Want to buy, but is the timing right?

yojimbo_beta

Hi Moneysavers. I'm in a bit of a quandary.

After lots of scrimping and saving (and a couple of pay bumps) I am finally in the position of being able to buy a house. I currently live in London and am mostly looking at flats in the £250-280k range. (Pricey, I know). I currently rent a very cheap flat (with bills about £800 pm - cheap for London, at least) and could in theory move at any time...

...except that my landlord has told me he wants to refurbish the property "starting in the new year". I can't get a clear answer on whether I'll have to move, but he's had an architect in, which implies some fairly radical renovation.

The question is, do I have time to view properties, make an offer, negotiate, run searches, get my mortgage, have a survey, exchange and complete - all by January?

Secondly, if not: what should I do? I was viewing another rental earlier today - nice enough but the LL wants a 24 month lease. He might be amenable to a 12 month break clause, but even that constrains me more than I would like.

Do I have an option of just buying anyway and taking a short term rent if it doesn't complete fast enough? My concern is that I could be flitting around Airbnbs for a couple of months waiting for my purchase to complete.

What are my best options?

tom9980

Why not look to buy then ask your current landlord to wait a few months until you complete your purchase.

yojimbo_beta

@tom9980 - He might be amenable. He's been talking about refurbishing this place for almost a year now, so he may not be in a massive hurry. It's always worth asking.

SunnyCat

Apparently an average purchase takes 12 weeks from offer to completion... So you could buy something and move by the new year. But all sorts of things may happen. Perhaps try to find something you like, get an offer in and then talk to the landlord about timings?

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

You might be able to complete if have an offer accepted on a chain free property this month or early October, but that is assuming there are no hitches and enquires are promptly responded to (often a problem with leaseholds).

yojimbo_beta wrote: »

The question is, do I have time to view properties, make an offer, negotiate, run searches, get my mortgage, have a survey, exchange and complete - all by January?

PasturesNew

Right now, if you can find one you like at a price you like, just buy it.

Never underestimate the power of the market to never give you what you want in your price range - so if you find it, no matter when, just buy it.

[Deleted User]

You are guessing as to when you will be asked to move out, and to be honest, the LL might be expecting you to stay while renovations continue.

The LL has still to get the architect designs back, agree them/amend them and get quotes for the work. It could take two or three months minimum just for that. Then its a case of waiting for contractors to be free to start work. Its unlikely to happen in the short term. Not impossible, but unlikely.

If the worst came to the worst, you could move into a room temporarily and put your stuff into storage. Probably cheaper than paying for a 12 month rental and having to deal with the financial hemorrhaging if your new place is ready to move into within 6 months. And all the stress wondering if you are going to exchange to coincide with another AST end.

In your position I'd go ahead with the purchase and deal with what happens when it happens. You just don't know what is going to happen. Unless you are brave enough to discuss plans with the LL in a firmer way (when I had a private LL, nothing was firm and even promises came to nothing, every time lol).

yojimbo_beta

Thank you for putting things in perspective Deanna. There are many things that could delay the LL's plans. There are several ways we could negotiate the timeline for renovation. The LL has talked about this since January and it has still come to naught.

I've been looking online at both storage facilities and short term lettings, and both are cheaper than I feared they might be. Not something to do long term but not ruinous in a pinch. If the worst came to the worst I could just move into a flatshare (or maybe even airbnb? might need to get a PO box though) and deal with it over winter.

I've ummed and ahhed a lot over this and on paper there are a lot of reasons to delay. Market uncertainty and a very stressful time in a new job. But now I've started thinking of it I don't want to let go of the opportunity to buy if I can help it. Even if prices go down I'm happy to ride it out for a few years.

It's just the practicalities I"m unclear on. Some people say their purchases took ten weeks, others say more like six months! I have an Agreement In Principle from a mortgage provider though and there are quite a few chain free properties on Rightmove. So I think it is doable in some form.

[Deleted User]

Agreed but treat the words chain free with some scepticism. Sometimes vendors aren't but say they are.

steampowered

It sounds perfectly achievable to move by January, if you get cracking with your search.

If you decide you want a property that might take longer because it is in a chain or for some other reason then you can cross that bridge when you come to it.

FTBAngst

deannatrois wrote: »

Agreed but treat the words chain free with some scepticism. Sometimes vendors aren't but say they are.

I had an estate agent adament that a vendor buying an empty property to move into with the money from the sale did not count as a chain. The ad stated chain- free even though the vendor hadn’t started looking for a place to buy yet.