Help we have sold our house and dont know what to do next!!

maccp

My wife and I put our house up for sale with the intention of buying a new home.Unfortunately due to reasons I wont go into & through no fault of our own the new home sale has fallen through.We priced our home competitively due to the fact that we were intending to buy at a low cost which would give us money in the bank we therefore did not need to hang on for top money and we wanted to move fast.Our house sold in the first week for about £5-10k less than market value.Now the sale of the new home has fallen through we are faced with either:

Pulling out of the sale and causing the buyers (who are lovely people) untold stress and expense and us having to pay the estate agents their fee.

Put the house back up for sale at a higher price hoping that it might sell for more so that we have a better chance of affording the area we want,or that it does not sell after 16wks so that we dont have to find the estate agents fee`s.

Sell at the price offered and rent for 12mths and shove the equity which is about £50k into an interest account. - Not sure about this at all I think financially very risky.

Bite the bullet and try to buy what we can with what we have just got for our home but maybe not quite in the area required.Unless we increase the mortgage which may mean selling the car to pay off the loan thus giving us more money etc.

My wife and I are arguing almost daily now and she is not sleeping due to the stress of it all.Any financial guru`s on here who can offer some advice ?

homer_j_3

My advice would be to see if you can find another house and put an offer in to recompensate your 5-10k drop that you have accepted on yours by looking to offer 5-10k under asking. Would that make sense to you both?

I would also say that a house is only worth what someone will pay for it, so you may risk not getting any more money for it that you already have.

By going into rented even for 6 months should you not find a house that you like, could put you in a stronger position when the right house comes along as you are like a first time buyer with no chain! I dont think in todays climate, going into rented will mean that you will be priced out of the market as prices are levelling at the moment (in my area they are anyway).

Clearly you have a lot to consider and being in the middle of it, you can find it difficult to think without over confusing yourself.

silvercar

Whatever you do, don't just "buy what you can". Firstly buying is expensive and if you decide to sell in a short time because it was a mistake you will lose out further. A home is to live in, don't buy what you don't really want.

The most honest approach is to tell your buyers that your purchase has fallen through, so they will have to wait until you find another property. Don't mention price at this point as you don't know what you may find. I wouldn't risk going into rented, what happens if you can't find a suitable house in a few months time and your landlord wants his house back? Then you really will feel pressurised to find a place.

maccp

homer_j wrote: »

My advice would be to see if you can find another house and put an offer in to recompensate your 5-10k drop that you have accepted on yours by looking to offer 5-10k under asking. Would that make sense to you both?

That makes perfect sense and is just the type advice we need.I think we know that we may have to increase as the area we want is around £15-20k more than our current area.

maccp

silvercar wrote: »

Whatever you do, don't just "buy what you can". Firstly buying is expensive and if you decide to sell in a short time because it was a mistake you will lose out further. A home is to live in, don't buy what you don't really want.

The most honest approach is to tell your buyers that your purchase has fallen through, so they will have to wait until you find another property. Don't mention price at this point as you don't know what you may find. I wouldn't risk going into rented, what happens if you can't find a suitable house in a few months time and your landlord wants his house back? Then you really will feel pressurised to find a place.

Again great advice
We are both quite nervous about the renting scenario but can see the benefits.We are just concerned if there is a sudden jump in the market.We are also concerned how we will be perceived by mortgage lenders.Will they see us as first time buyers and will they accept my wife`s earnings who is self employed.She does have at least 2yrs worth of accounts.