Selling then renting.

cmcluskey

Hello, I’ll try keep this short.
Myself and my partner are currently looking to sell our two bed flat and upgrade to a house. According to estate agent valuations we should have enough equity in the property for a 10% deposit (when mortgage rates pick up) plus a bit extra to cover fees etc. 

We were thinking of selling, renting for 6 months and the buying. That way when we buy we are in a much better position to negotiate as we are not part of a chain.

Just wondering if anyone has done this before and how it worked out? We live in Glasgow. Thanks!

tacpot12

I've not done what you are suggesting, but I think it is a reasonable approach. However I think you are overestimating the effect of not being part of a chain. There are also many more cash buyers than you would expect, and you have the complication of needing a mortgage. 

Buying and selling is a bit of a lottery at the best of times, so I would just crack on with your plan - the sooner you sell, the sooner you will be able to buy. I've lost track of how long purchases typically take in Scotland, but I would suggest that you start searching for your new home a couple of months ahead of the time needed to complete a purchase.

NQManchester

We did that because we couldn’t find a house we want. Just be prepared that it’s unlikely it’ll only be 6 months, we’ll be looking at a year if our current purchase works out and everyone I know who’s done the same has been 1-2 years. We also found it difficult to find a rental that would agree minimum 6 months not a year.
Other potential issue at the moment is that you don’t want to sign a rental agreement until you exchange contracts and solicitors are recommending same day exchange/completion so that might be a stress.
That being said, i think it’s a lot easier and less stressful not being in a chain and we got our offer accepted at 10k less than the best offer because we’re chain free and it’s only likely to get more valuable to people.
I also don’t mind packing and moving twice because if we haven’t unpacked it whilst we’re in the rental we probably don’t need it and can have a good clear out before we move again.

walwyn1978

We did it. Sold, rented for a year (ended up being 2.5 for various reasons including not finding a house we liked/not getting houses we tried to buy) and it gives you time to properly research the area you’re thinking of moving to. The positives outweigh the negatives for me. 

mrsS_2

I’ve done this twice. The first time we ended up buying the house we rented from the landlord.  The second time we  moved out into rented but found our ideal home which we are still in btw within 3 weeks and we got it very cheap because there was no chain.   So ended up renting and paying a mortgage for about 6 months but may not have got the house if couldn’t move quickly.    So it’s a risk you need to think about. Or don’t start looking too soon I suppose    We didn’t waste the time  we put a large extension on the new house and stayed in the rented property so the building work was much quicker as they didn’t need to keep leaving utilities for us etc.  Swings and roundabouts !    I would do it again 

Davesnave

Yes we did it. There was a dearth of property in the Crash of 2008/9 and we'd taken a hit to get sold, so we wanted a bargain. Interest rates were at 6%, so it actually made us money, though it was  a hassle moving twice.

However, we were real cash buyers, so we could leap on anything that needed sold in a hurry, and that's what happened. There would have been no way to buy the property we have now if we'd been in a typical chain scenario or needed a mortgage.

It's still good to be chain free though, especially in tough times like we're heading into now.

Scotbot

Yep done it several time when relocating long distances so made more sense to rent for a while in the new area. As everyone says you often end up renting longer than you plan to as you can only buy what us on the market.  It makes you more attractive to the seller than someone in a chain so if there are multiple offers you are more likely to succeed but it doesn't give you much buying power in terms of price negotiation if there are other offers. If the other offers are much higher the vendor is more likely to go with them.

Finding a rental is always a hassle, with respect to exchanging and completing on the same day solicitors may advise this but  as the seller you can insist on time in between.

cmcluskey

Thank you everyone! Lots to think about but I really appreciate hearing for people who have been through it or who are going through it.