Back in June, I wrote that the journey had begun. Yesterday, we passed one of the first milestones and exchanged contracts. At the end of the week, we will complete and the property will belong to us. Then the first destination on our journey will have been reached.
I have often heard it said that you can buy a house in less than a couple of months. In my experience, that is pretty unusual – a minimum of three months seems much more likely. From first seeing the property in June to completing on it in early September isn’t bad going. But it is difficult to believe that three months has already elapsed.
One thing that I hadn’t banked on was the additional time that it takes to purchase a property of the summer. Vendors and solicitors going on holiday (not together, by the way) and a long turn around time on local authority searches all added to the timescale. But we got there in the end. Thankfully.
What happens next? Well, the architect is briefed and we are expecting some sketches at the end of September. Once these are agreed, this will be worked up into a full set of plans for planning submission. That’s probably going to take another 4-6 weeks.