How long to close a sale?

[lucyno]

Does anybody have any idea how long it takes to close a sale once you've found a buyer. My reason for asking this is we've found a house we really want to buy but we haven't got our own on the market yet. We're due a baby in 12 weeks & I'm just trying to see what we could achieve in this time or are we mad to be even considering it! Our house is in an area that a lot of first time buyers go for so, I reckon we'd probably find a buyer in around a month.

Lucy

 

[stobear]

Finding the buyer may not be the longest delay, even if they are FTB's there could be numerous delays in getting the sale closed. But even if you physically manage to move before the baby is due, do you have to do work on the new house? Is it fully ready to move into with a newborn? If there is work to do to the house, plan on it taking twice as long to complete with a baby. Moving house is stressful enough without 24 hour care for the new arrival. I would advise to consider carefully

 

[Vanilla]

Legally there is nothing to prevent a sale from closing in about a week IF you have all your documents in order and you find a cash buyer. I would advise you to tell your solicitor now if you havent already that you want a quick sale so they can have everything ready. You may find that the delay will be on the part of the purchaser who may have to draw down a loan cheque which can take weeks if they havent their loan documents in order or they may be waiting for the sale of their own property.

 

[Rutigur]

I think if you act quickly on this you could get it all sorted in 12 weeks no bother but theres many places it could fall down, and your position will be a complication - youll really need to pass as much of this off onto your partner as possible.

With regards getting your house sold quickly - decide whats the maximum you could get for the house (based on the recent sales in the area), then decide what you are willing to settle for in order to close a deal quickly. E.g. if the agent wants to guide at 300k in the hope of getting 330k (as is quite common in D12 right now) ask yourself if you would be willing to settle for 317.5k. You are guaranteed to get loads of bids at this price, allowing you to choose the best buyer (i.e. who has formal loan approval ready to go, and does not have a house to sell, has solicitor ready etc.).

You can then get the agent to tell the buyer that this is a time limited offer and if they do not sign contracts (in which you will add a clause specifying the latest closing date of 3 weeks time) within a week then you will cancel the sale and give it to another bidder. When I was looking for a house in D12 these are the exact kind of deals I was looking out for - sellers that needed to sell to the first reasonable offer and it worked out well for us (closed in 3.5 weeks for a price under the going rate for the area).

Thats your house sold, now focus on what you are buying: is it a new house? If so you should expect a delay in the date you actually get the keys - new builds are forever being delayed by a month, then another month etc. If its not a new house is it in walk in condition or does it need much work? Don't underestimate the hassle involved in moving all your stuff either. Are the sellers in a chain, as this could also be another sticking point?