Are you a Bath homeowner or Landlord looking to sell in 2025?
If the answer is yes, then let us have a look at, on average, how long it takes for you to find a buyer for your Bath property and how long the solicitors will take to help get you moved in.
Independent research from Denton House shows that in the last 12 months, looking at the 1.06m properties sale agreed and the 816k properties exchanged, on average it has taken 73 days from the property coming on the market to the property becoming sold subject to contract (SSTC). This is up 6 days from the 12 months ending in June of this year.
From this point, it has then taken 113 days from the sale being agreed to completion. This is an improvement on the 117 days for the 12 months ending June 2024. The journey is a long one and not guaranteed as nationally, only 53.6% of UK homeowners who placed their homes on the market in 2023/24, have sold and moved. The remaining 46.7% have come off the market unsold.
STEP 1 – FINDING A BUYER
The first stage is to engage an estate agent (naturally, we’re here to assist) who will work with you to develop a pricing and marketing strategy tailored to attract the right buyer for your situation.
Recent data shows that over the last 3 months, a property here in Bath has taken an average of 55 days to reach an agreed sale STC. However, the bath market is far from uniform and each area in Bath has its own micro-market where it can be longer or shorter, remember this is an average.
On top of this, every ‘type’ of house also reflects different data. Let’s break it down.
(Bath centre plus a 3-mile radius).
- Under £100k – 10 days
- £100k to £200k – 62 days
- £200k to £300k – 41 days
- £300k to £400k – 65 days
- £400k to £500k – 60 days
- £500,000 to £1m – 53 days
- over £1m – 76 days
STEP 2: INSTRUCTING SOLICITORS AND MORTGAGE BROKERS
Here at Reside Bath, we have our own list of recommended solicitors and mortgage brokers that we can get you in contact with. As the seller, your solicitor will begin preparing the legal documents for your property with your input and then forward this all to the buyers solicitor.
STEP 3: LEGAL WORK AND SURVEYS
After receiving the paperwork, your buyer’s solicitor will request local searches from the local authority and/or land registry to ensure there are no planned developments that could impact on your property. These searches can take a few weeks to complete as during this time the buyer’s solicitor may raise some questions with your solicitor. Simultaneously, a surveyor will inspect your property to confirm to the buyer that it is structurally sound and valued at the correct purchase price.
STEP 4: EXCHANGE OF THE CONTRACTS
Once the mortgage, the survey and the legal paperwork are all cleared and have come back without any issues, both the buyer and the seller can sign the contracts, leading to the ‘Exchange of Contracts’ between solicitors. At this stage, the buyer pays a non-refundable deposit, legally committing both parties to the sale. There is now one last step.
STEP 5: COMPLETION
Completion is when the money and keys are transferred. Typically, this takes place one or two weeks after the exchange of contracts, although, since the pandemic, there has been a shift to completion being on the same day as the exchange of contracts. At this point, the buyer’s solicitor sends the purchase funds to the seller’s solicitor. Once received, the keys are handed over and the sale is completed.
So to reiterate, here in Bath, it currently takes 55 days to get to the end of step 1 (finding a buyer) and a further 126 days from instruction of solicitors to completion (steps 2 to 5).
So, anticipate waiting 5 to 6 months from the point the property goes live on the market to the day that you move out. If you’re considering selling your home here in Bath, or a landlord looking for your next buy-to-let property, feel free to reach out to us.
To view our latest Sales Properties in Bath, click here – Properties for Sale in Bath (residebath.co.uk)
To view our latest Rental Properties in Bath, click here – Properties – Reside Bath
For more from Reside Bath: Lettings and Estate Agency, click the icons below!
