In this blog:
The stages are: solicitors instructed, memorandum of sale issued, draft contract sent, searches ordered, survey carried out, mortgage valuation completed, enquiries raised and replied to, and finally exchange. Every one of those stages can slow down. Every one of them needs someone paying attention.
In West Hampstead and Kilburn, where a significant proportion of the stock is leasehold conversions and mansion blocks, the leasehold management pack is one of the most consistent causes of delay. It contains information about the building, the service charges, and the lease that the buyer's solicitor needs before exchange. The managing agent provides it, and it can take four to six weeks to arrive if no one requests it early enough. Getting ahead of it as early as possible saves weeks from the average timeline. It is worth raising at valuation and well before any offer arrives.
A survey result left without a clear conversation for ten days gives a buyer time to escalate, to talk to family and friends, and to start questioning whether to proceed. A finding handled the same day, with a calm and honest recommendation, keeps things moving.
If you are selling a period conversion or an older flat in West Hampstead or Kilburn, the survey findings are rarely a surprise to us. We know these buildings well. Movement cracks in older walls, damp in lower ground floors, roof condition on converted flats. We have seen them all and we know how to handle the conversation when they come up.
We are regularly in contact with the solicitors in our current sales. Not a general check-in. A specific conversation about what is outstanding, what is likely to slow, and what we can do to move it forward before it becomes a delay you find out about too late.
With the Autumn Budget on 28 October and the Bank of England rate decision on 5 November creating uncertainty about mortgage rates, buyers further down chains are watching their mortgage offer validity carefully. A sale that is progressing clearly and quickly is considerably more likely to hold together through that uncertainty than one where weeks pass without visible movement.
Three questions worth asking your agent this week.
We stay in regular contact with every buyer in our current sales. A direct conversation, not an email. A specific update on what has happened, what is outstanding, and what comes next. A buyer who knows exactly where things stand has no reason to start questioning their decision. That is what protects your agreed price all the way to exchange.
If you have an offer agreed right now, here are three things worth asking your agent.
We do not think the best evidence of how we work comes from us describing it. It comes from 1,500+ people who left a review after trusting us with their homes across West Hampstead, Kilburn and North West London. Those reviews placed us in the top 2% of estate agents nationally, ranked number 10 out of more than 20,000 agencies, as a Trusted Agent 2026 Platinum winner.
If you have an offer agreed and want to know what proactive progression management looks like for your sale, get in touch. No obligation, no pressure. Just a clear and honest conversation about where things stand.
If you are thinking about listing this autumn and want to understand how we manage every stage from valuation to completion, book a valuation with us today.
- What actually happens between offer agreed and exchange, and why does it take so long?
- What are the most common reasons a sale runs into trouble after offer agreed?
- What should your agent be doing at every stage to make sure you complete at the price you agreed?
- What questions should you be asking right now if your sale is already in progress?
How long does it actually take from offer agreed to exchange?
The average time between offer agreed and exchange in the UK is currently around 150 days (Rightmove, 2026). That is five months. Most sellers have no idea the process takes this long or how much is happening inside it.The stages are: solicitors instructed, memorandum of sale issued, draft contract sent, searches ordered, survey carried out, mortgage valuation completed, enquiries raised and replied to, and finally exchange. Every one of those stages can slow down. Every one of them needs someone paying attention.
In West Hampstead and Kilburn, where a significant proportion of the stock is leasehold conversions and mansion blocks, the leasehold management pack is one of the most consistent causes of delay. It contains information about the building, the service charges, and the lease that the buyer's solicitor needs before exchange. The managing agent provides it, and it can take four to six weeks to arrive if no one requests it early enough. Getting ahead of it as early as possible saves weeks from the average timeline. It is worth raising at valuation and well before any offer arrives.
The survey: where the negotiation actually begins
A survey result is not the end of a negotiation. It is the beginning of one. How a finding is handled, and how quickly, determines whether you complete at the agreed price or lose ground in the final weeks.A survey result left without a clear conversation for ten days gives a buyer time to escalate, to talk to family and friends, and to start questioning whether to proceed. A finding handled the same day, with a calm and honest recommendation, keeps things moving.
If you are selling a period conversion or an older flat in West Hampstead or Kilburn, the survey findings are rarely a surprise to us. We know these buildings well. Movement cracks in older walls, damp in lower ground floors, roof condition on converted flats. We have seen them all and we know how to handle the conversation when they come up.
The solicitors: what active management actually looks like
Solicitors are busy. Searches take time. Enquiries can go back and forth for weeks if nobody is actively managing the process. A sale where nobody is chasing the legal side is a sale that takes longer and costs more than it should.We are regularly in contact with the solicitors in our current sales. Not a general check-in. A specific conversation about what is outstanding, what is likely to slow, and what we can do to move it forward before it becomes a delay you find out about too late.
With the Autumn Budget on 28 October and the Bank of England rate decision on 5 November creating uncertainty about mortgage rates, buyers further down chains are watching their mortgage offer validity carefully. A sale that is progressing clearly and quickly is considerably more likely to hold together through that uncertainty than one where weeks pass without visible movement.
Three questions worth asking your agent this week.
- What is outstanding with the solicitors on my sale right now?
- Have the searches come back and if not, when are they expected?
- Has the leasehold management pack been requested and when did it arrive?
Keeping your buyer committed between offer and exchange
A buyer who feels informed stays committed. A buyer who goes quiet for two weeks starts to reconsider. Most fall-throughs that happen after an offer agreed are not caused by a dramatic event. They are caused by a gradual erosion of confidence when a buyer does not feel like anything is happening.We stay in regular contact with every buyer in our current sales. A direct conversation, not an email. A specific update on what has happened, what is outstanding, and what comes next. A buyer who knows exactly where things stand has no reason to start questioning their decision. That is what protects your agreed price all the way to exchange.
If you have an offer agreed right now, here are three things worth asking your agent.
- When did you last speak directly to my buyer, and what did they say?
- Is the buyer's mortgage offer still valid, and have you confirmed that recently?
- What is the next step, and when do you expect it to happen?
What this means for your sale
The sellers who complete at the price they agreed are not the ones whose sales were straightforward. They are the ones whose agent was doing the right things at every stage, regardless of whether anything had gone wrong yet.We do not think the best evidence of how we work comes from us describing it. It comes from 1,500+ people who left a review after trusting us with their homes across West Hampstead, Kilburn and North West London. Those reviews placed us in the top 2% of estate agents nationally, ranked number 10 out of more than 20,000 agencies, as a Trusted Agent 2026 Platinum winner.
If you have an offer agreed and want to know what proactive progression management looks like for your sale, get in touch. No obligation, no pressure. Just a clear and honest conversation about where things stand.
If you are thinking about listing this autumn and want to understand how we manage every stage from valuation to completion, book a valuation with us today.
