You’ve sold your property and you are now wanting the sale to go through quickly without any problems, but how long after the offer is accepted to survey? You need to be realistic with your expectations about how long it takes for the survey to be done vs having your buyers dragging their feet and messing you around.
It can take at least three to four weeks to survey after accepting an offer, depending if they are buying with a mortgage vs a cash buyer. Mortgage buyers have to go at the speed of the mortgage company, but they may also be waiting for their buyers to arrange a survey on their property too.
What affects the timing of survey after offer accepted and what can cause delays?
There are a number of factors that will affect how long after offer accepted to survey, which include:
1. If your buyers is waiting to have their survey done
If your buyer is waiting to have their survey done before paying to have the survey done on your house, this will slow timings down. Liaise with your estate agent to push things along and to find out what is causing the delay if a survey hasn’t been arranged within 3-4 weeks after accepting the offer.
2. If your buyers are mortgage purchasers this can delay time to survey
Homebuyers buying with a mortgage will arrange the survey via the mortgage lender. The survey will not be arranged until your buyer has progressed their mortgage to the surveying stage in the mortgage application process and have paid the appropriate fee.
Timings to survey will be affected by whether your buyer already had a mortgage in principle at the time of offering, or if they started from scratch after you accepted accepting an offer. If they already had a mortgage in principle, it could take as little as a week after the offer was accepted vs 3-4 weeks if they are starting from scratch.
How quickly the survey is arranged is then down to the bank, once your buyer has paid the survey fee and asked for this to proceed.
3. Buyers dragging their feet will delay the timing of the survey
Buyers dragging their feet will delay the timing of when the survey will be arranged on your house. If you feel your buyers are dragging their feet and messing you around, speak with your estate agent to speed things up and consider re-listing the property.
You may even find that buyers who purport to be cash buyers vs mortgage buyers drag their feet and don’t arrange a survey quickly. Again, speak with your estate agent, and if things haven’t progressed since accepting the offer, you can threaten to re-market your property.
4. Busy market will affect timings of surveys
If the housing market is extremely busy this will impact how quickly the survey can be arranged, as there is only a finite number of surveyors to survey houses. For example, post Covid lockdown, there were long time delays in getting a surveyor to survey houses.
5. Chain sales take longer to survey
If you are in a long sales chain it may take longer to survey, especially if you are at the bottom of the chain. If each buyer in the chain above you is waiting for their buyer to arrange a survey, it may take several weeks before your buyer arranges their survey on your house.
If you want to avoid the delays and stress of being in a conveyancing chain, I recommend you read this article, if you are selling another property to buy a house. In this article you will discover how you could save you up to £71,475 when you buy your next house if it would originally cost £350,000. Alternatively, if you propose to buy your next house for £250,000, the saving could be up to £51,852 instead.
Should you wait until your buyer has done their survey before doing the survey on the house you’re buying?
You should only wait until your buyer has done their survey before arranging the survey on the house you’re buying if you have doubts your buyers are serious. But if you have any doubts about your buyers, you may be better to remarket your property to find better buyers in any case.
But this may mean you lose your on-going purchase, which is why I want to emphasise how important it is you read this before you go:
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article about how long after offer accepted to survey
If you’ve enjoyed this article about “how long after offer accepted to survey” please share it on your favourite social media site.
Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to comment below too. Please also share any of your experiences with properties you’ve bought. Alternatively, if you need more help, please feel free to contact us on our contact us page here. Or join the discussion and ask your question in the property forum.
How Long After Offer Accepted To Survey: What Causes Delays?
Offer Accepted But Seller Still Looking: How Long Do… If your offer is accepted by a seller who is still looking for their next property, you are better to wait until they find somewhere before you start the buying…
Cash Buyer vs Mortgage Buyer: Do They Offer Less? Cash Buyer vs Mortgage Buyer: If there's no chain and the cash buyer has cash readily available, it can take a little as a few days to complete the purchase…
Visiting Property After Offer Accepted: Is It Acceptable? It's quite normal to visit a property after your offer has been accepted, which also proves to the vendor that you are serious about progressing with the purchase. Many estates…
Article written by Russell Bowyer who has been investing in property since purchasing his first commercial property in the 1990's for his own Chartered Accountancy business. But his first property investment project was to turn an old dilapidated restaurant into a large 5-bed home, which he purchased for £117,500 and sold for £450,000 (to see an "after" photo of the house before it was sold see here: About). Russell owns a number of investment properties, which includes houses, flats and HMO's. More recently he has turned his creative side to investing in property using lease options. His largest lease option deal to date was to acquire 12 properties worth over £2 million for just £12, which means he paid just £1 to acquire each property!
