We break down exactly how long it takes to sell your house from start to finish. Get all the information to make sure you’re in a position to get moving quickly and what the usual stumbling blocks are. 

Don’t get held up by avoidable problems or misleading information

What factors make the biggest difference in selling time

The biggest factors that will make sure you get good quality people through the door is pricing and particulars. It’s really important that you price your property correctly so that the people who come and view the house feel like it’s the right price for what they get. Estate agents may over value a property to win the business, or undervalue it to make a quick sale so ask them to provide sufficient evidence to back up their pricing. 

The second thing is making sure all the particulars are accurate. Don’t hide anything even if you think it could put people off, it’s important that there are no surprises that could slow down the sale. 

Holding viewings 

Rough timings: 1 week (at super peak times) to 6 months

The best way to get a buyer is to let people see the place. This doesn’t seem like rocket science but there are ways to make the most of viewings to ensure you get a buyer that won’t hold up the completion process. Make sure you showcase your home in a clear and accurate way. Just as the particulars should be accurate, what they see when they walk around should also be clear. 

If you know the boiler is really old, or there is a bit of dodgy wiring, it’s best to come clean upfront as it will likely come up in the survey and make things take even longer if it’s not clear from the beginning. 

Be flexible with viewing times. You need to be able to accommodate evenings and Saturdays. It helps to leave the property as buyers feel like they cannot be open when the owner is there. This also gives you a chance to get honest feedback – providing the agent is relaying it back to you.

Receiving an offer

Rough timings: 1 day to 1 week (if there is some negotiation)

Exciting!! You’ve put your property on the market for a reasonable price and been super clear about all the pros and cons of the place so hopefully the buyer won’t put their offer in at too much of a difference to the listing price. However, everyone wants to try their luck so the likelihood is a buyer will go in a bit below asking. 

When you decide how much you put your house on the market for, we would always recommend having a ‘floor’ price too. This is the lowest you would be willing to take for it. There are lots of reasons you might drop the price to your ‘floor’ such as:

• A cash buyer who can make a super quick transaction
• A buyer doesn’t have the resources to go any higher 
• You really like one buyer over another (and it’s all they can afford) 
• Your house has been on the market for a while and you aren’t getting offers any higher

If you decide what your floor is before the house goes on, it can make it much easier for you when offers are put in because you’ve already made a decision about how low you can go. 

Another thing to consider when receiving an offer is including fixtures and fittings. When a buyer falls in love with your home, it’s likely going to be due to how you’ve styled it – you interiors natural you! When this happens, the buyer might want to keep your gorgeous lampshades or your lovely fridge. These can be a brilliant sweetener to get the sale over the line and also makes life easier for you when moving so it can be a winning situation. Remember legally you are only allowed a maximum of £5000 for fixtures and fittings so it’s important to try and agree things in the overall price to save you having to communicate on individual items with the buyer and solicitor as it can get messy.

The hold-ups

Right so once you have a buyer, it can seem like it should all run smoothly from there but a few things can hold up the process. 

Solicitors:

Rough timings: 2 weeks to 2 months

Getting a good, and most importantly quick, solicitor is absolutely essential. If just one of you has a good solicitor then this can also be an issue but unfortunately there isn’t anything you can do about who your buyer has chosen to represent them. 

Your solicitor, or conveyancer, is on hand to ensure all the legals are above board, that the leases and the deeds are correct and complete and to transfer them. Make sure you have all your paperwork sorted as soon as you list your property so you know your side is all correct and accounted for. 

Survey:

Rough timings: 2 weeks to 2 months

The only reason a survey will take 2 months is when things are super busy and the surveyors don’t have enough time to get through all the properties but it should take around 2 weeks to get a surveyor in and get the report back. 

This can hold things up for a number of reasons such as the surveyor finding subsidence, damp, gas safety issues and more. If you bought the house a long time ago, it’s likely that you aren’t aware of some of the structural or underlying issues it has so they can bring up surprises for both buyer and seller. 

If there is a lot of work to be done by the buyer to get the property to safety standards then they could ask for some money off the price. If you agree then in this instance the sale price would change and they’d have to get a revised mortgage offer which could add another week or so to the process. This happens all the time though so mortgage companies are used to it and usually get to it as quickly as they can. 

Searches:

Rough timings: 2 weeks to 2 months

Local authority searches are when the buyer’s solicitor checks that the property is what you’ve said it is, and that there aren’t any specific requirements for building or extending for example. There are two parts to it – one will tell the buyer if it’s a listed building or in a conservation or smoke control zone. It will also tell them if any trees on the property are protected by tree preservation orders. Both of these should be no surprise to the buyer as you would have mentioned it on the listing already.

The only thing that takes time here is your local authority. Each one works a little differently and depending on how many sales are going through at that time will depend on how long it takes. There isn’t really anything you can do to speed these up I’m afraid. 

Exchanging

Rough timings: 1 day  

Yes!! You have managed to get through all the hoops and you and your buyer are now finally able to exchange contracts. This should be a pretty smooth process now and really only takes a day to do. 

All that happens here is the two sets of solicitors make sure every part of each contract is signed and initialled by the right people and ensure that each party has a copy.  

Completion

Rough timings: 0 days up to several months 

OK this is a weird one to put timings on because you and your buyer will make a decision about when to complete. This is when the property legally becomes theirs and it’s usually the moving date too. 

You can complete on the same day as you exchange but there are some reasons you might delay completion. If you haven’t found somewhere to buy or your moving date with a place you’re buying is later then you don’t want to find yourself in limbo so you’d ask your buyer to complete a bit later than the exchange date. Equally, if you need more time to pack up and get all your belongings sorted you may ask for a bit of a delay but for the most part, people will usually complete around a week after exchange. 

So in total, if everything is super smooth and you have no hold ups you can expect a really quick sale to take around a month from offer to completion. However, if you are unlucky, it could take as long as six months to complete! If you do have any question about the process or if you think things are taking too long, book in a call with one of our team and we can help you assess what’s going on.