How quickly you can sell a house depends on a lot of different factors.

Firstly, how are you selling your house? Are you using a traditional estate agent or are you using a property buyer like us here at EasySale? Both methods come with very different results.

Second, is the property being bought with cash or is it being bought with a mortgage loan? Again, this will have an impact on the speed of the sale.

Here we are going to guide you through the more traditional estate agent sales process and the stages involved so that you can get an idea of how long the sale process can take and why. If you want to know what you can do to sell your house quicker, then stick around until the end of our article.

This article is going to focus on how long it takes for your house to sell using traditional estate agent methods. If you want to know how long until you can sell a house after you have bought it, then please see our other article.

How quickly can a house sale go through in the UK?

The average time to sell a house in the UK is 18 weeks. This is from the day that the property is listed through to completion.

However, popular guidance tells you to expect your sale to take up to 25 weeks to complete. This is because there are variables to consider regarding property sales that are different for every property in the country.

Then, you also have to consider what estate agents you are using as well as what solicitors you and your buyers are using. Depending on who you go for, you could have a solicitor that is eager to chase up the other parties for updates or you could have a solicitor that needs chasing up themselves by other parties.

Finally, is the property being sold in a long chain? If so, you run the risk of unexpected hurdles showing up as you approach the finish line for completion.

The worst-case scenario is that both you and your buyer have sluggish solicitors, the property being sold is in a local authority where searches take longer than average to return, and you are the party at the top of a long chain where you are relying on many other sales occurring before your own can take place.

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The typical sale of a house process

There are multiple stages involved in the traditional property sale process. Each one is reliant on the preceding stage fulfilling before it can begin, so there is little room to get a head start on your sale this way.

The traditional timeline is as follows:

Listing to offer accepted

The amount of time it can take for you to receive an offer that you are happy to accept is dependent on many variables, yet on average recent properties are listed for just over a month before offers are being accepted on them.

For you, this will depend on whether the property market in your area is hot or cold (is it a buyers or a sellers’ market), and what the condition of your property is like compared to your competition.

Of course, if your property market is cold and you have set a high asking price then you should expect that your property will be listed for a long while before you receive a satisfactory offer. The converse is also true, if you undercut the competition then you may have a chance of attracting quick interest in your property.

Conveyancing and mortgage offer

This is the legal process of transferring property ownership, and encompasses the actions that the solicitors (or conveyancers) will take such as conducting searches, drafting contracts, and asking/answering enquiries. Conveyancing can take anywhere between 12-16 weeks to finish.

If the buyer is funding the purchase of the property with a mortgage loan, then they hopefully already have an approved mortgage in principle from their lender before the conveyancing process begins. This means that their solicitors can begin the conveyancing process while the mortgage in principle is working into an official offer, instead of waiting for their client to be approved for a mortgage at this late stage.

Exchange

Exchange is the exchange of contracts, and it is at this point that the property sale is set in stone. Until this point, the buyer is not legally required to follow through with the property purchase.

The exchange of contracts can take place quickly after conveyancing has finished as hopefully any queries that needed to be answered were asked during conveyancing.

Completion

When the contracts are exchanged, both parties will decide on a date that suits them for completion. This is when the keys change hands and the property sale is complete.

Completion traditionally takes place on Fridays, and fortunately you can work with the buyer to pick a date (however near or far) according to what is ideal for you both. If the property sale is part of a chain though, then you may be reliant on other transactions to take place before you can complete, which may mean you are sitting around waiting while your property sale is good to go.

How long from offer to completion can therefore take around 5 months in total to complete, with some leeway allowing for a faster sale or a slower sale depending on a case-by-case basis.

The process of selling a house for cash

If you don’t like the sound of waiting for around 5 months to sell your house, then an alternative method is selling your house to a cash buyer.

At EasySale, we buy homes quickly and for cash. We have our own independent panel of trusted solicitors who will represent you in the sale and who will liaise with our own solicitors fast so the sale is constantly progressing.

There have been times where we have bought property from our customers in as little as 48 hours, so there really is no better option to choose if you need a fast and reliable sale.

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Sell your property with EasySale property buyers

We are property buying experts and know all there is to know about how to best assist you with the aim of selling your property fast. We can even help you relocate to another property with our specialist relocation team.

For a quote on your property, or answers to any other questions you may have such as should I downsize my home or how you can stop repossession, visit our website and get in touch with us today.

FAQs

How quickly are houses selling?

Houses are selling very quickly. Currently, houses are on the market for around 33 days before an offer is accepted. However, it can still take many months for the sale to complete from the offer being accepted.

The reason for this quick turn-around between houses being listed and offers being accepted is the demand for housing outweighing the supply. We are still operating in the post-pandemic property market at the moment, and it is unknown how long this will continue and what the market will look like once changes begin to take place and the interest rates rise.

How long to sell a house with no chain?

Selling a house with no chain is likely to be a quicker process than selling a house with a chain. Houses without a chain can complete in as quick as 10 weeks, although this would be an exception rather than a set guideline.

You still have to wait to receive a satisfactory offer, and then go through the conveyancing process which can depend on yours and the buyers’ solicitors. Not only this, you run the risk of the buyers’ mortgage being declined which would set you back further.

How long after searches to completion with no chain?

It usually takes between 1-3 weeks to reach completion after searches have been completed. Even if you are selling a house with no chain, there can still be incidents that occur that can cause your sale to drag on.

If you are selling with no chain, then you can at least be glad that there is one thing that can’t go wrong!

How quick can a cash sale property go through?

Selling your property to a cash buyer can result in a much faster sale than traditional methods, with some buyers able to complete within the week.

At EasySale, we can give you a quote for your property within just a few hours. Then if you are happy to proceed, we can have the process completed and award you the cash within 48 hours if you need to sell your house urgently.

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