Options to sell first to avoid a chain?

forgotmyname

Looking to sell up and move a fair distance away. We want to avoid a chain so the idea of selling first and then finding the right property.

Currently travelling there and back in a day or sneaking an overnight stop in is adding up on the miles and fuel bills.

Any suggestions on short term renting or out of the box ideas, Sadly the thought of sell and take a cruise wont work as we need to find the right property to buy so ideally want to be closer to the Lincolnshire coast to make viewing easier.

Initial thoughts were wait until the holiday season is over and then negotiate a deal on a holiday let flat or cottage for a few months.

But current property may sell quite quickly after a quick chat with the estate agents.

Suggestions please.

pinkteapot

Why not just sell up and do a normal 6 month tenancy?

You then need to look for a property, which could take days or months. Even once you find one, it may have an onward chain that needs to form. And even once the chain is formed, the purchase process often takes 8-12 weeks to go through. And you shouldn't hand in your notice on your rental property until you've exchanged contracts, to avoid the risk of being left homeless.

You're unlikely to waste much, if any, of the 6 months' rent.

Waterlily24

Personally, I would never sell and rent somewhere for a while (probably just me lol). We moved from the South Coast to South Lincolnshire a few years ago and came up to Lincolnshire some weekends when we had a few properities that we wanted to look at. We came up for a week too. Hubby was working for a firm in Lincoln so it was a bit difficult for him as I don't drive. It took a fair time but we found somewhere eventually lol.

stator

Is a caravan / mobile home out of the question?

JP08

A large camper van was my first thought

nicegirl

pinkteapot wrote: »

Why not just sell up and do a normal 6 month tenancy?

You then need to look for a property, which could take days or months. Even once you find one, it may have an onward chain that needs to form. And even once the chain is formed, the purchase process often takes 8-12 weeks to go through. And you shouldn't hand in your notice on your rental property until you've exchanged contracts, to avoid the risk of being left homeless.

You're unlikely to waste much, if any, of the 6 months' rent.

This is what we are in the middle of doing. We sold our place last summer and we are currently renting while we find somewhere to buy. It was the right choice for us as we weren't sure where we wanted to move to and it's given us the time to explore several options at our leisure without feeling pressure to make a decision or hold up the sale.

forgotmyname

Caravan / Mobile home is not out of the question, Not sure about living one during the winter if we had to though?

Large camper/ Motorhome probably not though.

Anyone had a rental agreement with something like a rolling contract? 3 months notice that rolls on?

Anything out of the box?

Thanks.

Annie1960

The method you are proposing is the one my sister favours, and she has done this twice. The advantage is that she has on both occasions got the house she wanted at a good price, as she had nothing to sell. She rented on the private market both times.

You could also consider going into lodgings rather than renting if you want something more flexible. How many of you are there, and are there children or animals, as this may affect your choice?

AlexMac

The advantage of a holiday let- especially if you can time it to get 'off season' prices is that Council Tax, fuel/utilities/water will be rolled into the rental which can be short -term/rolling. So although Holiday lets are dearer (but simpler) than 6-month ASTs, they can be cost - effective.

Our kids fornd just such for 2 months when they moved to the coast; but having sold their place, they at least had already exchanged, so knew with reasonable confidence that they were only into a 2-month rental...

But, being realistic... think about the timescales... It could easily take you a couple of months or more to find the ideal buy... then a typical 3-4 months to complete; especially if your vendor has to find a place to buy...

Which means that you should at least consider a normal 6-month AST. Factor in utilities & Council tax and it might be cjeaper than ending up longer than planned in a Holiday Let; even if thind move fast and you leave a month before the AST ends (in which case, all your mates and family can use it while they help you unpack and decorate!)

arbrighton

We rented as the moving date was set by OH new job, didn't want 300 mile round trip every weekend for house hunting and as it happened, the sale that was agreed before we moved fell through so we wouldn't have had the funds needed anyway.

Gave us chance to get to know areas, settle into new jobs, look around and then have a bit of time to decorate with an unfurnished house before moving furniture in

We were 6 months into our rented place when our sale finally went through. And happily settled into the periodic tenancy as we knew it wouldn't be another six months- we gave the keys back after 11 months

hcb42

Would def rent for six months and break the chain and look around. I did this in 2012. I ended up spending 9 months - a lot of rent - but helped made the right decision