Page 1 of moving house

:( what is the normal duration from start to finish ie,exchange contracts and get moving date in house move ,10 weeks have past still no date ?

It can depend on a lot things, if the buyer is waiting to complete his house sale before he can complete on yours & this can knock on both up & down the chain of buyers sellers, if another offer comes in on the property he is buying , he may have to lose the house & start hunting again or up his offer if he increases his offer he may have to re-arrange his mortgage & finances.

Another person in the chain may decide not to move after all, buying a house is a stressful business.

I was relatively lucky both times I have bought a house (mum in law worked for solicitor for the first house first time & the second I dont think she charged as much as she could have because MiL used to work for her) they were vacant on completion

"Great chunks of my past detaching themselves like melting icebergs"

I have just moved into my new house on Thursday gone, and from start to finish it took 16 weeks.

Week 1 : Offer accepted on new house and accepted offer on house I was selling
Week 2-3 : Got my survey done and mortgage approved.
Week 3 - 9: Nothing, nada, zip, zilch ...(you get the picture)
Week 10 : Got a phone call saying my buyers hadn`t got their mortgage approved yet.
Week 11 : Got a phone call saying they had now got it approved.
Week 12 : Got a phone call saying they hadn`t got their mortgage approved after all.
Week 13 : Went into estate agents (they were using their broker) and waited until I saw a letter saying they definitely has got their mortgage approved.
Weeks 14 - 15 1//2 - Ususal solicitor nonsense.
Two days before week 16 : Got phone call saying they had exchanged contracts and that I would be moving out / in in two days time.
Week 15 3/4 - Frantically pack and arrange a van to move my stuff.
Week 16 - Move in.

To be honest, there is no `normal` amount of time for moving house. My brother did it all in 4 weeks a couple of years ago. Whilst my first move took 8 weeks or so. I guess the average is about 2 months, but it all depends on the rest of the chain.

I would worry less about the date for moving and concentrate on getting the contracts exchanged. Then you now that the deal, and more importantly, the money, are safe.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 12th November 2003, 05:02

Thanks for reply, one handy M I L there!!! like the iceberg touch
Alzie

Hello Monkey boy
Thanks for the very detailed reply, the two days to pack&move freaked my wife right out still she wanted to move!!!!!
Cheers Alzie

Alzie

How big a chain are you in?

I moved a few weeks ago and it took 16 weeks from start to finish

The bigger the chain the longer the wait as a lot of time is taken up with searches and the solicitors

Don`t expect to be moving quickly even if you sign contracts. When I signed mine it took a further 8 weeks before we moved as this was due to problem up the chain

PS

Do you drive? If so it worth checking before you move with your Insurance company if you have not already done so as your premium may increase. I didn`t and got stung form £269 which I was not expecting

When my then-girlfriend-now-wife & I bought our first house it took 10weeks from our offer being accepted to us moving in. The sellers were moving into an empty house and we were both at our respective parents` houses. That was 5 years ago.

We moved again in June just gone and that took 9months start to finish, don`t ask.

julianf

I`ts a wee bit different in Scotland
When the offer for the house is made an entry date
is made ie 2 months or whatever( the buyer can usually decide)
and that is set in stone.
If the seller has problems he is out on the street an you are
moving in.
Why should you be penalised for someone elses problems.

I`m moving next friday, two of us in the chain and it took a long 20 weeks (the couple buying our house had trouble with their mortgage). The worst thing is changing your address with everybody, phone them, send this form off, rearrange this and that, have Sky put back in, have broadband reinstalled ( very important that ;) ) In the end it`s all worth it :)