Why does it take so long to complete a property transaction

Q.        Why does it take so long to complete a property transaction?  

VIDEO LINK HERE -click to see one of our videos on the subject.

A.        The time it takes a property transaction to go through has lengthened in the last few months and it’s really down to a combination of things. There are a number of key people involved – a conveyancer, who deals with the legal documentation; a surveyor, who inspects the condition of the property and produces a report; and a mortgage lender.

​Firstly, thanks to the recent reduction in the number of sales, there is now a shortage of practising conveyancers and those that remain are often so concerned about the risk of litigation that issues which a few years ago would have been more or less waved through are now being investigated with the very finest of tooth combs.

​The collapse in sale volumes also accounts for the fact that there are fewer surveyors around – so it now typically takes longer for lenders to arrange valuations. Add to that the extreme cautiousness about lending in general and the net result is that it can now take several weeks to get a mortgage offer.

​And there is one more thing; instead of dealing directly with local authorities over searches, some of the more budget end conveyancers use search firms instead – which might be less costly, but don’t always enjoy the same level of access and as a result, searches may take two or three times longer to come through – a classic case of a false economy.

​Amongst all this, that there is one person who will still be pulling out all the stops to try and deliver your sale in the shortest possible time – your estate agent. Let’s face it, the last thing we want is for someone in the chain – however long it is – to get fed up with the process and pull out! As Experts in Property estate agents, we work with a panel of dedicated and trusted conveyancers and within the network are a number of local surveyors so get in touch to discuss how we can help your transaction to completion as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

Thanks for reading and if you have any other property related questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us – we’d love to help you.

Mathew