How long does it take to find and buy a home?

September 1, 2022 9:30 AM

I am trying to buy a condo for the first time (aaaa), starting to look seriously and get mortgage preapproval stuff sorted now. How long should I budget for the whole process to take? Should I sign a 6-month sublease now (for October-March)? Is that too much time? Too little?

I am in Vancouver, BC - while the real estate market isn't quite as ridiculous as it was earlier this year, the neighbourhoods and price points I am looking at are still pretty competitive (desirable units listed and then off the market within a week). Over the past few months of casually following listings I've seen maybe 3-4 places I liked, but wasn't in a position to put an offer in at that point. I also understand that things tend to slow down in the winter/holiday months.

I'm moving from out of town and am fortunate to be able to stash all my belongings at my parents' home in the burbs, so I'm thinking of finding a short-term furnished sublet to bridge the gap between now and when I find a permanent home. (I could also stay with my parents, but for our collective sanity I would prefer that to be only for the very short term or once there is a defined end point). Many buildings require a minimum sublease term of 6 months. Would this be a reasonable amount of time to plan on staying in my situation?

posted by btfreek to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

How much of a hurry are you in? Earlier this year, we found and offered on a place on the North Shore within a couple of weeks and then closed three months later (current tenants had to vacate first). But we were very motivated to find somewhere for my mom to live quickly and very lucky that something we wanted came on the market at the right time and had no second bidders.

If you are looking in a highly competitive price point and area, you might either have to bid high or be patient to get it done in just 6 months. In a softer market, that would be easy.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:43 AM on September 1, 2022

4-6 months should be good. Even if you find something faster you may want to stay in your rental to reno the new place a bit. And you can always sublet the sublet for the last month or two if you need to! Also the closing takes time.
I looked for a year (super picky, could maybe have been faster), bought in May, moved in in August.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 10:12 AM on September 1, 2022

Yeah, allow yourself some time and get a place to stay. You will not find the perfect place or conditions right away. Do not rush this decision or process! And if you happen to beat the 6 month target, breaking your lease will be the least of your expenses.

It CAN be fast, though — I did the whole process in a week, but that was kind of extraordinary circumstances. Just letting you know that when it does get going, it can go fast, so best to be as prepared as possible so you aren't left at the whims of today's rates or whatever your broker has on short notice, etc.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:28 AM on September 1, 2022

The big thing to consider is that you need to be able to walk away from any offer you make, or deal with the possibility that something might come up during due diligence that is a deal breaker. That pretty much requires stable housing.

But: sounds like you've got that covered. 6mo is plenty of time to find a place.
posted by billjings at 10:33 AM on September 1, 2022 [2 favorites]

6 months is about right and will be totally fine... unless something goes wrong right before the end like a failed inspection on a place you want or problems with financing. If you leave most of your stuff in storage (which is normal for your situation), that gives you flexibility if you need to stay at your parents place or a hotel for a bit if you're going to go slightly over 6 months.
posted by JZig at 10:44 AM on September 1, 2022

When I purchased the house we lived in for 17 years, I looked at 4 houses and purchased one the first (and only) weekend I looked. I was a motivated buyer. Turns out the seller was reasonable and they put their house on the market at the exact right time for me and therm. I was moving cross country and was motivated to not keep flying back and forth most weekends to look.

It is all about your motivation and how strict are your parameters for acceptable. Sounds like 6 months should be fine in your circumstances.

Good luck with the move and the house hunting.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:22 AM on September 1, 2022

The hard part to predict is how long it will take you to find a place you want. Once you do, assuming you have all your ducks in a row financially (i.e., having cash and/or mortgage ready, documentation, etc.) and assuming there aren't major hiccups in the transaction, it can move quite fast.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:24 AM on September 1, 2022

I guess I'll be a little bit contrarian and say that in my experience this is impossible to predict. I've had it take less than a month (plus closing time), and I've had it take over a year. There are just so many variables, including your local market, the specific types of properties you're looking for, your budget, how picky you are, the time of year, the broader economy, and simple luck.

I personally would discourage any situation that puts you in EITHER the mindset of "this place is perfect but I can't buy it because I still have 5 months on my lease" or "this place isn't really right but I've been looking for almost 6 months so I guess I'll settle for it." Above all else, pick a housing arrangement that gives you flexibility in case it takes much less or much more time than you expect. Maybe that's a month-to-month lease, just accepting the higher cost as an expense of buying a house (a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost), maybe it's accepting that you might have to pay an early termination fee, and maybe it's living in a less-than-ideal situation, like with family.

But whatever house you buy, you're likely to live in for years, and spend a ton of money on, so you need to optimize for the thing that will give you the best chance of finding the right long-term home no matter what the timeline ends up being. No one can predict when the right house for you will come along.
posted by primethyme at 11:24 AM on September 1, 2022 [5 favorites]

Depends. Our process from start to finish was 6 weeks!

Last year started looking at houses online on 9/1, saw houses in person 9/15. Made an offer, lost, saw houses online next weekend, made an offer, accepted on 9/23. Closed (ie. bought house) on 10/15, but prior people lived in for a month "rent back" and we moved in 11/27
posted by sandmanwv at 11:27 AM on September 1, 2022

I agree with primethyme. There is just no telling but you want to be able to move fast if you have to. The first house I bought took me months to find, forever to negotiate the offer and counter offer and offer and so on and then the deal fell through the day before closing - look! A long ago Askme! I had to talk my landlord into letting me stay in my fully packed rental for an extra month with no certainty that I would even have a place to live in a month and it was miserable. The second house I bought I managed to do in 45 days from first offer to move in. Generally, if the place is empty, you can plan on 30 - 60 days between offer and closing. If there are people living there, it will probably be more like 60 - 90 days. This is the US, though! I don't know what Canada is like and it may be entirely different.

My sense is that things are moving quickly these days and you want to be able to jump fast. If you are already seeing things you like then you are not in the "there are two houses in my price range in the entire city and I hate them both" camp so it may go very fast indeed. Therefore I would counsel you to consider looking for an AirBnB type month by month setup if you can unless you're comfortable breaking your sublease.
posted by mygothlaundry at 12:19 PM on September 1, 2022

To give an example of a fairly fast-moving process from the last house we bought: we knew about a week ahead that it was coming on the market, so that week we took care of logistics. Then it opened for sale, with offers due three days later. We put in our offer and it was accepted a day or two after that. Then there was a week or so of getting a couple of inspections done and some very minor negotiating based on those results, then we signed the final papers. Part of the deal was that they stayed in the house for another month or two, so we didn't actually get the keys and move in until a bit later, but the transaction itself was substantively done in less than two weeks and final in at most three.

Our past house purchases didn't take a whole lot longer, aside from the unpredictable time it takes to actually find a place you want to buy. But I've had friends who have had house purchases get hung up with weird financing delays, as well as with very long and extended negotiation periods, so you can't count on it always being fast.
posted by Dip Flash at 12:56 PM on September 1, 2022