Average time taken to sell your property?

[VannaB]

What is the average time taken to sell a property from putting it up on the market?
What is the average time taken to then buy your next property and move in?

Also, is it true that hardly anyone bothers to look at property in November?

[pingping]

hi Vanna, I am in the process of buying/selling at the moment. I have been advised that it will take approximately 10-12 weeks to sell my flat (and buy my house) from the date of the 'memorandum of sale'.

this is basically a letter confirming in writing that you have accepted an offer on your property (and includes the price sold for). From this date, your buyers should then instruct their solicitor and mortgate advisor to proceed with searches and surveys on your property. If you are buying a property at the same time, then try and arrange to keep a similar schedule. Once all of the surveys and searches have been done, and (hopefully) the sale is proceeding, it should take only 8 weeks or so from that point until you complete on the property and hand over your keys / get the keys to the new place.

I would sugest that you get your property on the market first as it is quite slow at the moment (not many properties go on the market coming up to christmas so there is more demand for the few available). This means that you can hopefully get an offer on yours, then you are in a good position to buy a new place.

Good luck!

[homerthegrea]

I hope to move next friday 34 weeks after agreeing a price with my buyer.

Usual time is about 3 months.

[VannaB]

34 weeks? That sounds like a pregnancy! I was hoping someone would have a story that took 4 week...even 10 weeks perhaps?
When I bought this flat I was not in a chain and the propety was empty and I made my offer on 11 Nov and had moved in on 18th Jan. I was kind of hoping it would be maybe a few weeks longer...sigh! I'm an eternal optimist I know!

[parkesquay]

We had an offer, which we accepted, 2 weeks ago and even though the chain is very short (just my purchasers and the people buying theirs) we still won't complete until January. I know from experience that the legal /survey/mortgatge world will run down to a stop about a week before Xmas and almost certainly won't start again until the end of the first week of the New Year.
So even though we are almost in a perfect situation the whole process is going to take at least 8 weeks.
Just an an example of delays, the first people in the chain are only just having a structural survey on my purchasers property. Who knows what might come up to delay things even further and these were the peole who originally stated that they wanted to be in their new house by 8th December. They should be so lucky.
By the way our property sold within one week of going onto the market even though November isn't the most active time to sell.
Just remember if you don't advertise it you won't get any viewers. Above all be realistic with your price and the more you can make your place look like a show home the easier it is to sell.

[lilynmax]

I just bought my house and although it was a very short chain, 3 people in total, it took 12 weeks. My solicitor said we were a couple of weeks behind schedule. Also my friend is buying right now and he had to fight to get a place where he wanted, and everything on his estate was going under offer within a week - I guess people do look in November!

[VannaB]

Good news!

I have just had a cash offer for my property one and a half weeks after putting it up for sale!!! Am going to make an offer on the property I want in the next few days. Fingers crossed all goes to plan!
I guess it all slows down from hereon in?
Thanks for advice from everyone.