Moving house

vincennes_2

Hi
I would welcome a bit of advice. The house we were buying has fallen through. However, our buyer is keen for us to move out. Our estate agent advises us to rent somewhere until we find something as he reckons that if we lose our buyer, the next one won't offer so much. He also says prices should continue to come down and we could get a better deal if we wait a while as our money will go further.
I can see his point but I am just a bit worried to end losing my home and not being able to buy something better. We are in a semi at the moment and we want a big semi or a detached but they do not seem to come down in price: will they ever? Do you reckon moving out and waiting it out is the thing to do? We live in east Belfast by the way.

bantamfan

I know its easy for me to say as I'm not the one in your position, but if you sell your house you will be very very attractive to anyone selling their house as you have no chain of sales behind you.. i.e. there is little or no risk of the sale falling through from your end. Also there don't seem to be may buyers out there so you might not get your house sold for another few months if you let this buyer go. I guess you have to balance renting / storing your furniture with potential saving if the housing market continues to fall - but if it was me I would sell now!

Milko

If it's any help, my mother-in-law has a 3 bed detached bungalow in Bangor currently for rent / sale, fully furnished & ready for immediate occupancy.

For what it's worth, I too think if it was me I'd be selling to your keen buyer. There doesn't appear to be too many of them around.

seatzie

don't forget though while you may be an attractive buyer with no chain, you will be at the bottom of the chain, if you're moving into the bigger semi or detached market those people most likely will be moving up or sideways too so you would be at the mercy of whether they could find anywhere to go, and the people above them then find anywhere to go or if they do as you're thinking of, and move out to rent to let you in

some things to consider -
will the rent be less than your current mortgage?
do you prefer the security of having your own home rather than renting?
do you need to get out because of annoying neighbours or can you ride it out?

if you end up with a lot of equity released because of the sale, you need to be very strict about keeping it away from day to day spending so its still there when you eventually do find a house - I know someone who moved out and ended up burning the 70k they had sitting in the bank while waiting to find a new house - new car - nice holiday etc etc

the other decision you have to make is while prices will probably come down a bit more, as you say in the detached market esp east belfast they aren't dropping that much, would you be better owning your home or having money in a savings account?

not being negative just giving you some things to think about, personally unless I really needed out because of the neigbours or area or something I'd sit tight until I found a house - house moves are stressful enough without doing two in quick succession

leftieM

Sell sell sell! You are obviously selling for a reason so don't get cold feet now.