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Everyone is different, and you will get a different answer from most everyone. If you only know three chords, I guarantee you can pick up your guitar and start playing songs anytime you want. There are literally thousands of songs with only three chords. I’m like @jumpinjeff, and had no innate musical talent when I first started. For me personally, it was about the three year mark where I felt like I was “getting it”. I didn’t need to think about the next chord, chord shape etc..
But what @jumpinjeff mentioned, you have to be diligent. You need to play everyday if possible. Leaving your guitar in its case, and hoping you will get better someday will just lead to frustration. One of my teachers gave me some great advice. Be happy where you are at, don’t get discouraged at where you aren’t. We all want to get better and improve. But if I’m frustrated at where I’m not at, you will never get there. I promise, many, if not all of us have been in your shoes. I remember practicing, and practicing and being so frustrated that I hadn’t improved as much as I had expected given the time I was putting in. There was only ONE big thing that changed. Acceptance. Once I started accepting where I was at, and being OK with it, and having fun with it, everything changed. Playing became everything I wanted to do, instead of dreading another crappy practice session, and wondering if I’ll ever “get there”. You are already there, just open your eyes and let it happen.