Buying a home...how long does it take?

[KCCutie]

I know, I know, every transaction is different. I just want to get a general idea.

This is our first home purchase and we have no idea how much time we''ll need to find it and finish the buying process. We are renting right now and we would like to be in the home by the end of July or Aug at the very latest b/c that''s when the lease is up on the rental.

So are we crazy?

We have an agent and have been looking. We''re not really picky but we do have an area we want to stay in that''s fairly small. We''ve seen 4 and 1 was a good option and is in consideration and we have 9-12 more to see hopefully this weekend. We''re going to get pre-approved for the loan hopefully tomorrow (we''re pretty sure we''ll get approved for the amount we want b/c it''s pretty low).

How long did it take you to buy your house? Best and worse case scenarios welcome.

 

[lyra]

Well, I really think it depends on the market and the specific area. We''ve got all of our houses on 2 month''s notice. I don''t think any was shorter. So if we bought in June, we''d expect to be in by the end of August. That is usually the average where I have lived. Might be different for you, although you can always ask for the date you want. It''s good that you''re getting pre-approved. Anything that helps move things along quicker and cleaner is a good idea. Good luck!

 

[robbie3982]

If I recall correctly, we made our offer on 3/1 and closed on 3/21. We were trying to close ASAP because we were moving out of state. We''d been renting so that made it easier. We were actually really hoping to close the week before we did and we would''ve been able to if our radon test hadn''t taken ridiculously longer than it should have.

 

[applequeen]

We started the loan process on May 5, made our offer on May 6 and closed on May 21... not even 2 1/2 weeks from start to finish and I''m thrilled it went so quickly and smoothly BUT it was extremely stressful (even with no major issues).We bought directly from the owners (For Sale By Owner) which may have helped (we were friends with the owner''s grandaughter and they had been expecting our offer). I understand that it usually takes quite a bit longer than our example but I just wanted to show that it can be done quickly as long as there are no complications. We had not planned to buy for a couple of months and had to start completly at the beginning when we decided to buy our house.

We really wanted to close before Memorial Day weekend because we knew the house needed some renovating and it''s a good thing I pushed to close so quickly. We''ve been working at the house nights and weekends ever since and will continue to do so in order to be able to move in by the end of the month (when we have to be out of our townhouse). Luckily all the work we''re doing in cosmetic but it still takes time (it took a week and a half to get all the ugly wallpaper off the wall.... good luck to anyone else who ever has to deal with that issue!).

If you get started now there is a good chance you could be in a house by July/ August... it just depends on the property you want to buy. Have you started the loan process? If not I''d go ahead and start the pre approval process so that you''re ready to go when you find your dream house.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We offered a quick close on our last home because we could move in sooner AND because that meant the sellers would be more inclined to accept our offer since they wouldn''t have to make another mortgage payment, so we moved in around three weeks after the offer.

My husband and I found ALL of our houses ourselves. We did daily searches online and looked at all the places before having our agent come out. The condo we moved into was found on craigslist. Believe it or not, it was up only AN HOUR before I found it and called in on it! (I was checking CL three or four times per say. MANY agents list homes there!)

 

[pennquaker09]

We also offered a quick close and we closed in less than 2 weeks. Having mortgage pre-approval and a substantial down payment will speed the process along also.

 

[miraclesrule]

One thing I would have changed......

I put an offer in on a home where the transaction was being taken over by the relocation company for the owners. They were adamant about having the closing within 30 days. In fact, they inserted a clause in the contract that I would be penalized 1% for every day over 30 days that caused a delay in the closing process.

Soooowa, I was busting my chops and the huevos of my lender and everyone else to ensure that nothing held up closing within the 30 days. I had my rental truck and it was fully loaded with all my belongings...including my bed...to move in.

Guess who was responsible for holding up the closing of escrow????? Yup, the seller. Apparently, there was a second mortgage that had to be dealt with that the relocation company neglected to identify. So, here I was...stuck with nowhere to sleep but the floor. Thank gawd, I had met the owners before the relo company took over their transaction responsibility and they had given me keys. It wasn''t entirely legal as I didn''t have legal ownership, but I did move a bunch of stuff into the garage with nobody finding out...

But the thing that irked me the most, was that there was no reciprocal clause that the seller would have to pay me 1% per day as a penalty for delaying the closing.

What a crock of crap.

So, if the seller intends to penalize you for any delays...my advice is to make sure that you insert a mutual clause that affords you the same benefit and penalty for their delay. Both sides should be held to the same standard. It was my first home buying experience, but in hindsight, I would have been close to 10K richer if I had held them to the same standard that they expected of me.

 

[Bev]

Dh and I built our house from the ground up, so that took about 6 months to complete. After the house was done being built it took about 2 weeks to close.

Good luck!

 

[KCCutie]

Thanks everyone! I feel better now.

We''ve been driving around the area we like for about 2 months scoping out the market (and sneaking around the outside of any that looked empty). We are working on a pre-approval we''ll probably finish that up on Monday and I''m pretty sure we''ll be pre-approved for much more than we plan on spending. However we don''t have a large amount saved up for the down payment (I know some people don''t agree with buying that way I''m not tyring to start a huge discussion here it''s just what we are doing) so we''ll need to do and FHA loan so we can either do DPA or his parents might help in that area, but we''re not sure yet. For us this is a "starter house" we don''t plan to stay in it forever so we''re happy with something on the small side we just want a garage and a yard for our dogs.

By the end of next week we will have seen pretty much every available house in the area we like and be ready to pick the best fit for us. So we really hope to have an offer written by the end of the month. That way we will have plenty of time in case something gets held up or to do some painting etc. before we have to move in.

 

[Aloros]

Good luck! You should be fine for the time period you''re looking for.

My FI and I encountered a worst-case scenario, where we got outbid on all the houses we offered on. But we finally got one, and it looks like closing will be quick.

Hope you find one that you really like!

 

[Fancy605]

Yay! Good luck house hunting. It can be a long process or a short one depending. My husband (then FI) and I started looking for a place to live and found one quickly. We actually moved to a neighborhood where you pick one of the plans and they build it, and the whole process of searching, finding, building, and moving in took from like late February to July. We were able to move in 2 weeks after returning from our honeymoon.

 

[monarch64]

I guess I can give a best-case scenario: DH and I had been married maybe 6 months and decided we were ready to buy, so we started looking online and in the newspapers. We went to see about 5 houses through one realtor one weekend in March, but didn''t really fall in love with any of them. A couple weeks later, in late March, my FIL found a house in his local paper in which he thought we would be interested, and we went to see it that same weekend (different realtor.) We fell in love...it had been on the market for 5 days and we ended up making an offer that Monday. The owners accepted the first offer and we moved in three weeks later! It all happened very, very quickly. Keep in mind that this was back in 2004 while the housing boom was still going strong and interest rates were at an all time low but that was a very new concept still. We really got lucky--the previous owners already had moved into another house that they were rehabbing (I guess they were sort of "flippers") so there was no clause on their end about new owners moving in, and we were first-time buyers who had been renting and were doing a month-to-month lease thing because our lease had been fulfilled so we weren''t stuck either. The toughest/most worriesome part was coming up with the %20 down payment, but we were able to do that by getting an advance on DH''s bonus.

I would say best-case at this point without really knowing too much about your situation is that it could take 1-3 months...

 

[KCCutie]

Well, I''m feeling much better about the timing assuming we find a house we like within the next 4 weeks or so.

We have a short list of about 10 houses in the area we like and we''re seeing 6 tonight. If we don''t like these there''s another 4-5 to see later this week and after that if we still aren''t in love....well it may be time to re-evaluate. Unfortunately it just worked out that the 6 we have scheduled tonight are on the edge of our "dream area" and the others are actually within the "dream area" so no decisions can really be made until we can see those 4-5.

One plus is I''d say about 50% of the houses we''re seeing are empty so I''m guessing they would close pretty fast... that is if we made an offer they liked of course.