Moving home can be a scary process, partly because of just how many unknowns are involved. Timescales are some of the biggest unknowns, simply because of just how much they can vary from person to person and family to family.
In an ideal world, moving home can take around six weeks, but perhaps a more realistic figure is three months. While that leaves a fair amount of room in between, in this article, we’ll do our best to narrow down how long each step in the process takes.
Selling your home (4-12 weeks)
Selling your current home and finding a new one tend to happen alongside each other, but making sure your current one is sold is probably the priority.
One of the biggest factors which will affect this stage of the process is being in chain. If you are unlucky, you could find yourself stuck for a long, long time.
With this in mind, selling your home can take around 4-10 weeks, depending on how fortunate you are. It’s worth noting that selling your home through an estate agent will make the process of selling your home a little easier.
Finding a new house (1-12 weeks)
This is certainly the most fun part of the moving process but, unfortunately, it’s even more unpredictable than selling. That is, you’re really at the mercy of the market at the time.
There are a couple of other factors which could influence how long this process takes: 1) how particular you are as a buyer, and 2) where you are looking; properties in the city will sell much quicker than homes in the countryside.
Putting in an offer (<2 weeks)
Once you have found your dream home, it’s time to put in an offer through the estate agent. Depending on how flexible both parties are, this step in the process can take no time at all. However, if some bargaining takes place, it could take around two weeks.
Getting a mortgage (3-5 weeks)
Once an offer has been accepted, you will need to sort out a mortgage. To begin this process, you will need to speak to a broker or lender and give them paperwork which clearly states your income and outgoings.
It normally takes 3-5 weeks for an application to be accepted, but if you use a specialist mortgage broker, you can speed this up a bit.
Conveyancing and property survey (4-12 week)
With your mortgage application accepted, it’s time for conveyancing (that is, the contract, local searches and purchase of your new home by a property solicitor).
This process can take around 1 to 3 months, however, you can get this started as soon you put in an offer.
Moving in (~4 weeks)
Congratulations! You’ve moved into your new home. How long it takes to get everything unpacked and sorted will depend on the extent of your belongings, but we’d put our money on around 4 weeks.
Metro Removals are a family-run business, with over 35 years of industry-leading experience. As such, we understand the importance of finding a removals company you can trust. We pride ourselves on our bespoke services, tailored specifically for the convenience of our customers. All arrangements are in place to ensure the move is as stress-free as possible, meaning you can concentrate on the important things. Contact us today for more information, and one of our friendly advisors will be happy to help.
