Buying a new build - the after bit

thomas502

Hi everyone,

Bit of an odd situation we are in...
We have been allowed to reserve a house on an erly bird scheme but are not preceedable.
They advised us that we will get first refusal when the prices come out, which will be around June time....so, obviously we need to get our house on the market and have accepted an offer to be able to put an offer in on the new one....

The fuzzy bit for me is that the new house won't be ready until approx. Dec/Jan so if we accept someone's offer and we have a 6 month gap, until the new one is ready, what is best to do?

Would it be best to go into a rented house for 6m (we do have 2 young children) or try somehow to hold on and delay things with solicitors etc....?

Just wondering what people usually do in this circumstance?

vw100

You can let your estate agent know to inform any prospective buyer of the timescales for completion, or sell your house and move into renting after selling your house.

The former - may put of some buyers and also some may change their mind later down the line. I would personally go into renting until the new house is ready and then you are not involved in chains and all the stress that goes with buying and selling.

davidmcn

Renting will be easier. I would generally expect whoever is choosing to buy off-plan to be the only party tolerating the vagaries of the builders' timescales - you're unlikely to find a buyer happy to twiddle their thumbs for months and then get e.g. 14 days notice of when they need to complete.

Silvertabby

Next door neighbours had a similar problem. They solved it by moving into a static caravan (on a holiday site) for 3 months. Not for everyone, but their son loved it.

[Deleted User]

Why do you need to list your house now. Why not wait until June when you will know what the house will cost and wether you want to proceed.

LittleMrsThrifty

Are the new houses likely to be very highly sought after? If so you might need to go into rented. If not, you might be able to wait until June, put your house on the market, reserve one and then move straight in.

The developer will tell you they expect a lot of demand but that may not be the case.

Jointhediscussion

Don't put the buyer off by putting them in the situation. If someone buys a house, its normally because they want to move. Choosing a rented place and store un-needed items to save time and stress on multiple moving is the best option.

AnotherJoe

It's hard enough in most areas to sell a house without adding a very long delay on your buyer probably followed by more delays due to weather and then all of a sudden hurry up.
Go into rented.

OldMusicGuy

Have you looked into the buying process with the developer? Normally they expect you to exchange well in advance of completion. So you will probably be under pressure to exchange quickly once you make an offer, with a delayed completion date set some time in the future. Do you have the money to put the deposit on your new place without selling yours? If not, you might be in trouble....

We have just put a holding deposit on a new build that won't be ready until end of this year or early next year. We thought about trying to delay the sale of ours to avoid going into rented but decided that was too risky and we will try to sell as soon as possible and then go into rented until the new place is ready. We have the cash to fund the exchange without selling ours but all the advice I found anywhere said go into rented, too risky otherwise.