If you are currently renting or looking to relocate, understanding the time it takes from start to finish to buy a new home can be extremely important. You don’t want your lease to come due before you have a house to move into and you don’t want your first day of work in the new location before you can move there. Equally important, however, is not carrying a mortgage while you are still in your lease for a few months or needing to pay for a house in a new location for a month before you can actually move there.

When thinking about the time to buy a house, you need to think about the whole process, not just the mortgage process. So if you are only just thinking about buying, or have just looked online at a few homes, there is a lot more variability in time than if you are already under contract. But here is a rundown of steps and the time it generally takes during each step.

The first thing you need to do is get preapproved. This process usually takes a day or two, and allows you to start the second step, which is to look at houses. And this is the biggest point in the process where the timing can vary. Some clients of mine look online for a few days, pick out five houses, see them, then choose one. This process can take less than a week (I’ve known people to start looking online one night, and write an offer the next day after seeing it). I’ve also known people to view over 50 houses in person, spanning months. So this part is up to you to understand yourself and your time deadlines. What I will say is the average homebuyer I’ve worked with looks at houses for 3 weeks to a month before finding a house.

Once a house is selected, an offer needs to be written and price negotiated. This process usually takes a few days, unless there are multiple offers. The more willing you are to give in to the seller’s price demands, the quicker the process. Once the negotiating ends, a contract is signed, and an inspection is ordered. I usually recommend you set that up ASAP (within a few days), so that if any issues are uncovered you have time to renegotiate the terms or get out of the contract.

Generally, a house will be under contract for 30-45 days, during which time the seller clears out the house and the buyer obtains a mortgage. The actual mortgage process can be as quick as 2 weeks (in very rare situations) to as long as 35 days (in very rare situations), but usually takes 21-28 days.

So your only hard and fast time requirements are the preapproval and mortgage process, which is about 30 days. If you are an average buyer, then you will also want to allot an additional 30 days to find a house and make an offer, and an extra week for negotiations. So all in, the average homebuyer takes 2 and a half to three months to get from talking to a Realtor to moving into a new home. If you are not picky about the house or already have it picked out, you can take most of that time off; similarly, if you think you will need more time to find a “just right” house, account for more time.

Always remember, it is easier to extend a contract for an extra few weeks or a month if you find a house quickly, than it is to rush a contract if you take a little longer to find a house. So if you think you are a normal homebuyer in your pickiness and needs, then you will probably need about three months from start to end to find a new house and move in, so I would account for three and a half to four months to add a buffer. If you find the right house right away, ask for an extended contract (instead of 30 days, try 60).

If you have any questions about the home buying process or if you are ready to get a preapproval and get started, please contact me. If you have anything to add about the length of time it takes to buy a home, please leave a comment.