Selling and then renting until you find ‘the one’ ?

housemovehelp

After a disastrous attempt at buying and selling I'm thinking our best bet might be to sell and then rent until something we really like comes along . I don't want to be rushed into anything and there's nothing on the market suitable at the moment 

Anyone else done this ?

Suseka97

I was planing on doing this, because we are relocating some 100+ miles away- but luckily (all things being well) we have found our new home.  But if things go pear-shaped on the purchase we've already decided we would continue with the sale of our property and rent.  I think one of the things to consider is for how long you may decide to rent ... most short-term rentals are for 6months+, or I've looked at Air BnB for medium term rentals on a monthly basis, but of course they will be higher cost rentals.

I've read a few threads on here recently of people who have been renting whilst looking for their dream home, so it's certainly something people do.  Most are looking to try and tie selling and purchasing in together if they can - if mainly to benefit from the stamp duty holiday.  Which, admittedly, is what we are hoping to do.

comeandgo

I wouldn't do it any other way.  Far too many problems when you are in a chain.

warwicktate

This is possibly something we are considering. However, even though you will be a cash buyer (and so possibly more attractive as a buyer to a future seller), unless you are buying a chain-free property, you will always be delayed by the slowest in the chain. Obviously if time is no issue then not a problem, but given the horror stories of chains failing at the last moment (read the forums, plenty of these), then buying whilst living in a rental is no real different from living in an 'owned' property if a chain is involved. 

Edited to add: It would appear that some sellers/EA's are not even allowing people to view properties unless they are in a proceed-able position, so it would be wise to have a chat with a couple of local EA's to see their position on this. And in this case, it would certainly be advantageous for you to have already sold your house, and have the funds ready to go.

pinkteapot

We did it when we relocated 300+ miles two years ago. Despite the hassle of moving twice, would absolutely consider it for future moves as it was so much less stressful than being mid-chain, which we'd done a couple of times before!

The thing to be aware of is that you don't want to sign a rental contract until AFTER exchange of contracts - in case your sale falls through. At the moment solicitors are advising same day exchange and completion, which may force you to sign before exchange which isn't ideal. 

The way we did it was: 

1. As soon as we knew exchange was imminent, OH booked a two-week AirBnB in our new area and headed up (this step isn't necessary if you're staying local!). 
2. Rang round letting agents and arranged viewings ASAP of three potential rentals (more than one in case one was taken before we could sign the contract). 
3. Gave our solicitor the go-ahead to exchange as soon as he'd done the viewings and knew there was a vaguely OK house for us. 
4. As soon as our solicitor confirmed exchange had happened, OH went into the letting agent for the house we'd chosen and did the paperwork. He stayed up here while it went through (takes around a week as they do credit checks and references) and then he got the keys. 
5. He came home, and completion was about a week later. 

We wanted to get the keys to the rental early so OH could go there, get a couple of things sorted, and also so that on moving day we could arrive at the house and get straight in without having to do check-in, inventory etc. That's because we have a cat, and after making him do a six-hour car trip we didn't want delays getting him into the house! Obviously to save the money on cross-over rent and mortgage on the place you're selling you could sign the paperwork when you've exchanged but ask for the tenancy to start on your completion date. Or, if the rental is local to you, start it the day before so you can get the keys and do check-in the day before you move. 

The other thing I'd say is viewing a rental that you don't intend to be long-term is VERY different to viewing a house to buy. You don't need to love the place. All you're looking for is: (1) Does all my stuff fit in here? (if not, add on storage costs), (2) Is the area just about quiet enough for us? (3) Is the house in a reasonable enough condition that we can live with it for a year? 

We ended up buying a new-build so it was lovely as there was no chain at all!

Drawingaline

We did it when we relocated. We sold in Jan 2007, moved April 2007 and rented until September 2009. We did well out of it, selling at the height and buying a three bed house 10k cheaper than we sold our flat for! 

I would he less inclined to do it now, especially staying local, as a family of six with two cats, renting would be harder.

NaughtiusMaximus

This is exactly what we did in 2017, although in our case the rental was from a family member which made things easier. The rent was towards the bottom end of the market rate with total flexibility on timescales.

The two huge advantages are it gives you time to find the right property and you don't have to physically move on the day of completion which gives you chance to redecorate. Before moving in we redecorated the living room, kitchen, stairs, landing and main bedroom. I really can't overstate how much easier it was to do all this in an empty house.  

The only real downside is you have to move twice, but this is offset by the fact you can spread each move over a few days which makes it much less stressful.

If you can afford to do so I highly recommend it.

knightstyle

A few years ago we sold before we were ready to move so we put all our stuff in a barn, bought a folding camper and toured around Europe whilst waiting for planning to go through for our new house build. Then bought a mobile home to live in for a year while hose was built.
Perhaps not relevant here but selling is the hard bit so makes sense to sell asap and take your time looking before buying.

staffie1

Yes, I sold end of April - I figured that if my buyer got fed up with waiting for me to find a place she would pull out, and I couldn’t go through starting again from scratch, so I’m now in a rental. I’m chain free, good deposit in the bank, and don’t need to rush into anything. Also lucky I have a good landlord who sees to any problems promptly. I can recommend it. 

freddygolfman

In a falling market you are better off waiting for the bottom 

DayDreamerandGeneralWaster

Hmm. I wouldn't. The market might go down but how do you know you will find what you like then? What if you aren't in a position to buy because your circumstances change? Someone on here did this in 2007 and find themselves still renting (sorry l can't remember their username). You should consider all possibilities.