Selling chain or no chain?

RachBlur

My partner and I have very different opinions on this and I was hoping for some more points of view. We own our current house (with a mortgage of course) we want to move to a bigger house with in the next 6 months (Baby on way). My partner thinks we should sell up now and then rent until we find somewhere that we want to buy. I’m not so sure that this is the best way to go about it. I understand that we would be out of a chain if we sell now and rent for a while. I also know that while we are here we are still paying our own mortgage off (we overpay each month by quite a bit so it’s reducing nicely) and not paying someone else’s mortgage off while renting.

Any help would be very much appreciated!!! Thank you :think:

girl_withno_name

There's a bit of a discussion here from earlier this week.

housebuyer2

Judging by my experience today, I would say sell and rhen start your buying process once you have exchanged.

After 3 months our buyer pulled out on us today, the day of exchange, chain has collapsed and everyone (except the buyer) is left gutted

Good luck

oldskoo1

I have a lifetime tracker at 0.29% above base rate with a floor of 2%. It's such a good deal I don't want to loose it. Luckily I can port it which means buying and selling in a chain.

If I had no mortgage ties I would defiantly seriously consider renting. It opens up so many more opportunities for buying. You would still likely be in a chain upwards, but in this market, having more time can make a massive difference, in terms of buying the right property.
We lost our first buyer because we couldn't find a house. We leaflet dropped and found one eventually but if we hadn't there still hasn't been a decent house 6 months on!

Better_Days

We have come to the conclusion it would be easier and less stressful to sell, rent and then find. Trying to marry up potential chains on a purchase and sale means there is more to go wrong.

We hope that by renting we will be able to overlap slightly so we don't have to move in one afternoon (great for me as my health is poor). We are in the process of packing away all non essentials in plastic boxes with lids (bargain from the Matalan sale). If I am well enough I will sort them out when in rented, if not we will just move them to the new house.

The downsides are moving twice and the possibility that the housing market may start to edge upwards.

But I think the main advantage of doing it like this is that you are in an excellent position to move quickly when you find the right property. You are attractive to vendors as there will be no chain.

arbrighton

We moved into rented. Before our house was sold as OH's new job started and we had to relocate regardless and we didn't want to 'commute' every weekend to look for places to buy. We are now at the bottom of a chain, as the sale went through about 6 weeks ago but lucky enough that our purchase did not depend on equity from that (that's the renovations fund!)

fannyanna

We broke the chain by moving in with my parents and it was definitely a good decision. Our sale was difficult and fell through twice. That was bad enough but if we had of been in a chain at the same time it would have been even worse.

Also we struggled to find a suitable house to buy and would have ended up buying something we might have later regretted if we felt rushed into buying something when we were selling.

arbrighton

But, equally my mum tells me that moving with two toddlers (we were 1 and 3) was pretty difficult. Didn't unpack everything for YEARS and managed to lose some stuff, claim on insurance, find it and do the honest thing and return the claim.
And I hated moving last year. But this year as we'll have a longish notice on the rented house, and it's only about 15 miles away, we'll be moving in stages, in the back of the car and a hire van for a weekend for big bits

Mr_Moo_2

Pros and cons for both - there is a lack of proceedable buyers at the moment. Personally if you put your house up for sale and find one of then I'd do anything needed to get that sale to completion - we did this and rented and it is working well. But you need to be happy with a baby on the way (or already arrived) that you're happy in a rental...

Good luck to you, hope things work out.

Jimbo1976

RachBlur

You mentioned that you had a mortgage. Do you have a fixed or tracker rate which you are tied into (with early repayment charges)? or are you on your lenders standard variable rate with no penalties.

If you are tied in then you will have to pay an early repayment charge when you pay off your mortgage when you sell your existing home. Some lenders will allow you to move your old mortgage to your new house if your new purchase completes within a certain timescale (typically 3-6 months) subject to the current underwriting requirements. If this happens then you would get your early repayment charge refunded.

Have a word with your current lender to investigate these

RachBlur

Thanks everyone, you have given me a lot to think over and it's great to get second opinions off people who have been through it. The thought of moving (while pregnant) and then having to move again within 6 months or so (with a baby) is not really at the top of my things to do list lol. I think I see the big pro's for renting for a while is being the bottom of the chain and having time but my list of con's seems to be so much bigger right now.
Jimbo1976 - we are on the standard variable at the moment on an offset mortgage. We overpay each month which is another reason I'm inclined to stay put and not rent. I don't think we would be able to save the equivalent while renting that is coming off out mortgage through overpaying.
I have played the EuroMillions tonight though so fingers crossed