To complete on sale and rent (and be chain free) or stay put and keep looking for new house

jelajelavic

Hi All, I know there's no right or wrong thing to do but just wanted to hear people's thoughts just to help rationalise and make sure we're not missing something in the echo chamber discussions with my wife......

....so our situation is that our flat sale has been under offer since mid/end of January and is almost ready to complete. But we haven't found anywhere yet, we've offered on a few properties and either been outbid by price or beaten by a chain free buyers, so are still some way to finding somewhere but have been close a few times so think something will land soon.

Our buyer has offered £7k more to complete and move out by mid/end of July. We didn't think it was a great idea, due to moving twice, extra cost of rent and the standard of properties that we could rent for a reasonable price just not being very good at all after owning for 6 years. However, we have seen one this weekend and think we can have it at a price we are happy with. So it would mean moving out twice and it will still cost more than staying put but we would also be chain free so in a stronger buying position.

The additional money from our buyer helps and probably covers 6 months of rent (difference of rent vs mortgage interest and service change). So renting longer than 6 months would be more expensive overall, as well as just having overall uncertainty about our living situation but then there's the chain free element to completing on the sale now.

The rental property also has a little more space and a private garden and is in the area we want to move to, so some non-monetary factors to consider, may also be a good test to see if we like the area. Although its only a few stops out on the same line so dont think thats a big risk factor, but one never knows.

Any thoughts/advice appreciated.

Thanks

Zerforax

Do you have kids? With young kids moving twice could be difficult.

jelajelavic

Zerforax said:

Do you have kids? With young kids moving twice could be difficult.

No kids right now, is the plan for the near future but none at the moment. But a good point if applicable

SuseOrm

I stepped off the ladder for 12 months if they’re  had been anyway I could’ve avoided it I would’ve it was awful,  do not believe anybody that tells you you’re in a better position for the fact that you’re in rented it makes absolutely no difference in this market whatsoever.  It’s all about the money and you’ll have a couple of grand more in your pocket if you don’t have to move twice and pay rental costs.  

housebuyer143

I would probably do it. If you 100% want to move regardless. You have a commitment buyer who is giving you more money to complete. 
What could happen is you don't, you lose the buyer, you then find a property you love but then have a buyer who drops out so you then lose that place and the circle goes around and around. 

It does take some stress out of it if you don't have a chain. 

george2017

Given all the talk of the market cooling off you may be better off sticking with this buyer than pulling out as you might end up having to accept less for your property. And if you’re losing out to chain free buyers now then surely becoming chain free puts you in a better position.

jelajelavic

SuseOrm said:

I stepped off the ladder for 12 months if they’re  had been anyway I could’ve avoided it I would’ve it was awful,  do not believe anybody that tells you you’re in a better position for the fact that you’re in rented it makes absolutely no difference in this market whatsoever.  It’s all about the money and you’ll have a couple of grand more in your pocket if you don’t have to move twice and pay rental costs.  

Thanks for you opinion, I agree it can add uncertainty and if its for longer than we would like then it could become expensive, and have other issues that comes with renting. Its about trying to weigh up all the different factors. We have lost out to chain free buyers already, this could be estate agent spin I agree but enough seem to be saying it for at least there to be some truth.

The increased offer from our buyer covers the move and 6 months additional costs for renting so that does mitigate it.

jelajelavic

housebuyer143 said:

I would probably do it. If you 100% want to move regardless. You have a commitment buyer who is giving you more money to complete. 
What could happen is you don't, you lose the buyer, you then find a property you love but then have a buyer who drops out so you then lose that place and the circle goes around and around. 

It does take some stress out of it if you don't have a chain. 

Thanks yes, and it also gives us a chance to test the new neighbourhood out by renting first. Does introduce some uncertainty with being a tenant which we haven't had for 6 years but might allow us to secure a new home and not have the risk of our buyer pulling out. Was going to re-mortgage to a tracker as current deal is expiring soon, so renting also saves us a £1k in mortgage fee.

We do 100% want to move as ready to leave our current flat and have being actively viewing to buy...seen a lot of places and just been a bit unlucky so far.

GixerKate

If I was in your shoes and there weren't any children or pets involved I would probably do it.  Moving to a new area is a gamble, if you are renting nearby then you are in a better position for viewings, knowing exactly where to avoid etc. 

donutandbeer

We have been looking to buy since accepting an offer from a FTB in March. Even though our buyer was chain-free, we had made offers on three houses and none was accepted even though we were the highest offer each time, there were always a few chain-free buyers competing with us. We exchanged on our sale last week and moved to a family member’s house. Our circumstance was a bit more complicated (the sale of the house was in the end tied with my brother-in-law’s purchase; my husband co-owned the property with my bil), but we moved because we wanted to be chain-free. We also didn’t want to lose our buyer, not that there are many comparable houses on the market right now, but we think we got a good price and we really didn’t want to have to go through the whole process again. 

The fact that you will be renting in the area you want to buy sounds like a good enough reason for me to do it. If you, like us, feel like you were beaten by chain-free buyers all the time, then maybe it’s really worth considering. We also don’t have kids, we don’t have to pay rent to family member but have to pay for storage for most of our stuff. 

jelajelavic

Its not a completely new area ie. new city or part of country but a new neighbourhood a couple of train stops out (within London), so not a drastic change but we might end up hating the immediate neighbourhood (hopefully not as we've been looking to buy there!). But given the way the circumstances have gone we may have an opportunity to test it out now, which wasn't the plan originally.