Moving house is one of the most stressful things you can go through. But now you have finally found your next dream home, you’ll be wondering how long to move house once your offer is accepted.
So how long does it take to move into a house after offer accepted?
If the conveyancing process runs smoothly you could move to your new house within 6 weeks after your offer is accepted. This can be sped up if there’s no chain and the buying process can be quicker than 6 weeks, but in many cases it can be much longer, especially if there are hiccups along the way.
If this is your first time buying a house, I recommend you also read this article about “Offer accepted, now what“. This article includes the four main steps that follow after your offer is accepted, two of which can impact significantly on the time it takes before you can move in to your new house.
Please also take time to read this article to discover how you could save over £70,000 on your next mortgage if you sell your house and rent before buying again. Even I was amazed when I did the calculations!
What are the two main stages that affect how long to move house once offer accepted?
Once your offer is accepted, there are two main stages in the house buying process which will affect how long to move house once offer is accepted. These are:
- From offer being accepted to exchange of contracts: This first stage is the period that begins once your offer is accepted by the vendors, and ends when contracts are exchanged.
- From exchange of contracts to completion and moving in: The time it takes from exchange of contracts to completion and moving-in day depends on how much time the parties want between exchange and completion. This period is completely flexible and can be same-day exchange and completion* to completing in several weeks or months.
* Please take time to read this article about same-day completion, as it includes the 7 risks of completing on the same days as exchanging contracts.
What can affect how long to move house once offer accepted?
There are a number of factors that can affect how long to move house once offer accepted, which include the following:
- Arranging a mortgage: If you need a mortgage to buy your next property, this will take a bit of time from applying for the mortgage to having the mortgage accepted.
- Arranging the survey on the property: It is always best to carryout a survey on your next property, which is required if you are taking out a mortgage. The time this takes will depend on the surveying company you use and how busy their surveyors are surveying other properties.
- Speed of your solicitors: How fast your and your seller’s solicitors work can have a huge impact on how long to move house once offer is accepted.
- Searches: There are a number of searches that your solicitor should carry out on your behalf. The time it takes for these searches to return depends on the authority or local government organisation carrying out the work.
- Your proactivity: There are certain parts of the buying process that require your proactivity, which includes returning documents to your solicitor and your mortgage company. If you sit on these documents, this will add time to how long it takes to move after your offer is accepted.
- Proactivity of the vendors: If the vendors are proactive with what they need to do, including them completing forms sent by their solicitors, this will speed up the time it takes to moving house after offer is accepted.
- Involvement of the estate agent: If the seller’s estate agent is a good agent, they will chase the deal to make sure it completes quickly.
- Chain or no chain: If your house purchase is a part of a conveyancing sale chain this will have an effect on how long it takes to move house after your offer is accepted. The longer the sales chain, the longer it can take.
- Use of a mortgage broker: If you use a mortgage broker to arrange your mortgage, they will often chase the deal too if they are good brokers.
How to speed up how long to move house once offer accepted
There are a number of things you can do to speed up how long it takes to move house once your offer is accepted, which include the following:
- Arranging a mortgage: If you need a mortgage to buy your next property, starting the application as early possible, and preferably before making an offer on a house, this will speed up the process. If you can get a mortgage in principle, before making an offer, this will help speed up the buying process and get you moving-in to your new home much quicker.
- Arranging the survey on the property: Chase up your mortgage company to make sure the survey is arranged as soon as possible once your mortgage application is underway. Your mortgage offer will be dependent of the results of the survey and their valuation of the house too, so the sooner they visit the property, the quicker the process.
- Speed of your solicitors: You have more control over your solicitor than that of the seller’s solicitor, but keep on top of them and make sure you chase them. Use the seller’s estate agent to chase their solicitors to make sure the buying process is speeded up if their solicitor are taking too long. You might like to take a read of this article about how to put pressure on solicitors to speed up the buying process.
- Searches: You can chase up the authorities to make sure the searches are done on time.
- Your proactivity: Make sure to be proactive with how quickly you act during the buying process. Make sure to sign and return all documents as quickly as possible, and return phone calls right away.
- Proactivity of the vendors: If the vendors appear to be slow, use the estate agent chase them to speed up the buying process.
- Involvement of the estate agent: If in doubt about any delays in the buying process once your offer is accepted, chase the estate and get them to chase the seller and/or their solicitor.
- Chain or no chain: If your house purchase is a part of a conveyancing sale chain, use the estate agents to push the sale through. If you are also selling a property, use your estate agent to push your buyers to move quickly.
- Use of a mortgage broker: Using a mortgage broker should speed up the mortgage application process, so use a broker right from the start of the buying process, and engage one before making an offer.
How long to move house once offer accepted no chain?
If there is no sales chain involved in the buying process, you can expect to move house within 4-6 weeks after your offer has been accepted. How quickly you move house even without a chain still depends on how quickly you get your mortgage, the speed of your solicitor and the speed of the survey.
How long does it take to move in after mortgage accepted?
Once your mortgage is accepted it takes as little as one to two weeks to move in if the legal paperwork has been taken care of whilst the mortgage application was in process. The time it takes to move after your mortgage is accepted is also dependent on the agreed time from exchange to completion.
Please don’t forget to read this before you leave…
Please don’t forget to also read this article to discover how you could save over £70,000 on your next mortgage if you sell your house and rent before buying again. As I said earlier, even I was amazed when I did the calculations!
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