Picky buyer

patchyX2

We're looking to buy a new place in the next year or two. The problem we have is that we are very picky buyers! The region we'd be wiling to move to is very small, maybe 100 hundred houses tops.

I don't think we'd have any problem selling our current house, but selling the house AND finding a new one in a timeframe our buyer would be willing to accept is quite unlikely. 

We could just wait until we find a property we like for sale, but with the way houses are being snapped up around here, I don't think the EA's or seller would consider us if we weren't in a  position to progress, let alone not even having the house on the market. 

We could sell up and move into rented or in with parents while we continue our search, but with two young kids in tow that would be a real hassle and I'd also be worried that if we couldn't find a place quickly then our buying power would be eroded by inflation and/or rent.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and have any words of wisdom to share? 

If we were to find somewhere, we could potentially offer over the going rate to 'sweeten the deal' and explain that the extra cash is to be patient and allow us time to sell, but not sure if that's wise/possible.

I also appreciate that lowering our expectations would be the simplest option, but we'd rather not move at all than move somewhere that wasn't right.

tacpot12

I think the best option is to stay in your house until you have found a house you want to make an offer on, and put all your financial resources into making sure that you are the highest bidder (by some margin) when the right property comes up. This will buy you some time to get your buyer in place. 


 

Kyrae

I think most sellers tend to prefer their buyer to have already sold their house, especially if they have a few buyers to choose from. Could you try leafleting houses in the area you're interested in to see if anyone is thinking of selling? 

AFF8879

Is your current house anywhere near the area you want to move to? If so you could get some kind of EA “endorsement” that there would be a massive queue of buyers for your current property the second it went on the market and selling it quickly would be no issue. Personally, properties are moving so fast around here that I’d have no problem in principal accepting an offer from someone in your position as I would be confident of your ability to sell - the only problem is that you will be up against better positioned buyers hence will need to be the biggest bidder by some margin as has already been suggested 

propertyhunter

To be honest - having been at the coalface recently, your above asking offer would not distinguish you from other buyers. It's more going to be your lack of chain combined with above asking offer. 

In the first instance, try speculative letters through the postboxes of those 100 houses. If you get no response, no one is likely looking to move in the next few months or year. If this happens, register with the key estate agents and say you're serious, but only 'this road' and 'that road', then say you can break the chain if the right house comes up - because then you'd move in with your parents for a few months at worst. I think that would balance your family situation and desire to move plus put you in a better position.

To get the estate agents on side, you need to appear serious. So go to viewings even outside of your preferred streets - this process might open your eyes to some areas you'd never have considered before. It happened to us. If you keep seeing houses, you'll be the one they contact when the listing comes up on the street you love. 

That's my two pennies. Hope its helpful. 

lookstraightahead

You are like everyone else - a picky buyer who finds renting a hassle.

Depends whether you want to be less choosey, or put yourself out and rent to break the chain.

Personally I hate big chains full of folk who think they are more entitled to not be put out (not you op). Also I think the market is not as hysterical as people imagine and will slow down.

maybe not a herd perspective, but short chains and rented have always worked for me, and made my offers more attractive.

patchyX2

Thanks for for the suggestions. Yes we live just down the road from the areas we'd be looking at, so the EA would certainly know whether our house would shift quickly (or not).

Leafletting is something we've considered. Not sure how successful it would be - ideally you find the perfect opportunity and you can skip the EA fees, but I imagine you get a load of people responding feigning interest only to find they're chancers wanting 50% over market rate 

lookstraightahead

AFF8879 said:

Is your current house anywhere near the area you want to move to? If so you could get some kind of EA “endorsement” that there would be a massive queue of buyers for your current property the second it went on the market and selling it quickly would be no issue. Personally, properties are moving so fast around here that I’d have no problem in principal accepting an offer from someone in your position as I would be confident of your ability to sell - the only problem is that you will be up against better positioned buyers hence will need to be the biggest bidder by some margin as has already been suggested 

The EAs round by you can see into the future? If as a vendor I was given a promise like that from an EA I would rotfl. I'm intrigued to know of your area in general as I don't see things happening that quickly in London, the Home Counties, or the midlands. 

AFF8879

lookstraightahead said:

AFF8879 said:

Is your current house anywhere near the area you want to move to? If so you could get some kind of EA “endorsement” that there would be a massive queue of buyers for your current property the second it went on the market and selling it quickly would be no issue. Personally, properties are moving so fast around here that I’d have no problem in principal accepting an offer from someone in your position as I would be confident of your ability to sell - the only problem is that you will be up against better positioned buyers hence will need to be the biggest bidder by some margin as has already been suggested 

The EAs round by you can see into the future? If as a vendor I was given a promise like that from an EA I would rotfl. I'm intrigued to know of your area in general as I don't see things happening that quickly in London, the Home Counties, or the midlands. 

Well definitely not London as that’s been a dead market since the pandemic, almost impossible to sell flats in particular. I’m in Hampshire. But as I said in my original post, OP would still be up against better positioned buyers so would need to offer considerably more than someone with no chain, offer already accepted etc to stand a chance,

propertyhunter

Remember London consists of hundreds of mini-markets. Some areas are very popular. It's not even areas, it's sometimes literally a block of 4/5 streets. The flat market is completely different to the freehold house market though I agree. I am seeing more demand for flats though, it's not completely dead as it once was. I also sold in the middle of last year, when people still somewhat cared about the pandemic.

jenni_fer

OP, our position is very similar to yours.
We want to move but we aren't desperate, it's only worth moving for the forever property not just anything.

There seems to be (in my experience) a disproportionate amount of people advocating breaking the chain on these forums compared to the general population (of people I talk), even the many estate agents around here have not been in favour of us taking such action. Add that to the fact that had we done so when our purchase fell through last summer we would have lost getting on for a year best case in rental payments and the c£60k increase in our current property value, the combination of which would put us in a far worse position i feel.

We were advised to get ours sold and then see what happens, we've been nothing but open and honest with the original buyers (who waited Jan to Nov before we pulled out) and the current ones. Both sets had also struggled to find a suitable house purchase and so 'got it'.

It is frustrating that these days you have to be sold to even view, but you can only play the game by the rules of the time I guess!

Only you know what is right for you, good luck!