The time taken to buy a house depends on a variety of factors. First, you have to do your research and decide what your budget is, what kind of property you want and where you want to live. Once you’ve found a suitable property and the offer is accepted, then the legal aspects begin.
At some point, you’ll need to organise a mortgage if you don’t have sufficient funds to buy the property outright. You may get an offer in principle for a mortgage before you start house hunting, but you need to finalise a mortgage offer and this will depend on factors such as length of employment, according to this report in The Guardian. Getting a mortgage can take between three and six weeks, depending on your credit score and how organised you are with supplying the necessary documents.
Know what you are buying
It’s possible to buy a house without conducting a survey, but most buyers want to know if there are any serious structural problems or any other factors they need to be aware of. Surveys can be conducted relatively quickly, although it may take some weeks to get the final report. Once you receive the report, it can be a good idea to let your conveyancer see it to check for any potential obstacles or issues that need to be resolved before the purchase goes ahead.
Reliable conveyancing services
As the process of formally acquiring the property gets under way you will need reliable and trustworthy conveyancers. Firms such as Sam Conveyancing can assist with filing the necessary papers, conducting searches and where appropriate to your circumstances, ensuring that any deed of trust cost is reasonable. The process of conveyancing can take from a few weeks up to several months, depending on the type of property and the complexity of the transaction. It is strongly recommended that you get professionals to do this for you as mistakes can be costly.
If any issues arise during the process, professional conveyancers can deal with the other parties and make sure that they are resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. In conclusion, the property can then be registered legally in your name without any issues that may require expensive legal services to resolve further down the line. Conveyancing can also flag up issues the vendor needs to deal with before you take ownership of the property. Once you legally own the property, problems with it are your responsibility. It is a case of buyer beware, which is why you need competent and qualified people on your side.
In the final stages of the process, you will exchange contracts. For this to happen, every other element of the transaction, including the mortgage, the survey and the relevant stages of conveyancing must be in place. Once the contracts are exchanged, the next step is completion. This can take place within days of exchanging contracts, or up to three to four weeks afterwards. Your conveyancer should be able to advise you on this.
The time scale of buying a house will be different for every property. As a general rule, you should probably allow at least three months, if the purchase is straightforward and you have an efficient team supporting you.