other such details. You’ll also have to pay your deposit at this stage, so make sure all those years of savings are ready to go in one account. You may need to start mustering your funds together a week or two in advance – banks don’t usually allow you to move more than £10k per day, so if you need to move more than this you’ll need to arrange a CHAPS payment. These cost £25-30, so factor that into your plans plus the time it takes for them to clear.
Finally, both you and the seller will sign legally binding contracts committing to the transfer of property ownership, and your solicitor and theirs will exchange the contracts. This is where you actually sign on the dotted line, and can crack open the champagne. Now you can’t back out, as you’ll forfeit your deposit money – so don’t get cold feet! This whole phase will likely take you about a month, but it’s certainly worth it for that feeling.
Completing the sale (1-4 weeks)
You may have exchanged signed contracts, but you won’t be able to move into your new home just yet – there’ll likely be a chain of sales ahead of you, and for those who’ve sold a property before, you’ll know this is only when you start packing up and leaving. So again, be patient if you’re a first time buyer – but also be aware that you needn’t worry about the chain behind you, and can be the catalyst driving things forward. Make sure you complete everything on your side of the bargain quickly and set the pace.
There is usually a four week deadline from exchange of contracts to exchange of keys, although a different time frame can apply if mutually agreed by you and the seller. You will set the completion date priorly, so by this point it should be clear how long you have left to sort the final pieces of the puzzle (and wait patiently) before you can move in. You solicitor will have to do some final checks and searches to make sure all is still in order.
This is also the stage where the rest of the money gets sorted out. You’ll get a completion statement from your solicitor, detailing how much you owe – including any outstanding deposit, stamp duty land tax, their fees etc. They will also draw the funds from your mortgage lender and send the full payment to the seller’s solicitor – in return, you’ll get the title deeds plus proof their mortgage has been cleared (so their bank no longer has a claim on the property). And you now have a new home – congratulations!
