Buying a new home is exciting, but you may be anxious about how long the process could take from start to finish. Understanding how long you can expect to wait before you get the keys to your new home can help you to plan both practically and financially. In this post, we set out an estimated duration for each stage of buying a property.

Finding your new home (8-12 weeks)

Finding your ideal property is possibly the most difficult stage to allocate a time limit as this really depends on you. Before you start looking for properties, you should have a good understanding of your budget, how much deposit you have and the amount you will be able to borrow. This can make the process simpler and avoid any difficulties at a later stage. While you might find your dream home tomorrow, we recommend planning to spend around three months to find the right property.

Making an offer (2 weeks)

After you have found a property you wish to buy, you will need to make an offer and negotiate any conditions. Both you and the seller will be looking to get the best deal possible and negotiation is a normal part of the process. If the initial offer you make works for the seller, they may accept it right away. However, there can be several stages of rejection and making new offers which can take up to a couple of weeks - or in some cases, longer.

Securing a mortgage (3-5 weeks)

You may have already secured an Agreement in Principle at this stage, or you may just have started the mortgage process. On average, it takes around 18-40 days to secure money from a mortgage lender. After you have made a full mortgage application, your lender will carry out a mortgage valuation survey, which can take anything from a few days to a few weeks. This part of the process is managed by you and your mortgage broker. Once you have an offer it is sent to your solicitor to check. Your offer will need to be in place before contracts can be exchanged. This part of the process is carried out at the same time as the next step.

Instructing your Solicitor to Exchanging contracts (6-8 weeks)

When you instruct a solicitor it is important to return the instruction documents we need (ID and evidence of funds) as soon as possible, as a delay here can delay the transaction. Your solicitor will then be working with the seller’s solicitor to negotiate the terms of the contract and making the required searches to ensure the sale can proceed. When all checks have been satisfactorily completed you will be sent a final report and asked to sign the contract papers. At this stage, you will also be required to pay the deposit for the property to your solicitor ready for exchange of contracts. Once both parties have signed your solicitor will ask your permission to exchange contracts. At exchange the date for completion is fixed and the purchase becomes legally binding.

Completion (1-4 weeks)

The completion date is fixed at exchange of contracts and is usually between 1 and 2 weeks after exchange, although it can be longer. At completion your solicitor will send your funds to the sellers solicitors to ‘complete’ the purchase and the keys to your new home are then released to you.

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