Best way to sell and buy a house if relocating

amandacat

We are going to be moving in the next year or two from the far south west to the north east to be closer to family, nearly 500 miles away.

We will sell our house and will want to buy up there but will need to secure new jobs first. However, a lot of mortgage lenders appear to require one month’s payslip and won’t just accept an employment contract, obviously payslips won’t be possible until we’ve started work in the area and lived up there for one month.

What do people do in this situation? Sell and rent initially? No issue with that apart from the hassle of moving twice and we have pets so may be difficult to rent with pets and stressful for them to keep moving.

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips.

kinger101

A letter from an employer would probably suffice, but a lender would also want to know about the terms of any probationary period.

Aside from the fact house-hunting is impractical from 500-miles away, unless you really know the area, it would be risky to buy in a location you didn't know. I'd rent for six months first.

Your pets would probably be a whole lot stressed about moving that their human owners. You might do better finding pet-friendly properties with Open Rent.

M2808

Someone I knew bought using their old jobs income even though they would be leaving it to move. This only worked because they knew they had a way of getting the mortgage paid even if they didn't get a job though

Ms_Chocaholic

Could you move in with family?

dancing_star

I did this, but the distance was more like 150 miles than 500. I did it on the back of getting a new job in the new area - I relocated for work, closer to the area I grew up in, but not too close.


I let my old place out for a year, and rented a place in the new area. Gave me a chance to make sure I'd made the right choice before I committed to buying a new place. Also made it easier to get a mortgage, as you say 3 months work history needed.

I sold my old place after a year, and bought a new house, which took ages due to a useless vendor and useless vendors' conveyancers.



I'd recommend doing it this way, I wish I'd sold my old place earlier though as my tenant left in arrears and having caused damage. But the year's breathing space gave me a chance to get to know the area and work out where I would like to live. Six months would have been fine but I had some money tied up in a bond for a year, so financially it made sense for me to wait the full year.


HTH

PasturesNew

You'll struggle on a lot of levels.... trying to coordinate two people, jobs, pets and housing across such a distance.

You really need to bite the bullet and rent in the first instance, limited by those that allow pets, or maybe you could persuade a family member to foster your pet from you ... and you could pick it up weekends and visit it in the evenings.... or something similar.

You'll be most unlikely to get a job there, from where you are, as employers don't "believe" that people will either relocate if a job is offered, or that their other half will persuade them to hand in their notice within a few months as "this relocation lark's not really ideal is it". Many people have a change of heart where it's a couple involved.... and many employers don't really like to hire people who are not already resident in the area and with a good cover story.

dancing_star

PS I have pets too. Renting was difficult - there were only a few places that allowed my cats, and the first one I saw I had to wipe my feet on the way out.


I did find one eventually - the agent told me no pets, so I considered pleading with my dad to foster the cats for a few months. However the landlord who showed me round the property said he was fine with the cats, it was just advertised as no pets because the freehold demanded it, and he didn't give a monkey's about breaking that rule.



As an act of courtesy I got the carpets professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy, they didn't really need it but I thought it was the right thing to do as the LL had been so accommodating. Wish my tenant had been as nice as I was...

quotememiserable

M2808 wrote: »

Someone I knew bought using their old jobs income even though they would be leaving it to move. This only worked because they knew they had a way of getting the mortgage paid even if they didn't get a job though

Yes, there's no need to tell them you're moving jobs. Are you employed - yes, can you provide payslips - yes.

financegeek

quotememiserable wrote: »

Yes, there's no need to tell them you're moving jobs. Are you employed - yes, can you provide payslips - yes.

which might work if you're moving up the road, but i'm sure most mortgage underwriters would query how you're going to be able to maintain the same position when you're moving hundreds of miles away!

kinger101

quotememiserable wrote: »

Yes, there's no need to tell them you're moving jobs. Are you employed - yes, can you provide payslips - yes.

Don't you think the lender might spot that the property which the person it trying to buy is 500 miles from their current address and current employer?

amandacat

Thank you, I think renting is the best option. Houses sell quickly in my area so I am confident I could sell ours quickly and then I can stick the equity in savings ready for buying there. You are right this would give us the option to check areas and look at properties without the pressure.

I will hopefully be able to get a relocation with my company so if I save the next couple years this would allow a buffer for a few months for my husband to look for work.

It is a big move, I am apprehensive as I have lived in many places in the south but never the north but husband is from the area and is not coping well with being away from family and friends. I have lived away from family many times over many years and cope with this much better. I do not have many friends local as they all moved for work. Drawback of Cornwall as lovely as it is.

I have cats, I think I worry about them more than us!! The thought of subjecting them to a 6-7 hr car journey and then them having to settle in a new home makes me feel awful.