Almost nothing in property is done fast. Whether buying, selling, or renting, the timeline from initial enquiry to the final stage is long.
In the case of buying a home, it can take anywhere from eight weeks to more than six months. Such a wide timeframe means it isn’t always the smooth process you hoped for. However, you can help speed things up and avoid some of the common delays with a little bit of preparation. In this blog, we’ve put together a timeline with a few tips on how to make things move a little quicker.
1. Get an agreement in principle (1 week)
Having a clear idea of how much you may need to borrow and what funds you already have in place will help make your product search much easier. There is no point looking at houses valued at £500,000 if you are only likely to have £300,000 available to you!
Assess your finances and approach a lender for an AIP (agreement in principle). You may want to speak with a specialist mortgage broker. They offer impartial advice and find you more suitable lenders. What’s more, they can do a lot of the work for you, saving you time and helping smooth the path for the next stage.
Just remember, an agreement in principle isn’t a mortgage offer and is purely an indication of how much you MIGHT be able to borrow. The AIP will also only last between 30-90 days, so you’ll want to crack on with a property search as soon as you can.
2. List your property for sale
In most cases, you’ll be selling your current home to help fund the purchase of the next one. Getting it listed and having offers made on it will help you with buying your next home. Many sellers aren’t too keen on accepting offers if a buyer’s house isn’t already under offer. This is because if your house isn’t already in the process of being sold, you can’t really go much further in the property buying process.
Secure those offers and help sellers see that you are serious.
3. Start searching for a house (1 week- 6 months+)
With an idea of how much you can borrow, you can now start to search for your new home. With offers hopefully coming in on your property, you can give sellers an idea of how far along the process you are.
It’s important not to rush this stage. Simply finding a house for the sake of finding a house could mean you spend more than you need to or find something that doesn’t quite tick all the boxes.
It’s hard to put a timeframe on how long this search takes. Much depends on the current state of the market. You could find a suitable home in a week, but you could also spend six months hunting for something.
Look at local estate agents, the online portals like Rightmove and Zoopla, and subscribe to estate agent email updates so you are always kept up to speed. If you live in the Epsom area, reach out to us. Cairds are the trusted independent estate agents in Epsom and can help you with your property search at any time.
4. Make an offer (A day – 2 weeks)
With all the tools at your disposal, you’ll hopefully have found a property. Armed with an agreement in principle too, you are now much more alluring to the seller.
Be smart with your offer. Offering way too little could see you being rebuffed with no opportunity to negotiate, especially if the property is in high demand. Likewise, don’t go in with an offer that could stretch you a little too far. It may secure you the home, but would you have additional finances to help cover all the other costs?
Then think about the seller. Are they in a rush to sell? If so, a low offer could work. Just don’t go so low as to be insulting. Also, see how long the property has been on the market; if they have struggled to sell, they may have priced it too high and will now just take a sensible low offer to get it finally sold.
Just remember, if they accept your offer, it may be time to celebrate, but don’t go popping the champagne corks yet. At this stage, the purchase is not legally binding, and the seller, despite accepting your offer, might be swayed by another, higher offer from elsewhere.
5. Get the mortgage (2 weeks- 2 months)
Your agreement in principle goes some way to helping you secure a mortgage, but it’s only an indication of what you MIGHT be able to borrow. Now with a property in the crosshairs, you can push on with the actual mortgage offer.
Your AIP may have expired, especially if it took a while to find a property. However, this doesn’t mean your property plans are in tatters. You can still apply for a mortgage but just remain aware that this can be a long, drawn-out process.
Shop around for mortgage deals, paying attention to rates and any fees that may be added. The difference between a 3% mortgage and a 4% mortgage may sound small, but cost-wise, it could easily see tens of thousands of pounds added to how much you are paying back.
The lenders you reach out to will want:
- ID
- Proof of income
- Proof of expenditure
- Proof of address
Collating these in advance will save you considerable time and make your mortgage application much easier. You could get an offer quickly, but it could take time. If you miss out any information, your potential lender will chase you for it and only complete their assessment once they have everything they need. In some cases, even when armed with all the information, they may have further questions about your finances. So, remain open, honest and available. It’ll help speed things up.
6. Appoint a solicitor and start the legal process (2 months- 3 months)
To help speed things up, you don’t have to wait for your mortgage offer to come through before you get the legal ball rolling. You could make things even quicker by appointing a conveyancer before you make an offer. However, if the mortgage is not approved or the purchase cannot proceed, you could still find yourself paying for legal work even though the purchase collapsed.
If you have got your mortgage offer, your conveyancer will need to be one listed on the panel of your lender. The conveyancer can inform you which lenders they work with.
This stage can be slow, especially if there are lots of properties in the chain or the searches bring up some questionable results.
There isn’t always much you can do to speed this process up, but if you are readily available to answer any questions from the solicitor and have collected any legal paperwork you possess concerning the property, you’ll avoid delays.
7. Property survey (2 weeks – 1 month)
You are almost there! You’ve got a mortgage, and a solicitor is working through the legal aspects of the purchase. Now you just need a survey to ensure the property is in good enough condition for you to buy it.
Your lender will have already carried out an assessment of sorts, purely to ensure they are happy to lend, but this doesn’t count for much.
You should get the survey booked in once you have your mortgage offer, but make sure it is done before any contracts are exchanged. Leave it this late, and should there be any issues with the home, it’ll be too late to back out!
The survey will be one of three survey types. A full structural survey, a homebuyer’s report, or a snagging survey. They range in both depth and expense, with the full structural survey being the most comprehensive and expensive. You’ll typically only need this one if the home is more than 50 years old or is a particularly unusual property.
The survey will flag up any issues, so it would be wise to obtain some costs for the repairs. You could then ask the seller to have these things fixed, or whether they would lower the asking price as you’ll cover the costs of repair yourself.
8. Buildings insurance (1 week)
You don’t have the keys yet, but it is edging ever closer. Obtain insurance quotes for policies that will start on or around the scheduled exchange date. Your policy should cover the rebuild cost; you’ll find this on the mortgage valuation report from the surveyor.
9. Contract exchange (2 weeks – 3 weeks)
Your solicitor should keep you informed of the progress of the searches and, when results are ready, share them with you. Feel free to question anything that arises if you are unsure.
You can then organise a completion date. Do this with the seller, being mindful of others in the chain. You can’t complete if others aren’t ready! Once a date is in place, send your deposit to your solicitor.
Due to the value of the deposit, you may need to organise a CHAPS payment; it’ll set you back an extra £30 or so, but will mean you can transfer more than £25,000 in one go.
Once a date is set and the deposit is sent, your conveyancer will get you to sign the contract. This is where everything becomes legally binding.
10. Completion and moving in (2 weeks – 4 weeks)
Your solicitor will send you a completion statement detailing any money that needs to be paid. This would normally include any conveyancing fees, your SDLT and any remaining deposit amounts.
You’ll then sign a transfer deed in front of a witness and have some final checks conducted by your solicitor. This will include things like checking whether the property is still owned by those you are buying it from. They will then request the funds from your chosen lender and forward them to the seller’s solicitor.
Title deeds will be sent, and confirmation of the seller’s mortgage being cleared will be made, and that’s it. Almost….
You just need to pay your Stamp Duty (your solicitor will sort all this) within 14 days and get your details registered with the Land Registry, and obtain your title deeds, and it’s all done!
How can I make buying a home any quicker?
There are a few things that could speed up the process.
- Sell first if you can. If possible, and you can make other arrangements for accommodation, consider selling your home first. It removes the issues of having a chain and makes you more alluring to a seller as they know there are fewer chances for things to go wrong.
- Always be prepared. Whether it be collecting paperwork, answering a lender’s questions or making an offer. Be ready. Delaying something by just one day could add weeks to the entire process. Especially if your surveyor or estate agent already has plenty of other keen buyers to help.
- Research, query and be persistent. If you leave everything to just trundle along, you could be allowing the process to move at a snail’s pace. Feel free to ask the solicitor for a progress update, and check whether your lender is satisfied with all the info you’ve given them. Just be wary about whom you appoint. Cheap might be quick, but it doesn’t mean you get the best service. Look at reviews, costs, and estimated timelines. If everything aligns with your budget and goals, then go for it!