How Long Does It Take to Purchase a House?

The answer to this question is not a simple one. Every house purchase is unique - there are so many factors that make no two property purchases the same. There are lots of steps to take before officially and legally owning a house.

Certain cases will be a much quicker process than others. It is a much simpler and shorter process if you are not part of a chain. 

A property chain is when a sequence of property sales are all dependent on the success of the preceding purchase. All sales must happen at the same time, which can result in a lot of waiting around - especially if the chain is long.

For a straightforward purchase with no chain and when you are not selling a home of your own, the process can be completed on average within 15 weeks once an offer has been accepted.

The Home Buying Process Timeline

Below we will take you through the typical steps to buying a property to give you an idea of the timeline process.

Mortgage Agreement in Principle (AIP)

This should be your first step when wanting to buy a house. Getting a Mortgage in Principle agreement allows you to understand what price bracket you should be looking at when it comes to your house search, it shows you what you can afford.

Doing this will speed things up in locking down a property when you come to find the house you want. Getting in quick will prevent someone else from making an offer on your chosen property.

Many lenders will get back to you on the same day once you have approached them. This may also be a good time to get a conveyancing solicitor, someone who knows the legal ins and outs of property transfer. You are likely to need a conveyancer's services as soon as you want to make an offer.

Making An Offer

Only make an offer once you are confident you are making the right choice on a property. This is something you cannot rush into as property purchase is likely to be one of the biggest financial decisions that you will ever make.

Speak to your conveyancing about making an offer once you are ready. You will want to make an important decision on whether you want to offer above, below or match the asking price. You or your conveyancing will contact the current owner’s estate agent.

Pre-contract

Once an offer has been accepted, your Agreement in Principle will be turned into a concrete mortgage offer.

Your conveyancer will begin drafting up your contract, with the cooperation of the seller and their conveyancer and the Land Registry. This part of the process will be thorough as it will go through all legal aspects whilst making sure it is as clear as possible. Due to this, it can take anywhere between one and five weeks to complete.

The necessary searches and surveys will be done on the property you are buying - your conveyancer will make sure these are completed. These searches are vital as they will tell you everything there is to know about the property before you buy it.

The searches will check for things such as:

• Environmental risks
• Planning limitations
• Plans for construction nearby 
• Where the property’s boundary is

The surveys will cover:

• The physical state of the building
• Will flag any potential problems with the building

The whole pre-contract stage can take anywhere between 4-12 weeks.

Exchange to Completion

The exchange and completion process can take around 12 weeks to complete. When you have your mortgage offers, the contracts have been drafted and the searches have been completed, you can exchange your contracts. This part of the process is legally binding.

The conveyancers will swap the signed copies of the contracts and your house deposit will go to your solicitor.

A completion date will then be agreed upon - this could take anything from a few days to several weeks. Funds are then transferred over on this date and only then will you get the keys to your new house.

Completion

Once you have the keys to your new property and you can move in there are a few more steps in the process.

• Paying stamp duty - this is a tax that is paid on property purchases. Your conveyancer will be able to advise you further on this
  
  
• Registering your ownership - you need to let the Land Registry know you formally own the property. Your conveyancer will also arrange this for you
  
  
• Title deeds - you will need to obtain the title deeds once the registration has gone through. Your conveyancer will send over the property’s new title deeds, to you and your mortgage lender
  

LTC Mortgages

As you have now read, the house buying process relies on a lot of different factors. The length of time will vary massively from one house purchase to the next.

Overall you can expect the whole process to take about six months in total, although this is not definite. Do your research into the length of time you can be expected to wait, depending on your personal circumstances.

For more advice on property purchases, speak to our experts at LTC Mortgages, we have over a decade of experience. With our services, we will do our very best to get you the best mortgage deal around, so you can start looking for your perfect home.