From accepted offer to keys, a financed purchase usually takes 30 to 45 days, and a cash purchase two to three weeks; finding the house first is what takes months rather than weeks.
The question has two halves and people mean different ones by it. The part with a schedule is escrow: once an offer is accepted, the contract sets dates and everybody works to them. The part without a schedule is the search, which ends when a house you want accepts your offer, and nobody can date that.
The part with a schedule
A financed purchase runs on the lender's clock. The contract sets an inspection period, an appraisal, a loan approval date and a closing date, and every one of them can slip a few days without the deal being in trouble.
- Days 1 to 3: earnest money to escrow, and the lender formally opens the file.
- Days 1 to 10: inspection period. Inspections happen, repairs are requested, and this is the window in which a buyer can normally walk with the deposit.
- Days 7 to 21: the appraisal is ordered and returned, and the title search comes back.
- Days 21 to 35: underwriting. This is where most delays happen, and almost all of them are documents the lender asked for and has not received.
- Days 30 to 45: final loan approval, the closing disclosure three business days before signing, signing, funding, recording, keys.
The part without one
Getting pre-approved takes a few days once your documents are together. Looking takes as long as it takes: a few weekends for somebody flexible in a market with choice, many months for somebody who needs a particular street, a particular size and a particular price at the same time.
The figure that tells you which one you are in is days on market. Where the typical listing sits for weeks you get time to think and room to negotiate. Where it sits for days you are competing, and the search takes longer even though each individual house moves faster.
What actually makes it slower
Almost every delay is one of four things: paperwork the lender is waiting on, an appraisal that came in under the price, something the inspection found that the two sides are still arguing about, or a seller who has to be out and has not found anywhere to go.
The one you control is the first. A buyer who answers document requests the same day closes faster than one who does not, and it is not close.
What our own figures say, in the market we cover
Kouzr tracks every home for sale in the Las Vegas valley and re-reads them each morning. These are today's, and they are Las Vegas rather than the country: we do not hold a national figure and will not print one we cannot compute.
| Figure | Las Vegas today | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Homes for sale | 3,340 | How much choice a buyer has this week |
| Median days on market | 59 | How long the typical listing has been sitting |
| Share that have cut their price | 8% | Sellers who have already moved once |
| Median asking price | $473,750 | Across every active listing |
| Closing price against final ask | 96% | Across 9 assessor-confirmed closings |
The full Las Vegas market report carries these by ZIP and by neighborhood, with the months behind them.
Questions people ask
How long does it take to close on a house with cash?
Usually two to three weeks, because the lender's steps disappear: no appraisal for financing, no underwriting, no loan documents. What is left is title, the inspection if the buyer wants one, and escrow's own paperwork.
Can you close on a house in 30 days?
Routinely, with a financed purchase where the buyer is fully pre-approved, the appraisal comes back at price and documents are returned promptly. Thirty days is a normal contract, not an aggressive one.
What is the longest part of buying a house?
Finding a house whose offer is accepted. Escrow is measured in weeks and is largely scheduled; the search is measured in months and is not.