Can’t find a house to buy after accepting an offer on mine

lookstraightahead

dannim12345 said:

A week or so looking is nothing, just continue to look but no need to feel rushed.  The buyers should understand as this is pretty normal. 

Although the buyers will have their own deadlines, like fixed mortgage rate deal etc. 

op, what is your buyer's situation?

whitesatin

london21 said:

House buying can take some time.

Do not feel rushed to buy just anything.

Hopefully you find something in time, but if you don't will you be ok renting temporarily?

Thanks.  Re renting, we really couldn’t take the stress at our age of moving twice and not knowing what could happen in the property market meanwhile.  We have seriously considered this.

lookstraightahead

whitesatin said:

london21 said:

House buying can take some time.

Do not feel rushed to buy just anything.

Hopefully you find something in time, but if you don't will you be ok renting temporarily?

Thanks.  Re renting, we really couldn’t take the stress at our age of moving twice and not knowing what could happen in the property market meanwhile.  We have seriously considered this.

In which case it might be wise trying to find out what your buyers' situation is, as they might also have stresses to consider, like interest rates or selling their properties, or if they are renting what the situation is for them. 

whitesatin

Thanks for all your replies.  For some reason my phone isn’t letting me reply individually, more than once.  Re renting, we did it once before, the market changed in that time and we couldn’t afford what we would have had we bought straight away.  It happens.  We were a lot younger then, without health issues unlike now, and we coped.

Where we live now is lovely, our dream home once but life needs change.  We are hoping to move somewhere possibly slightly smaller,  but in an area we’ve always wanted to live in.  Unfortunately prices there are similar to here and downsizing is inevitable after fees etc.  We have been looking for a very long time but now little is coming on the market in that area.  It doesn’t help that we’re after a bungalow for health reasons and they are not easy to come by and will take up our full budget.

Our buyers are in a short chain but it looks solid enough.  Who knows?

We will just continue to look as if we don’t do it now, we will only find it more difficult as we get older.

gwynlas

Where we live now is lovely, our dream home once but life needs change.  We are hoping to move somewhere possibly slightly smaller,  but in an area we’ve always wanted to live in.  Unfortunately prices there are similar to here and downsizing is inevitable after fees etc.  We have been looking for a very long time but now little is coming on the market in that area.  It doesn’t help that we’re after a bungalow for health reasons and they are not easy to come by and will take up our full budget

Then you need to be proactive and leaflet all suitable bungalows in your chosen area. There might be someone prepared tp sell privately who  does not want to face a string of potential buyers through an estate agent or who is waiting on some other catalyst.
Circumstances change all the time with people accepting that they can no longer manage their home through age or a downturn in health.

lookstraightahead

whitesatin said:

Thanks for all your replies.  For some reason my phone isn’t letting me reply individually, more than once.  Re renting, we did it once before, the market changed in that time and we couldn’t afford what we would have had we bought straight away.  It happens.  We were a lot younger then, without health issues unlike now, and we coped.

Where we live now is lovely, our dream home once but life needs change.  We are hoping to move somewhere possibly slightly smaller,  but in an area we’ve always wanted to live in.  Unfortunately prices there are similar to here and downsizing is inevitable after fees etc.  We have been looking for a very long time but now little is coming on the market in that area.  It doesn’t help that we’re after a bungalow for health reasons and they are not easy to come by and will take up our full budget.

Our buyers are in a short chain but it looks solid enough.  Who knows?

We will just continue to look as if we don’t do it now, we will only find it more difficult as we get older.

So you have your situation and others will have theirs. Whilst people might wait for a bit, others can't or won't for a whole host of reasons. 

I think you need to look at the important aspects to you, and see perhaps if you are willing to compromise somewhere (whether area, type of property, renting, price etc, or whether staying put / taking chances in your buyer holding on is best).

You probably won't get every box ticked, but you might be lucky too.

silvercar

whitesatin said:

london21 said:

House buying can take some time.

Do not feel rushed to buy just anything.

Hopefully you find something in time, but if you don't will you be ok renting temporarily?

Thanks.  Re renting, we really couldn’t take the stress at our age of moving twice and not knowing what could happen in the property market meanwhile.  We have seriously considered this.

I sympathise with this. Other questions to consider are whether you would be happy to stay put if this buyer disappeared and no one else came along for many months ie how desperate are you to move? How sellable is your home? Some homes you know you could have a lot of interest quickly, others need to wait for the right buyer to come along. You could end up in the reverse situation where you find a property but don't have a buyer.

Ath_Wat

When you look in the new area, can you find no houses you like, or can you find no houses you like in your price range.  It's almost always the latter.
If there are genuinely no houses you like on the market at all then it's just a waiting game which your buyer may not be prepared to play.
If there are houses which you think tick all your boxes but are above your budget, you simply can't afford to move to that area.

Titus_Wadd

Engage with local estate agents, or the branches in the target area, get them to do some work for you.  If you present your situation to EAs we've found they will be motivated to find you a property, for v little work.  I know that EAs probably will do the same for all the sellers with offers, but if you meet them in their premises you will be more memorable, you can ask whether they have listings that are not yet live and ask to view them.  Schmoozing EAs has helped us in the past, when they go to quote for a potential vendor telling them they have the perfect buyer might swing the contract in their favour.  Again, some EAs probably say this to everyone they quote for, but if they remember your face and name you might just get the phone call first.
Keep looking, and slightly widen your search area; half a mile further out is nothing if the house is perfect.  We have moved around the country for work and have always found somewhere within a wide 40 mile search radius,  but folk mostly have a specific vision about where they want to live. Best of luck!

[Deleted User]

I don't know if this has been suggested, but might it be possible to have a timeframe in which you can find a house and, if you haven't in this time, then you can rent? This would ensure you know how long you have and don't feel rushed, and similarly, your buyer will know where they stand in terms of their own plans. Perhaps by mid-January or similar, so you're not rushing to move into a new home for Christmas.