Sticky situation - Short term rent or let sale collapse??

latinomum

Hello everyone,
I have been reading this Forum for the last weeks and have been learning a lot about the UK buying/selling process, which is kind of useful in my possition
We are a family of four living in one of London suburbs, put our house for sale back in June after seeing "House of our Dreams 1", lets just call it House 1.
Even though we loved House 1, we kept seeing houses, while doing that found House 2, which had better location than House 1 and it was more expensive.
Hubby became obsessed with House 2.
After 3 months of thie house on the market, got an offer, we accepted and made an offer on House 2. Offer accepted by "vendor". Went to see House 2 a few times, but everytime we went vendor or EA told us different stories about the house, why has been in the market for so long, why the sales fell through, etc., and I started to get suspicious. Little did I know that I was getting involved with the Voldemort of EAs! Instead of following my instincts decide to go ahead and keep progressing with the buy, after 3 weeks and about to do survey, got a call from EA saying we have been gazumped by 5k£. Lost House 2.
After that, started looking for houses again (mid October). As typical, apparently for England, not new houses in the market at this time of the year, we have seen much of what is available, and I start to get a little desperate as our sale is moving along nicely (survey, searches, contracts getting ready, etc.).
So far no luck and have not found a house we like. Where we live is a small town and as we have small kids and both work full time, we really need to keep living in same town, as life is already complicated as it is with school run, after school clubs, etc.,et.
Since we have not found anything, decided to be a bit more flexible of what we want in a house and arrange some more viewings this Saturday but husband clearly stated last night: << if we dont find anything we are NOT selling>>.
Since it has been me organizing Estate Agencies, solicitors and viewings (46 of them), I honestly DO NOT WANT to go back on the market next year and let our chain fall through.
My option would be sale our house then rent for a few months (I guess 6, as that is probably minimum time for renting) while we look for another suitable house.
But my husband says it is a very bad idea, expensive, messy, etc.,etc. I know all of that, but would you go to a rented accomodation while looking and be in a better possition to buy? (chain free, quick sale, etc.) or just go back to square 1?
I know that I am asking a question that is rather personal, but just wanted to hear opinions from more experienced people, or may be people that understand the market better than me.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Cheers!

PS1: Please dismiss my poor use of articles.
PS2: Apologies for long "post/novela"

BitterAndTwisted

If you can't get your husband to agree to sell and go into a rental, you're scuppered. In the current climate I would not want to withdraw from this sale. Once you've got the cash in the bank you will be chain-free and a much more attractive prospect to a future vendor.

Lovelyjoolz

Agree with B&T. I would be trying to sell the idea to hubbie of continuing with sale and renting, as long as you can find suitable place to rent in your area.

You will be a far better buyer for not having a house to sell, and if you found yourself in the situation where you and another buyer were making the same offer, chances are you would get the house because of your position.

arbrighton

We are about to move into rented house for at least 6 months as OH has new job, and with 300 mile round trip to the new area, we didn't want to spend every weekend viewing houses with a view to buying, especially as it's taken a while for much to happen with our house here for sale.
We've just had an offer on ours, after 2 months on the market, although not the offer we want just yet. The prospective purchaser is currently renting, and as there would be no chain, we're more likely to accept from this purchaser than a theoretical 'other offer' who would have to ensure their own sale went through to proceed with ours.

tyllwyd

I'm not quite sure from your first post whether you have accepted an offer on your current house? If you have, what position are your buyers in - are they pushing for a completion date, and are they in a chain that might collapse?

DizzyDasher

Might the purchaser agree to a delayed completion? If they are renting it may not be that much hassle, and if you pull out like you they probably will not find much until Spring anyway. Of course you may lose them: but would be worth at least scoping out whether this is an option?

latinomum

Thanks everyone for useful answers!
EA talked to buyer yesterday, she wants to move before Xmas as they do not want to lose their buyer.
Even if we find a suitable house in the next few days, it is impossible to complete/exchange before Xmas without us going into rented accomodation.
EA to talk to buyers again today and explain our situation and see how flexible they are, without scaring them off!

stiltwalker

My parents were in this position when I was in my teens, sale of the house they were buying fell through due to vendors messing about with dates, trying to extend time when parents had a buyer pushing to complete. We found a holiday let for about 10 weeks while everything on the 2nd house parents finally went for went through rather than lose their buyer. It's actually quite a good time of year for it as many people with a holiday let that they would otherwise have closed up for the off season are likely to be happy to have someone in for a few weeks cheap rather than have it empty.

Yorkie1

Yes, it will be disruptive to move for 6 months, but far less stressful than worrying on a daily basis about whether your chain is about to collapse because someone gets fed up, or forcing yourself to try to buy anywhere for the sake of buying.

If there really isn't much available at present, surely it is best to go into renting and allow the market to refresh? Also, bear in mind that 6 months really isn't that long in house-buying terms, given that it usually takes at least 3 months to buy somewhere from start to finish.

In this market I would not jeopardise the current sale that you've got underway.

MrRee_2

Depends on the state of your market ...... you were gazumped on House 2 - this tells me you are living in an area like I am, where prices are climbing and offers need to be on asking prices.

So, up to you - but, think whether prices are going up or down in your area .... and therein lies your obvious answer.

latinomum

Mr Ree, you are right, where I live there are not many houses available and they sell quickly. We were gazumped by 5k£ which was the difference with the asking price.
I will have to use some stronger persuasion methods with husband. Any recommendation how to torture a Liverpudlian?