Moving into rented while house hunting.

bclark

We have sold our house recently (subject to contract) and have been looking around for somewhere to go but nothing perfect has been coming up. We were going to go for a newbuild but my wife has started having second thoughts about it so I have started to wonder about going into rented accomodation and waiting for the 'perfect' house to come up.

The thing is I have never rented in my life before, apart from at uni, and so I don't know the in's and outs of it and was wondering what the pitfalls may be of renting while looking for a house? Am I correct in thinking that the minimum rental contract will be 6 months so we are tied in for that at least?

We will also lose our lifetime tracker rate on our existing mortgage which has been very cheap up to now but I suppose you can't let that stop you.

Anyway has anyone else on here gone into rented for a short period at looked for the right house? What were the pro's and con's of doing it and are you glad you did?

mrsmchapman

We have also recently sold (just going through the process) and were willing to rent if we couldn't find anywhere to buy.

It puts you in a strong position when you come to buy as you have no chain attached to you which makes for easier purchase, however don't forget that buy moving into rental you will also have to pay an early settlement figure on your mortgage which can be thousands! We were told that we would have to pay this figure but should we complete on a sale within 3 months they would refund the cost!

[Deleted User]

We moved into a rented property between Christmas and the New Year (our house sale ended up completing almost a month later). Same idea as you - with money in the bank and no chain, when the right property comes up the seller will hopefully sell to a strong buyer for a lower price than they may otherwise consider.

Mortgage redemption fees will need checking out as previous poster suggested, and the other thing to remember is that while you're renting it's sometimes likened to money going into an empty hole - so consider the risk. I've worked out the difference personally for us with paying rent offset against interest in the best fairly easy access account I can find as around -£400 per month. Am I glad we did? So far, yes.

There's an old adage - "Think twice, act once" ...

pmlindyloo

When we moved from outer London to the countryside (well, it was countryside to us!) we rented several times so feel a bit of an expert.

It was a wonderful opportunity to 'try out' some areas to see whether you like them, whether the transport links are good etc etc.

You can sit back and not do any repairs as they are someone's else's responsibility.

It gives you a real opportunity to decide what your priorities are for when you buy - sometimes you just don't realise what is important and what isn't until you've experienced the negative or positive aspects of things.

One of the negative aspects are having to be more careful with someone's else's property (eg nearly freaked out when I spilt some red wine!).

Financially you have to be very careful. Unless you are cash buyers I do not think it puts you in a particularly good position as you will still need a mortgage - perhaps the chain might be shorter - just depends on where abouts you are on the 'property ladder'.

Do check about penalties re your mortgage and what a new interest rate might be.

Generally it is accepted that rents can now be higher than having a mortgage so do check this. Also moving from rented to your own home can cost you money in terms of tying in the date of end of tenancy and moving but needn't be a huge problem if you're careful.

Personally I thoroughly enjoyed renting. Despite some horrific stories that you read on here my landlords have been great.

Also had 2 children whilst doing it and they had no problems adjusting - found it all very exciting.

Just my two pnnies worth - doesn't suit everyone.

yoyoegg

I looked at renting last year, when I moved job and relocated 300 miles.

I looked at rentals and TBH it was depressing seeing such generally tatty housing stock for which LL were asking £800 pcm, plus I knew I'd be frustrated in not being able to start off my new garden, plus I didn't fancy half unpacking then packing and moving again in 6 months!

In a way, it just prolong the aggro as you're looking at the calendar, knowing when the s.21 will drop onto the mat or you're thinking I have to get a place or I'll be on two months notice then I'll be spending time looking for another place to rent, not buy. Or the LL decides to sell, and you'll be pestered to have buyers looking over the place.

Seeing what was on offer for rent spurred me on to look even harder for houses for sale.

I was lucky in that I did find a house to buy I liked, and in the end just spend 3 weeks in a B&B while 'between' properties.

agrinnall

I rented between properties once, and would do it again. On that occasion I'd already found the new property before I moved out of the old one but didn't have a settlement date. I put my furniture into storage with the movers I was using and managed to get a short term furnished rental from a LA who allowed me to be able to give 1 month's notice at any point. I think I was in there for about 3 months in all. This was in Scotland, I'm not sure how suggesting something like that to a LA in England would go down.