How Long Does it Really Take to Buy a Home?

buying a home

Once you find the home of your dreams, you want to move in yesterday. I get it; I’ve both built and purchased homes and I know that feeling of sheer impatience and excitement all worked together in a way that makes you feel as if you might cry when there is a delay. When my husband and I were 20 and 21, we began building our first house. We had four hurricanes come through Florida that year as we were having all our permits pulled, and our permit application was shoved to the bottom of the pile to more quickly issue permits for rebuilds and repairs for homes damaged in the storms. Our house was supposed to be move-in ready in November 2004 and we did not get to move in until the day we came home from our honeymoon in May 2005.

When we had our twins and became a family of 6 in 2014, we found our dream house. It was a foreclosure, so we could not wait to move in, and we were told 45 days at most to allot for an inspection and all that good stuff. Fortunately, we closed much sooner. However, some people wait much longer. It all depends on several circumstances. That’s why it’s nearly impossible to ask how long it might take to actually buy a home. From pre-approval to finding the perfect house to actually closing, it could take months and months.

It might be faster if you are a cash buyer without any need for a loan. It might be faster if the house is vacant. It might be longer if it’s a short sale. It might be longer if there are people in the house who need to move out. It might be faster depending on your method of financing. There is no way to know how long it will take to find a house, but you can expect to spend at least 45 to 60 days on finalizing the documents needed for closing once your offer is accepted. I wish I could tell you exactly how long it might take, but I cannot. Here’s hoping that this gives you a general idea of just how long it might take you to shop for a new home and close on your dream home.

Photo by Getty Images      

Comments

Leave a Reply

Loading…

0