How long does it take to get a sale organised?

nanshan1

I've found someone to buy my house (it's to an old acquaintance), but I fear that they have a reputation for dragging their feet when it comes to paperwork, etc.
Now that a price has been agreed, what is the soonest a sale could possibly go through?

I don't have any real fear of the sale not going through as it seems to make sense for both parties, but I do worry that, now that we have negotiated the price, the buyer will take their time with the paperwork while they arrange the sale of their old house. My life will however remain on hold until the sale is finalised.
Is there anything I can do to speed up the process? How long does it normally take to get a sale organised once the price has been agreed?

The_Conductor

If the other party has to sell their property- you're in for the long haul come what may. Its quite realistic to say a best case scenario is that it might take 8-10 weeks, and a worst case scenario is that it may drag on for months on end. My brother did this once- and it took a year before he finally closed on his sale and moved.

Its not a good way of doing business. The other party has little to loose- and can take their own sweet time trying to get the best possible price for their own house- and then they in turn could get caught up with their purchaser.

Its damn messy.

Ethel

nanshan1 wrote: »

I've found someone to buy my house (it's to an old acquaintance), but I fear that they have a reputation for dragging their feet when it comes to paperwork, etc.
Now that a price has been agreed, what is the soonest a sale could possibly go through?

I don't have any real fear of the sale not going through as it seems to make sense for both parties, but I do worry that, now that we have negotiated the price, the buyer will take their time with the paperwork while they arrange the sale of their old house. My life will however remain on hold until the sale is finalised.
Is there anything I can do to speed up the process? How long does it normally take to get a sale organised once the price has been agreed?

Once there is the sale of another house involved its a case of 'how long is a piece of string'. You don't know how long it will take to sell the other house. Are you happy to wait for however long it takes?

cat123456

I agree with the first poster. The absolute quickest would be 8 weeks if both parties are organised and their solicitors are pushing it along. You don't mention if the purchaser is getting a mortgage or selling up? If they are getting a mortgage they wold ideally be ready for their bank to send the mortgage pack to your solicitor and draw down when the legal stuff is done. If the purchaser is selling you could be messed around for ages. Another thing is that delays could come from your side too if there is anything going on with the title etc. it's awful but it's a waiting game!

Woshy

We went from sale agreed to sold in 7 weeks. It would have been sooner if our bank had been a bit quicker (not that they were slow but if we hadn't needed a mortgage the sale would have been done in 5 weeks).

It was an executors sale and the vendors had everything ready to go immediately. Contracts etc were already at their solicitor waiting to go out as soon as they had our solicitor's details, so he had them within days and there were no surprises in the documents. We had an inventory within a day, they'd drawn it up in advance - just things like that made the process so smooth. The vendors were extremely well organised. We were eager to get it all sorted quickly too so we did everything as quick as we could as well but there is lots you can do to ensure all your paperwork is in order and ready to go, even if the other party drags their feet.