received an offer, we can't find anywhere. Should we rent or turn down

flossieflipflop

Hi,

as said in title really. We have received a good offer on our property (4k below asking price) but can't find anything we like in our price range. we're not in a rush to move and are happy to stay in our house but it's quite quirky so may not get as good an offer again.

Should we accept and go into rented?

Anyone done this? What are the pitfalls? We have 2 dogs, 2 cats and a toddler so may be easier said than done!

What would you do?

Wyndham

I did it. Only two of us, but it worked. We found a lovely house somewhere we wouldn't have ever lived otherwise, and it gave us time to look around properly. We were also moving about 50 miles, so it got us closer to where we wanted to be as well, which made viewings easier on other properties.

You have to rent for six months minimum. You move twice, so have the hassle of that, but we left some things packed (which does raise the question as to whether we actually need them or not!) I know some people put things in storage, but we rented somewhere big enough for all our things.

You may find it harder to find somewhere to rent with pets.

We also had equity, so suddenly had around £80K, which we felt was a lot of money, but also knew we'd need for our next purchase. We put it in a savings account and ignored it, though we did take the interest and used that for an anniversary trip to Paris. But you have to be disciplined about this.

In our case, our house had been on the market for some time, and we didn't feel we could turn the offer down. Looking back, I'm glad we did it, as it made our buying position stronger, and we're still in the house we bought after that and love it. It gave us time and space to make sure we really were making the right decision.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

flossieflipflop

Thank you, it's interesting to get a perspective of someone who's done it. Going to send husband on a mission tomorrow to see if any estate agents have got rentals that will take all our animals!

jimbog

I did it - and was glad I did. Sold quickly and got a great price. Went into rented and with the money in the bank was in a great position when the right house came along - negotiated hard and with a 'mortgage in principal' in my back pocket managed to 'save' more than I spent on rent for that time - as well as a little interest on the proceeds.

A couple of thoughts though - be careful if the market rises (unlikely) and you have the costs of moving too

PasturesNew

If you're selling and can't find somewhere to buy, it's kind of your moral duty to rent. Putting the house on the market, then f4nnying about just isn't fair to be honest, hard-working buyers who now have a dream home in their sights.

Essex22011

PasturesNew wrote: »

If you're selling and can't find somewhere to buy, it's kind of your moral duty to rent. Putting the house on the market, then f4nnying about just isn't fair to be honest, hard-working buyers who now have a dream home in their sights.

Agree!!! Dont put your house on the market in the first place if you are not 100% sure about moving..wastes everyones time..:mad:

Kynthia

It's not easy to find a rental property that will accept pets. Also the fees to start renting, such as credit cheques, check in/out charge, etc, can make it quite expensive. Also if you want to move quicker than six months you are unlikely to be allowed to surrender the tenancy early.

However it does mean you don't have to sell and buy on the same day, which saves the hassle of trying to pack up and clean the property while your buyers have arrived and are waiting to unpack. No risk of arriving at your new property and finding out the funds didn't clear in time somewhere in the chain and you have to either go back to your old property or find a hotel and pay your removal company for storage overnight. Also you can stay in your rental property while you do any works on your new home rather than live there with workmen.

Fire_Fox

Move into rented: good offers don't come along every day and you will then be in a strong chain free position. You can find somewhere to live but may be best offering a higher deposit and six months rent up front.

dimbo61

Have a look on rightmove and local letting agents and ring them up!
Ask the question " Do you have any rental properties on your books that allow Cats, Dogs as well as people? "
Get looking for a new Home ASAP

izzzzythedog

walking this same path as i type , tomorrow we move into the new home ! , this will allow us to do a few repairs on our small house without the massive issues of how can you live in a house when the builders remove the kitchen and toilet , after this the house will go onto the market and be sold as we dont want it anymore , its going to release capital of around 60-70 grand which will allow a rather good deposit on a house we want to retire to by the sea in the future ( about 5 years all going to plan )

Mr_Moo_2

Keeping the "do it" theme going.... we did it and are just on 6 months in our rented place. We always intended to if we found the right buyer, and once we did it was a no brainer. Good point made earlier about stuff still in boxes 6 months down the line - do we really need it?

Looking for a place to buy at the moment, but it is nice not to have to rush things. Regarding your pets, this does make things trickier - be upfront about it and suggest you're proactive on offering to get place deep cleaned at end of rental, plus potentially offer higher deposit - both of these will earn you brownie points with nervous pet-phobic landlords.