Delaying completion on our house....nightmare finding anything!

juliedee4663

trakky14 said:

lookstraightahead said:

I've never ever had a problem with finding rentals, I've done it to break chains all through my life, with pets, with kids etc. Albeit minimum of 12 months.
can you look at a wider radius whilst renting? Say, an extra 5 miles out?

Part of the problem is there are no rentals because there are tonnes of people sitting in them waiting for houses to buy...we have a massive search radius. Once one is listed the agents get so many enquiries that we can't get an appointment to view. I spent over 3 weeks trying and only saw 1 house which wasn't suitable. Nobody in this area has ever seen anything like it! Every day people post on the local fb groups looking for rentals there just aren't any. Lots of second homes have been sold the last few  months as people are cashing in on the crazy demand....its utter madness!

^^ This, exactly what it is like for us. We have viewed several rental properties over the last month or so when we couldn't find anything to buy, all have wanted a minimum of 12 months (which we were prepared to commit to) but there were so many people interested in each property that every time the landlord went with someone else (and in particular people who said they were prepared to commit to even longer than 12 months and not wanting to rent while they were waiting to find and buy a property). The last rental we viewed had 30 viewings booked within 24 hours!! We thought renting to break our chain would be the easy option if we couldn't find anything to buy!!

thriftytracey

Our EA called today to advise 1) Our buyers were going to start looking at other properties, although they still want our house and 2) If we don't meet the the stamp duty deadline end September could we go half whacks?

My answers to that were 1) that is their prerogative and 2) We have to pay stamp duty too when we find a property.

I can't magic properties up in our desired location within our price range.  Also, this will be our final home so not going to rush into buying something totally unsatisfactory just to please them.  We have already made several compromises for our desired property.

It's not like it has been months - six weeks.  We did make one offer over the asking price but lost out to best and final.  Ironically the EA concerned came back to us to say the first buyer had changed their mind and did we want it?  We didn't as in the interim had changed our minds about location.  

trakky14

thriftytracey said:

Our EA called today to advise 1) Our buyers were going to start looking at other properties, although they still want our house and 2) If we don't meet the the stamp duty deadline end September could we go half whacks?

My answers to that were 1) that is their prerogative and 2) We have to pay stamp duty too when we find a property.

I can't magic properties up in our desired location within our price range.  Also, this will be our final home so not going to rush into buying something totally unsatisfactory just to please them.  We have already made several compromises for our desired property.

It's not like it has been months - six weeks.  We did make one offer over the asking price but lost out to best and final.  Ironically the EA concerned came back to us to say the first buyer had changed their mind and did we want it?  We didn't as in the interim had changed our minds about location.  

Exactly the same here, there isn't anything!!! Can't magic them out of nowhere....we offered 26k over asking on one this week which went to best and final offers and we didn't get it...can't say we're not trying! 

trakky14

juliedee4663 said:

trakky14 said:

lookstraightahead said:

I've never ever had a problem with finding rentals, I've done it to break chains all through my life, with pets, with kids etc. Albeit minimum of 12 months.
can you look at a wider radius whilst renting? Say, an extra 5 miles out?

Part of the problem is there are no rentals because there are tonnes of people sitting in them waiting for houses to buy...we have a massive search radius. Once one is listed the agents get so many enquiries that we can't get an appointment to view. I spent over 3 weeks trying and only saw 1 house which wasn't suitable. Nobody in this area has ever seen anything like it! Every day people post on the local fb groups looking for rentals there just aren't any. Lots of second homes have been sold the last few  months as people are cashing in on the crazy demand....its utter madness!

^^ This, exactly what it is like for us. We have viewed several rental properties over the last month or so when we couldn't find anything to buy, all have wanted a minimum of 12 months (which we were prepared to commit to) but there were so many people interested in each property that every time the landlord went with someone else (and in particular people who said they were prepared to commit to even longer than 12 months and not wanting to rent while they were waiting to find and buy a property). The last rental we viewed had 30 viewings booked within 24 hours!! We thought renting to break our chain would be the easy option if we couldn't find anything to buy!!

This sounds exactly like the rental situation near us!! It'd absolutely nuts and I can't see any end to it!

Ashworks

Yep, same issue here - we sold 8 weeks ago and there is nothing suitable in our search area, even with a reasonable budget.

trakky14

Ashworks said:

Yep, same issue here - we sold 8 weeks ago and there is nothing suitable in our search area, even with a reasonable budget.

So depressing isn't it? We're looking up to half a million...you'd think  you would be able to find something but no!

Lavendyr

thriftytracey said:

Our EA called today to advise 1) Our buyers were going to start looking at other properties, although they still want our house and 2) If we don't meet the the stamp duty deadline end September could we go half whacks?

My answers to that were 1) that is their prerogative and 2) We have to pay stamp duty too when we find a property.

I can't magic properties up in our desired location within our price range.  Also, this will be our final home so not going to rush into buying something totally unsatisfactory just to please them.  We have already made several compromises for our desired property.

It's not like it has been months - six weeks.  We did make one offer over the asking price but lost out to best and final.  Ironically the EA concerned came back to us to say the first buyer had changed their mind and did we want it?  We didn't as in the interim had changed our minds about location.  

That is indeed their prerogative. However I expect that by that time the move in stamp duty will be factored into the property price. In other words, you may find something within your budget more easily once the SDLT holiday ends - but you should expect your buyer to drop their price accordingly too. Half whack seems pretty generous of them.
The housing market is busy as it's been in a while. Your buyers are not being unreasonable. It is a crazy tough market and there isn't a lot out there. But I think a lot depends on where the SDLT thresholds are when you find a place. You might find something a bit cheaper because the holiday has passed, but your buyer might still feel locked into the price they offered in contemplation of meeting the holiday. You might well expect them to drop their offer while they wait, and as the market moves. You could alternatively remarket. It's a very moveable feast righit now.