Selling & buying a house at the same time . Advice pls/ UK
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We have today exchanged as first time buyers on our house! The first house we were due to complete on, got to the day of exchange & the sellers pulled out on us! Which they’re more than entitled to do, we could also have pulled out. However, we lost the money of a survey & about 70% of the solicitors fees were due also, even though it fell through! It was highly frustrating for us, but I appreciate that that is what happens in the current market! Do what you’ve gotta do, the buyers have to appreciate that either party can pull out until exchange x
Our neighbours recently moved and it took a year for them to move! Luckily everyone stayed in and no one pulled out, but generally the rule is you have to have your house at least on the market before you can make an offer on another house.
It will likely take longer than 2 months to find a house, have an offer accepted and then complete on that house. If you’re going to pull out after 2 months that’s not really fair on your potential buyers who could also have buyers and so on, I would say you’re not that serious about buying/selling if that’s the case and to wait until you actually are.
@N 💞 I am serious about it and my house is already on market However what if I don’t find a place to move to ? This is the only case I will pull out
You will find a place eventually, but you can’t just give a 2 month time frame, that’s not long enough. Some houses are on the market for a year before they sell.
@N 💞 that’s really depending on the house and the area ! It’s common for people to be in a chain and do both at the same time
I know, that’s the normal way of doing things. And that is literally not what I’m talking about at all.
We bought our house 2 years ago, no chain, and it took 5 months. There's no way you'd complete in two months, so don't put that pressure on. I don't blame them for rejecting your offer if you haven't sold yet. As long as you are actively looking, I'm sure your buyer would be patient. You can also make it clear that you haven't found anywhere but are looking so they know not to expect it to move super quick
I was in this exact position. It’s a lot less stressful to sell your house first & then find the house of your dreams after that. As if it’s the other way around the seller might give the dream house to someone else who is able to proceed quicker than you x
@Lisa oh I don’t mean to complete in 2 months that’s not gonna happen But to find a place Even if the sale went quicker and I have to rent while buying process finish it’s fine But I don’t want to sell and I don’t know where I am going
We got lucky and did a contingent sale last time we purchased (bought a house contingent on selling our home first). Nowadays it is impossible to buy contingent bc there's so much competition for new homes. We are looking for a different house now with the intention of buying first using a loan then selling our current house to pay off part of the loan. It's risky but our real estate agent thinks our current home would sell in 2-3 weeks.
@Rosie do u mean to sell before I know where I am going Did the buyer waited for you to find a place to move to ?
My family member has recently done this and she had her house sold subject to contract before she even started looking then once she found a place they were happy to take her offer because her house was already sold. From start to finish the process took 8 months. Her buyers were happy to wait as long as they were clued into what was happening.
It’s usually the way to go, you sell first (well you are just agreeing a price) most people will wait for you to find somewhere though
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That’s very reassuring girls thanks a lot for your comments xx
Yeah the buyer waited. They wanted my house. If they want your house they will wait
Plus if you move into the new house without first selling ur current house you will be liable to stamp duty tax to the government & you really don’t want that
No seller will touch you unless you're already sold unless it's chain free. Because chains can be long and break. My parents ended up homeless for 6 months just to sell their home. Luckily my dad's work had an annex do they lived there for 3 months and with friends for 3 months.
@Helen SOLD you mean STC or contracts exchanged ? 😰
Not contracts exchanged :) that won't happen until you have bought and their chain and your chain is complete which can take anywhere from 3 months to 9 months. It all depends on the chain. If it's no chain for your buyer and you're buying chain free it's pretty quick. When there is a long chain it can be a long old wait.
@Helen I was just wondering how I may end homeless if the buyer would wait until I buy another property ? Baring in mind my house isn’t on mortgage & fully owned by us so sale should be quick I suppose
You won’t be homeless, until you exchange contracts you not obliged to sell… and you exchange contracts with your buyer and your seller at the same time
Oh my parents buyers where horrible people. Essentially said we will move in on this date or we walk. My parents had the sale of their house fall through 4 times by this point. So they went okay and completed on selling their house before they had found another home to buy that wouldn't fall through My brother and sister in law are technically going to be homeless end of this month. They're worried they'll loose their buyer if they don't complete before the stamp duty goes up. They lost a buyer end of last year and lost the new build they were going to buy due to this. If they loose this buyer they may loose this new build too (even though it's still being built so work that one out). The systems a bit barmey really. You only become homeless if you allow its pretty much because it only completes at the end when the solicitors complete everything and everything's exchanged unless you say otherwise that it can go ahead sooner because you're shortening the chain by moving out
I agree at the moment it's easy to have sold your house first because it makes your offers on other properties more attractive. It's what I plan to do later this year. Everyone is in the same boat- at the end of the day if the person that offers on your house wants it, they will wait for you to find somewhere to move.