how long to move

We moved here 17yrs ago and all went smoothly within 6wks with our second buyer the first was a long drawn out process of stop start stop start and well into the process the buyer unexpectedly pulled out for no good reason and we were back to square one.
I don't think anyone can predict others behaviour and unfortunately these things can and do go wrong through no fault of the seller as you no doubt remember from previous experiences.
Sorry if that isn't encouraging but its the reality of house moving unfortunately.

Our DS and family sold their house through Purple Bricks, an on line agent. Sold in three days, everything done on line, all done and dusted five weeks later. The buyer was in a hurry as his buyers were getting married and wanted to move in. Only one other property (the buyers) in the chain and DS moved into rented.

Two months later (beginning of November) they found a house they liked. Sellers were moving into rented as they're having a new home built so just the one house in the 'chain'. He moved in in the middle of February. Fourteen weeks. There were no problems or hold ups.

It really is how long is a piece of string - and how much you're prepared to nag so your file doesn't get stuck at the bottom of the heap.

It can be really quick but a estate agent friend told me the average is 3 months. we have moved several times and I have found you have to keep on at the agent and the conveyancer - the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Kirsty and Phil say that too. Good Luck with the move.

We moved just over a year ago and as everybody has said you can't really tell how long it will take. We thought our move would be relatively quick as we were downsizing and the end of the chain as the property we bought was already empty (elderly lady went into care home) and our buyer didn't have a property to sell so we had a very short chain but it still took 6 months because the solicitors didn't communicate with one another and we had to keep chasing them.

Even with a chain of just 3 it took around 3 months for me to move. I don't think it can be done much quicker as solicitors hold things up.

If everything is straightforward and no-one backs out at the last minute it used to be about 6 weeks. 12 weeks is now a reasonable estimate.

Have been involved in two house moves over last year....one was daughter's flat t'other our old house. Both took 6 months despite being, on the face of it simple small chain affairs. All you need is one awkward person and all bets are off. Sorry to be so doom and gloom but its best just to keep an open mind and accept things as they come along. Much better to be pleasantly surprised than have a date in mind and get frustrated by circumstances and events that are basically out of your hands.

Our last move took us about 7 weeks but the flat we were moving into was already empty as the owner used to rent it out , so no chain at that end. However, as we needed to move quite urgently, i had to chase Estate agents and solicitors on a regular basis as nothing happened without a push. Previous moves have been about 3 months. Hope all goes smoothly for you. Andycor

10 weeks - could have been less if we could have got a rental property earlier! Far too quick for my liking. Currently in rental awaiting work on new property to finish! Good luck

We are currently in the process of moving, in a chain of 4 and if all goes to plan, we will move in 2 weeks. It will be exactly 10 weeks since we made an offer on our purchase. At that point we hadn't even put our house on the market. Fortunately it sold the first day.....just need to exchange contracts now....and breathe!

I'm surprised your sellers agreed to your offer before you'd even put your house on the market, Lynker. I don't think I would - it could have taken you ages to sell!

Good luck with exchange though.

Have never managed to sell and buy ( and move) in under 3 months.

Ana, we would have been cash buyers, but fortunately the house sold straight away and so now (fingers crossed) we can sell & buy with the sale proceeds.

Ah! What a lucky position to be in...

Wow, what a range of timescales, I guess it is not that surprising because every case is different with length of chain, etc ... I think I will work on a goal of three months and if it is sooner that will really be a bonus! Fingers crossed all round. Thank you all for your helpful replies!

We have just moved. It took us 3months to complete when selling and 4 months for the new house. These did not overlap as we were moving some distance and moved in with DD for a while. Hope all goes well

Lynker - you were lucky to have the offer accepted. I saw a house I liked before putting my house on the market but the agents said I could not offer until I had a buyer. The house has gone now.
I thought the process was quicker nowadays. I have bought and sold three times and each was six months. I'm hoping to put mine on the market soon so the information here is useful.

I'm in the process of buying and I think that about 3 months from offer to completion is the minimum you can expect nowadays. The searches seem to be far more rigorous and it all takes time. I had an offer accepted at the end of January and have only just received the draft contract, even though I'm using well-recommended lawyers who do nothing but conveyancing. And it's a modern house with no weird stuff!

I am reading this with trepidation as we re currently getting our house ready to sell I say house it's a three bed detached bungalow and due to present climate and economics we are selling and downsizing we thought this would be our forever bungalow but know now that's it's the right thing to do also the Arden is big and our son can't get on property ladder due to huge deposits so we ant to surprise him with that when it sells wish us luck as we continue our journey!

We were renting a property whilst our property was on the market ( we'd moved to Cumbria - 300 miles away) Saw a property that was empty as the owner was in a care home but the whole experience was still 6 months. Big long chains must be a nightmare.

Remember that each "house move' is SUBJECT TO CONTRACT. Friends of ours who were recently within 1 week of moving, because they thought that they had "sold" to a family with local connections, were informed-very apologetically, -by the estate agent, that their prospective buyers had bought a house some hundred yards away.This entailed canceling Removals firm and informing the family from whom they had hoped to buy.
This also happened to us over 40years ago.

Any one who sails through a house moving period without hassle is 'B' fortunate.Our buyer having sold their property were in a hurry to move.
The seller of our new property was in no rush as she had business commitments to fulfil before she moved to her new property.This took her 8 weeks.?
Consequently it was not until xmas eve on a freezing cold day we finally made the move into an equally freezing house due to the oil tank for the central heating left empty.We were lucky that we managed to get a delivery that day as everything was shutting down /like our heating/ for xmas.

We put our house on the market on 26th November, the buyer wanted to be in by Christmas, we were going on holiday to South Africa on 10th December for 3 weeks, so.....we moved out on 9th December. We moved into a rented house on 2nd January.

I was an Estate Agent for many years- the longest move I ever had was 15 months. The seller stayed with the buyer through all sorts of problems as the house was empty & they liked her.

The speediest was 6 weeks- another empty house & cash buyers.

Good luck- In those days (80s-90s)the agent did a lot of the leg work & worked WITH local solicitors to ensure a smooth process- they don't seem to do much at all these days. We very often got flowers & wine etc from clients for the work we put in- I worked for independant companies never a chain!