Selling then Renting and solicitors

LADYXXMACBETH

Hi I have a question about the process of selling then renting. Obviously when you buy another house you all swap keys at the same time this is what's happened in the past. Since I am wanting to come off the property ladder and rent this is causing me some worry. Can you get the solicitor to complete the same day as you sign the rental contract. I am scared that if we get a rental property before completion and then the sale falls through we cannot pay two lots of bills but I don't have family or friends I can stay with after the house is sold. Also I need to have the equity from the sale of the house to pay for deposits, removals etc. I also have 3 children and 2 cats that have to go to school and the only place I have to stay is with my mum who is 300 miles away bit of a trek to school. I would appreciate any help.
Also I have a CCJ and I know this may make it harder for me to get a rental property so when I get one I don't want to mess the LL around to much in case they think I am trouble. Which I'm not in fact I'd be an excellent tenent. :A because I'm an angel !

G_M

You can certainly ask for Completion to be set for the day your tenancy starts. Whether all the others in the chain will agree.....

You should not commit to your tenancy till you have Exchanged contracts on your sale. as you say, the sale may fall through.

Ask for a longer gap between Exchange/Completion, so you can get the tenancy sorted. There may be an overlap, but better that than being committed to both properties long-term, or being homeless.

LADYXXMACBETH

Thanks very much for that advice though you had to change on the same day so good news and makes my life easier!

dancingfairy

I would try and push for as long as possible between exchange and completion, maybe 4 weeks if others in the chain are amenable. Hopefully this will give you time to find somewhere suitable or make other plans.
With a CCJ yes, you will find it harder to rent somewhere. You can offer 6 months rent up front, or a home-owning guarantor.
Best of Luck
df
Edit: you will not be able to use the money in the house for removals or a deposit as far as I know. You will probably require some short term lending. Either an overdraft or a credit card (do normal spending on credit card and use cash in bank account for deposit etc), or a small loan from your mum (if she could help at all), maybe a loan from a credit union. It's not ideal but hopefully you will find a solution.

Better_Days

This year I have sold a property, moved into rented, and have this week exchanged on a purchase. For the sale there was a long chain. For the purchase there was a short chain. In both cases there were unexpected delays running into months.

When we sold I paid the LL the equivalent of the rent to 'hold' the property for me (we also have pets and it is difficult to find a LL that accepts pets) before we formally signed the tenancy.

With the sale we have ended up paying 2 months extra rent because of the delays and we didn't want to take the risk of giving formal notice before we exchanged.

However you choose to work the dates don't commit yourself to a 6 month (or longer tenancy) before you exchange. It just isn't worth the risk if the chain collapses or there are lengthy delays with your sale.

Some overlap between the completion date and the rental start date can be beneficial if you can afford it. It means you can be more flexible with your move date and sorting out cleaning, utilities etc

jbainbridge

Our vendor requested 2 weeks between exchange and completion so she could sort out a rental. I get the impression she had moved out completely 2 days before we moved in (and then spent the rest of the time cleaning - the place was spotless!)

QTPie

We just sold and are moving into rented. From the moment we accepted the offer, we stipulated "at least 28 days between exchange and completion": this gave us time to secure a rental property (with the certainty that the sale was going through).