How long does it take to sell a house once an offer has been accepted?

So, you’ve agreed on a selling price for your house and you’re ready to hand over the keys to the buyer – but, how long does it take to reach the completion date?

The time it takes to sell a house depends on whether you’re dealing with a cash buyer or somebody who’s had funding approved by a mortgage lender.

Any issues or hiccups that your house sale solicitor encounters during the conveyancing process, such as problems with property searches or the buyer’s mortgage application, can slow things down more.

But don’t worry, we’re here to give you all the information you need!

Keep reading to find out how long a house sale takes.

How long does a house sale take after accepting an offer?

Once an offer has been accepted, the process takes several weeks – 12 to 14 usually – but this can vary depending on the situation and how quickly both the buyer and seller provide documents and information.

While the same steps are followed for each property sale, from the point you work with your estate agent to when you exchange contracts, the residential conveyancing process can vary based on a number of different factors.

The process of selling a house is broken down into the following stages:

• Post-completion
• Instructing a conveyancer (1-2 weeks)
• Pre-exchange (4-10)
• Exchange of contracts (1 day)
• Pre-completion (1-4 weeks)
• Completion (1 day)

Instructing a conveyancing solicitor

After accepting an offer for your property, you must now instruct a conveyancing solicitor to conduct the conveyancing process.

If you’re unsure of what’s included here, read our blog on what happens during the conveyancing process.

After you’ve found the conveyancing solicitor for you, you’re able to get the process underway, moving one step closer to completion.

Pre-exchange

This stage is the longest part of the conveyancing process, and it can last up to three months.

At this point, your conveyancer will send a lot of important documentation to the buyer’s conveyancer, which includes the draft contract, title deeds and more. They’ll address queries from both sides and lead negotiations over the draft contract.

Things to negotiate include:

• The date of the contractual exchange and the completion date
• Fixtures and fittings included in the sale price
• How much the buyer will pay for any additional fixtures and fittings
• Any resolution of issues from property searches and survey results, which could include an adjusted price

Exchange of contracts

Once the two parties exchange contracts, the offer on the house is legally binding.

A date for completion day will have been agreed upon in the above stage, so now it’s all about submitting the contract you’ve signed and hoping the buyer submits theirs promptly, too.

The faster the contracts are signed and given back to the solicitors, the faster the process can be completed. If either party takes too long, it will cause a delay in proceedings – potentially affecting further down the chain, if there is one.

Pre-completion

You are now in the final straight.

The property transaction is now legally binding and the completion day could be as close as one week or as far as a month away – depending on your agreement.

At this stage, you must ensure your house is now being packed up and ready for the big move, allowing the new homeowner to collect the keys and move in.

Completion

Completion – usually – takes just one day. The mortgage lender releases funds to the seller’s solicitor. They’ll then settle any remaining amount left on your mortgage and complete other house sale costs before releasing the final funds to you.

They will inform the relevant estate agents that they have received the funds from the buyer, and they can release the keys to the new homeowner. You must ensure you’ve completely moved out of the property by the agreed-upon date.

Post-completion

After completion of your house sale, you must now pay any fees to your conveyancing solicitor and estate agents.

Once that’s done, you’re all finished! Time to move on to the next property and stage in life.

If all went to plan, that should have taken around 12 to 14 weeks. If both parties replied swiftly and there were no hiccups or negotiation issues, you could even be looking at less than three months.

What can delay a house sale?

Several factors could delay a property sale.

The first big one could be that both sides of the transaction are caught up in a property chain. The seller may not be able to move until the house they’re trying to buy becomes available, delaying every step below that section of the chain.

Another possible delay is over the contract and issues discovered within the property.

Property searches and survey results can throw up unexpected issues with a property – some large enough to delay the process for several weeks.

A mortgage lender could throw a spanner into the works by rejecting an application before a sale is completed, too.

Another delay could be properties related to the Building Safety Act 2022. These can take longer to process because of the amount of information that’s needed to gather – such as fire safety information, leaseholder protections, liability period, and more.

Finally, the most common delay is likely to be down to slow responses from either party. If the person buying your home is dragging their feet over looking at their draft contract or is taking a while to provide identification and mortgage application details, it can slow the process down right from the start.

Equally, if you take too long to get back to your solicitor, you are delaying the process.

Every delay – no matter the size – pushes the completion date back, so you must be on the ball and respond with everything you need whenever requested.

Choose a reliable conveyancing solicitor for a prompt completion date

Arguably the biggest hold-up for any property transaction is an inefficient conveyancing solicitor.

Fortunately, that is something that never happens at GD Property Solicitors – the best conveyancing solicitors in Manchester and beyond.

We boast a team of the most trustworthy, reliable and highly-qualified property lawyers across the UK, and have helped thousands of people buy and sell homes.

So, if you would like to sell a house quickly and without stress or delay, speak to us today and we’ll be happy to get the ball rolling.

We know everything there is to know about the conveyancing process for a house sale, so choose us today.