Every autumn we get the same question from sellers in Bookham and the surrounding villages: "Realistically, could we be in our new home before Christmas?" The honest answer is yes, but only if you're under offer by September. Leave it until October or November and the maths starts working against you.

The maths behind it

Conveyancing in the UK typically takes 12 to 16 weeks from an accepted offer to completion, and that's before you factor in the extra pressure the run-up to Christmas puts on solicitors, brokers and removal firms. Count back from the 20th of December and you land squarely in September for when an offer needs to be agreed.

That doesn't mean every sale agreed in September will complete before Christmas. Chains, mortgage valuations and slow searches can still add weeks. But it does mean September is the last point where a smooth, well-run sale has a realistic shot at getting you in for the holidays. Wait until Halloween to go under offer and you're really hoping for a January or February moving day instead.

So if being in your new home by Christmas matters to you, the work to make that happen doesn't start with the completion date. It starts now, with who you choose to sell the house and who they bring in around you.

Four things that actually move the date, not just the sign

1. An agent who's genuinely good at the job

There's a difference between an agent who lists your house and one who sells it. A good agent prices it correctly from day one (overpricing costs you weeks of stale viewings, not just money), qualifies buyers properly before they walk through the door, and knows how to negotiate a sale that will actually stand up once the legal work starts. That last part matters more than people think: a sale that falls through in November because the buyer wasn't properly checked out is far more costly than the extra fortnight it would have taken to find the right one.

2. A communicator, not just a negotiator

Once you're under offer, the job isn't finished, it's really just started. The gap between "sold subject to contract" and "completed" is where most Christmas deadlines quietly die, usually because nobody was chasing the chain. A good agent is on the phone to your solicitor and the buyer's solicitor every week, not every month, spotting hold-ups before they become hold-ups you hear about too late. Ask any agent directly: how do you keep a sale moving once it's agreed? If the answer is vague, that's worth knowing before you instruct them.

3. Good lawyers on both sides

The single biggest variable in how long conveyancing actually takes isn't the property, it's the solicitor. A responsive conveyancer who answers enquiries within days rather than weeks can be the difference between exchanging in November and still waiting in January. We always recommend using a conveyancer with a track record of turning searches and enquiries around quickly, and we're happy to suggest firms locally who we know keep to realistic timescales rather than letting things drift. Our recommended lawyers routinely turn cases around faster than the average, which is exactly the kind of head start a December deadline needs.

4. A broker who moves at the same pace

If your buyer needs a mortgage, their broker's speed becomes your timeline too. A good broker gets the application in early, chases the lender's valuation, and flags any issues with the mortgage offer before they threaten the exchange date. It's worth an agent asking early on whether a buyer's finances are properly arranged, rather than taking "mortgage in principle" at face value and finding out six weeks later that it wasn't.

5. Marketing that brings you the right buyer, not just any buyer

None of the above matters if the sale doesn't happen in the first place. Good marketing, sharp photography, an accurate floorplan, listing on the portals that actually bring in serious local buyers, is what gets you a proceedable offer in September rather than a string of low, speculative ones through October. The goal isn't just interest, it's the right buyer, ready to move at the right pace.

The bottom line

Being moved in before Christmas is entirely possible if you go under offer this month, but it depends on more than luck. It comes down to having an agent who prices and markets the property properly, chases the sale through every week rather than every month, and works alongside solicitors and brokers who move at the pace a December deadline actually requires.

If you're thinking about putting your home on the market this September and want to talk through what a realistic timeline looks like for your situation, get in touch with the team at PWD in Bookham. We'd rather give you an honest answer now than a disappointing one in November.

And if you're already on the market with another agent but it isn't moving, no viewings, no offers, or a sale that's stalled since the summer, it's not too late to make a change. Talk to us about how we could get you sold and under offer quickly enough to still be in for Christmas.