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

Martico

whitesatin said:

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.

Something maybe to bear in mind from my family's experience: a few years ago my parents were starting to struggle with the stairs, so started hunting around for a bungalow. But, like you, scarcity of suitable properties and the premium on bungalows caused us all to rethink. Their solution was to have a lift installed in the house, at around (I think) £10-12K. It's perfect for them, they get to stay in a property they love. So a house that is suitably laid out (it obviously needs space in a hall and the room above) need not be a barrier to mobility and the cost of a lift is probably a fair bit less than the bungalow premium. 

Zerforax

The main thing is managing expectations with your buyer (and making sure estate agent isn't fibbing in between). If they are aware that you need to find a place and the sale can't complete asap based on their transaction then they can't complain later.

I would say that they will probably have a 6 month deadline on their mortgage offer so they may get upset if they lose that deal considering interest rates are only going up.

When we bought our first house in 2017, we were told the seller wanted a quick sale and they already had an idea/purchase lined up. So we increased our offer on that basis. When instead of taking 2-3 months, the sale ended up taking 7-8 months because they hadn't secured their onward purchase, we were more upset about it (and ended up getting a small price reduction). But we did wait for the property as we really liked it.

SavingPennies_2

Whilst I sympathise, if I was your buyer I would be still looking and be ready to pull out if I found something else.

If you are serious about moving you really need to be checking every day, viewing houses even if they don't look perfect on paper, modifying expectations, widening the search, etc. If however you want to move if/ when the perfect house comes up (which is fair enough) it would probably be best to rent for a while or be prepared that your buyer may become impatient and drop out (whatever they may say now!)

youth_leader

I was 62 when I had to downsize and as I sold at auction, did go into a rented cottage with a garage.  Don't let your experience when you were younger put you off, it is doable. 

I think I had a definite buying advantage through being a cash in the bank buyer, I'm sure the vendor of this bungalow chose me out of the four offers because I could move quickly.

jenni_fer

We've just completed our chain after 10 months! (And now might lose the buyer who has patiently waited all that time!)

My advice would be simply to be honest with everyone. For various reasons (mostly cost) we had no interest in moving into rented. We've never been anything but clear about this and that finding the right property would take as long as it takes.

Admittedly, we never thought it would take this long but who could have predicted the multiple bidding wars, sellers changing their minds once offers accepted and various other dramas along the way.

Make friends with the estate agents most likely to be selling the house you want, being able to see stuff 'off market' can be very handy.

Most importantly, this is a huge and important purchase, don't settle just to appease the person buying your house... you'll forget them quickly once you move but be stuck with the house choice you make.

Good Luck!

[Deleted User]

babyblade41 said:

I'm afraid if I was your buyer I would be also looking every day to see if something else came up.

What I never understand is deciding to move house isn't usually a whim & is planned for . I look every day before selling & everyday until I have an offer .I keep them in my favourites folder on RM. Even ones that aren't fully in my criteria but location is key

Once I receive an offer I call EA & ask the position of each of those that we like then whittle it down again.

We usually book viewings  in the space of a couple of days but usually have decided beforehand as we have done our own due diligence , so the viewing is just crossing the "t's" & dotting the "I's


If the move is a necessity due to circumstances then you will have to accept your criteria won't be fully met so will have to compromise or break a chain for the sale to complete.

My last sale this year , we broke the chain as are first cash buyer bowed out day before exchange , went to next in line who were desperate & in rented so from start to finish inc first buyer was 14 weeks 

TLDR. you must accept you might lose your buyer if they find something else 

I'm completely with @babyblade41 in terms of how I approach finding a new property and I'm pretty relentless. I still look every single day on Rightmove even though I love our house now. However - looking at the property market around me currently, I think I would really really struggle to find somewhere under pressure following a sale. There is so little coming up round by us, even with a really healthy budget so lining a few places up to view but would be almost impossible. I think it's very variable by area currently on how availability is looking.

I would second what someone else was saying about maybe trying to make friends with EA, consider dropping a letter or two through the doors of properties you'd potentially be interested in. There's also a tab on RM that allows you to see properties that have been on the market and removed for one reason or another. That was how we found our current property and approached them to ask if they would still consider selling.

whitesatin

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and ideas but today I got the news that it is unlikely that our buyer can go ahead anytime soon as their buyers can’t get the mortgage they thought they would.  So it’s back to the drawing board for them and the market where they are isn’t good right now.  We will continue to look at what’s available, ready to put in an offer should things get back on track.  Everything happens for a reason, I suppose.

[Deleted User]

whitesatin said:

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and ideas but today I got the news that it is unlikely that our buyer can go ahead anytime soon as their buyers can’t get the mortgage they thought they would.  So it’s back to the drawing board for them and the market where they are isn’t good right now.  We will continue to look at what’s available, ready to put in an offer should things get back on track.  Everything happens for a reason, I suppose.

Sorry to here that @whitesatin. As you say - all happens for a reason and I'm sure the timing will fall in to place for you soon.