How long does it actually take to complete a sale?
Earlier this year EMEA Matterport reported that it takes on average, six months and 24 days to purchase a home. The report looked at the entire process from searching for a property online through to completion with the longest element being the exchange of contracts.
ViewMyChain, a property platform designed to improve the transaction process, has been able to break this down even further, looking at the key milestones between SSTC to completion. View My Chain’s data tracks sales progression for both the key financial and legal milestones, with the latest results showing a total average of 120 days to completion.
From 1000’s of chains it found that it takes on average 23 days for searches to be ordered once a property is sold subject to contract.
It then takes on average 10.2 days for the Local Authority to return searches. This timeframe varies greatly throughout the UK with some areas taking up to 50 days!
Once searches have been returned, an average of 31 days are needed for enquiries to be satisfied and a further 7 days to get the sale ready for exchange.
Funding equates to around a third of the time taken in the completion process. Once sold subject to contract it takes on average 17 days for the mortgage application to be submitted and a further 21 days for a mortgage to be offered.
ViewMyChain has whole of market visibility of key milestones and has shared the average times it takes to achieve them for 1000s of chains managed through its platform in 2019:
Legal Timeline:
Milestone 1 - SSTC to Searches ordered: 23 days
Milestone 2 – Searches ordered to Searches Returned: 10.2 days (UK average)
Milestone 3 – Searches Returned to Enquiries satisfied: 31 days
Milestone 4 – Enquiries Satisfied to Ready to Exchange: 7 days
Milestone 5 – Ready to Exchange to Exchange: 8 days
Milestone 6 – Exchange to Completion: 7 days
Financial Timeline:
Milestone 1 – SSTC to Mortgage Application: 17 days
Milestone 2 – Mortgage Application to Mortgage offered: 21 days
Sohail Rashid, Founder and CEO of ViewMyChain states “one of the biggest changes needed in the current process is for sales progression to be managed at a chain level rather than just individual transactions. We all know that the path from SSTC to exchange of contracts doesn’t always run smoothly.”
“There is a lack of transparency and certainty in the process which leads to additional delays and frustrations. Our mission is to remove this by allowing all parties involved in the sale and purchase to access data such as the length of chain, listing status, searches ordered, searches delivered and mortgage applications.”
ViewMyChain which is now available via an open API so that end users can pull the data they need without having to adopt new software. Its customers are seeing a 2 week reduction in exchange times and a 20% reduction in fall through rates in tough market conditions.
The more information property professionals have, the better placed they are to assist all involved. Data available via ViewMyChain can be used to help shape sales activity, determine strategies, prioritise cases and reduce fall throughs. It’s a hugely valuable resource in terms of time management, and it can significantly improve sales timeframes.
Learn more about how ViewMyChain works at viewmychain.com.
About ViewMyChain:
ViewMyChain was founded in 2015 by Sohail Rashid and Ian Lancaster.
Sohail Rashid is an award-winning tech entrepreneur who started his career as a property lawyer and went on to found Property Network, the UK’s first social media-based property portal.
Ian Lancaster is a serial tech entrepreneur who founded Virgin Cars and TwentyCi, the UK’s leading life stage trigger agency.
Together, they possess a wealth of experience from across the tech, data, digital and property sectors.
For the past 3 years, ViewMyChain has been rigorously tested and piloted with major estate agents and new home builders, who have welcomed the dramatic increase in control it has given them.
