Typically, it takes 6-8 weeks to cash purchase a commercial property from offer to completion. However, financed purchases usually take roughly 8-10 weeks providing full searches are carried out.

Speeding up

There are a multitude of ways to speed up the process of purchasing a commercial property.

Fast correspondence and reducing chain of commands to essential people only shortens timeframes significantly when done correctly. With larger or more complex units taking longer than the figures above, it is important to streamline the purchasing process.

In the leasehold market, it usually takes around 6-8 weeks from offer to the initiation of the lease when prospective tenants are looking to move in ASAP.

Factors at play

Many factors are at play for the speed and smoothness of purchasing a commercial unit. Mitigating these and reducing timeframes can be cost-efficient in the long run.

Purchasing a commercial property in cash eliminates the requirement for searches, valuations and reports from the financier. It also removes another correspondent and recipient from communication, thus speeding things up.

The chain of sellers and buyers can increase purchasing times significantly. Purchasing a property without a chain can decrease timeframes.

Conveyancing and surveys can also increase purchasing times unless kept on top of.

Summary

Overall, the time it can take to purchase a commercial property varies under a swathe of factors. Averages can only tell one part of the picture and ensure you stay on top of proceedings and updated regularly, there is only so much an individual can do. This is why instructing the correct commercial property agent, solicitor and ingoing tenant, is crucial to a smooth purchase or letting.