Moving and renting

curtis122

I'm looking at putting my house on the market at the end of next year, I'm already getting really anxious about it as I've never moved house before, we bought a new build as our first house so was slightly different as it was just us and the developer so just the thought of chains, losing the house we may have really wanted and estate agents is going a lot round my mind already and I'm already starting to read about processes and what we need to do.

Even though its some time yet I'm already going through scenarios in my head as we are looking at moving out of the area and there is not as much housing stock available where we are going. We have been keeping an eye on Rightmove etc and suitable properties that we would look at if looking now come up maybe once a month. We are therefore expecting a high possibility of our house to sell and go thorough before we find anything so looking at possibly renting.

The problem is with that, as much as it puts us in a great situation, we are mortgage free and given rents have gone up this is going to be a big financial hit every month and so is the fact available rental stock is low currently.  We have been trying to think of any other options to renting but we cannot stay with family as my dad only has a tiny small 2 bed property, my partners family live abroad and of our few friends they have children so no room and would not want to burden them anyhow with us for months. We even had a look if there were any static caravans that you could rent long term but it does not seem to be a thing you can do, only short term holiday bookings.

Whats making me already anxious is, when do we look at going into a rental given the current situation especially now as we would not want to find one and start paying rent when we still can stay in our property as it has not completed yet, but if we leave it to late there may be no rental available and possibly be homeless. I'm not going to lie but I can't wait to move but I'm dreading it so much at the same time.

Whats been people's experience with this if they have been in this situation? 

pinkteapot

We relocated 300 miles and sold our house then rented while looking for a house to buy - ended up in the rental for about a year. 

The key thing is that you shouldn't sign a tenancy agreement until you've exchanged contracts on your sale, because until that's happened your buyer could pull out for no reason, with no penalty. So, what we did: 

Told our buyers from the very start (during a chat on viewing about what timescale we could do as they needed to buy a place quickly) that we'd need four weeks between exchange and completion due to needing to organise a rental. Four weeks used to be pretty typical decades ago but one to two weeks seems normal these days, which isn't ideal when rental hunting. 

Once we knew we were very close to exchange (you keep in touch with your solicitor and estate agent to find out), my husband booked two weeks in an AirBnB in the area we were moving to. He rang round letting agents and booked viewing on three or four rentals. This was in the few days before exchange. He told the agent which one we wanted and said we were just waiting for confirmation of exchange. That happened a day or two later, so he submitted the application for the rental. It takes about a week to go through because they do credit checks and references (direct landlords rather than lettings agents may not bother). Once the application was successful, he signed the tenancy agreement and got the keys - all this was on the same trip.

We therefore ended up starting the tenancy and getting the keys 2-3 weeks before completion, but we were more comfortable doing that than turning up with our removal truck and hoping the landlord hadn't changed their mind in the meantime. Was worth the cost for peace of mind. 

Before he came home he went to the rental and did the usual move-in stuff - sorted meter reads, measured up so we could plan where furniture would go, etc - then we did the admin when he got home. Arranged utilities, booked broadband install, etc. 

He went alone because he'd already finished his job but I'd still been working my notice. Meant I moved into a house I'd never seen, but as it was only a temporary rental it didn't matter. 

When looking for rentals you know will be relatively short-term, all you care about are that the location is vaguely the right area and that it's big enough for your stuff. It's very different to house-buying where you'll be more fussy.

Will you have jobs when you move? You do need an income to pass a lettings agent application. We nearly got stuck because we'd both resigned and were going to job-hunt when we arrived. So, even though we had enough in the bank to pay the rent for decades thanks to our house sale, we would have been turned down without income. They told my husband to put mine down even though they knew I was on notice and leaving in a couple of weeks! Shows how much of a pointless box ticking exercise the application is. 

curtis122

Thank you for for sharing your experience, that was useful to know to set a 4 week time between exchange and complete .  I may/may not be earning as I work temporary roles but my partner will still be in work and earning. We will be renting still in our current home town due to his job and continuing to look from there and then he will be leaving is job once we have found somewhere. 

It sounds like it all worked out well for you in the end, but even with your story there just seems some opportunities where something could fall through, the most obvious being having to hold off signing the rental agreement till you exchanged, luckily you were a few days after, if its more what if the landlord goes with someone else especially given there are so many others wanting rentals. I do hope when it comes to it works out as well as yours.

Mr.Generous

The rental market has changed - demand out strips supply by at least 10 fold. As a landlord personally I have no interest in paying an agent to find a tenant and for all the checks etc for a short term let. It may be harder than it was previously unless you can convince a landlord you are the best choice of tenant. Where it used to be a case of finding a home you like - and as a first time landlord years ago I waited a couple of weeks for a single enquiry on a renovated 2 bed terrace - the last one we advertised got (from memory) about 60 enquiries on day 1, 20 more on days 2 and 3. We did viewings with 8 and they all wanted the property. Landlords choose tenants at the moment. The only 1 who played the highest bidder game did not get the property.

pinkteapot

Hmm, good point made by Mr Generous re the state of the rental market. It was tough where we moved to - while my husband could do 3-4 viewings that was over a large-ish area (40 miles between them). It was 2018, so the market wasn't as bad as now, but we're in an area where the vast majority of spare houses are holiday lets, so there weren't many rentals even then. 

The good thing is that, as I said, if you know you'll be buying soon then the rental doesn't have to be perfect - far from it. 

If you've got say four weeks from exchange to completion that should still be time to find something and get signed up, or to arrange the emergency back-up plan (storage for your stuff + hotel). 

I would try to find out what the rental market is like in the area you're moving to. Speak to agents, join local Facebook groups and ask, etc. Get a sense for how hard it'll be. 

pinkteapot

curtis122 said:

It sounds like it all worked out well for you in the end, but even with your story there just seems some opportunities where something could fall through, the most obvious being having to hold off signing the rental agreement till you exchanged, luckily you were a few days after, if its more what if the landlord goes with someone else especially given there are so many others wanting rentals. I do hope when it comes to it works out as well as yours.

You sound like quite an anxious person? I sympathise because I am too. With house moving, whether you're going to rented or buying, there's a HUGE amount of uncertainty and you have very little control. You'll drive yourself crazy thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Focus your energy on the things that are in your control - getting the EA and solicitor to chase up the sale to try to make sure it goes through, being organised to find a rental ASAP around exchange... 

You could sign a tenancy agreement before exchanging - there's nothing to stop you doing that legally. But if your buyer then pulls out you'll still be liable for probably 12-months rent because most rental agreements these days are 12-months, not 6. So, it would be really ill-advised. 

Basically it is a case of exchange contracts then go for rentals and hope for the best. There isn't really a better way around it. As mentioned above, be prepared with back-up plans (storage facilities + hotels/AirBnBs) in case you need them. If you're anything like me then planning for the worst and knowing what you'll do and who you'll phone if it happens helps with the stress. 

If you can negotiate four weeks between exchange and completion then you really should be able to find a rental. A few years ago I'd have said you absolutely definitely would. The current rental market is the only thing making me slightly more cautious.

curtis122

So currently then it may be better not to mention anything about to a rental agent  about waiting to exchange.  Another thing I need to look into is rental agreements as we would not really want to sign up to a 12 month agreement and then find a new house say 3 months later. 6 months would be ok then rolling.

pinkteapot

curtis122 said:

So currently then it may be better not to mention anything about to a rental agent  about waiting to exchange.  Another thing I need to look into is rental agreements as we would not really want to sign up to a 12 month agreement and then find a new house say 3 months later. 6 months would be ok then rolling.

Even when we did it in 2018, none of the properties we looked at would consider a 6-month. And if the market is as bad as it sounds, you won't really want to let on that you're planning to immediately start looking to buy as they'll probably have applications from people planning to rent long-term. I think you may have to accept a 12-month contract to be honest.

The thing is, you'll move and then be getting settled, exploring the area, working out what locations you might like to buy in, then be viewing houses... And once you find one a chain can take months to go through anyway. It's very easy to end up near 12 months - you'd have to find one within a month or two and have a quick straightforward chain for 6 months to be enough. If you do find a house to buy quickly then you can always string things out a bit to make the purchase take longer (e.g. take a few days to a week to reply to questions instead of turning them round immediately). You might still end up with a little overlap where you're paying for both but it shouldn't be too bad. 

Mr.Generous

Curtis what you need to remember is that most letting agents just try and stick a tenant in asap with as little work as possible for the biggest fee possible. In an ideal world from the agents view the tenant would quit after 3 months, and they'd be paid to find another one. The letting agent and the landlord have completely different views on this. Ask any landlord if they would prefer the agent to choose a tenant or pick one themselves.

You do get landlords who live abroad / miles away / in prison or whatever who have to trust the agent, but mostly now I suspect landlords will do some kind of screening / telephone interview or in person viewings to help them pick a tenant. This is backed up by the landlord forums I am involved with. I'm a small landlord, 5 properties, those with loads may be less concerned but I chose a tenant not the agent.

Anyone who had sold a house and was looking for 6 months would be a no go I'm afraid. Each void costs me about two months rent on average, agent fees are approx 1 month and you usually have a bit of a delay before new tenants can take over the property after you've done a bit of decorating, so it's fairly typical they are empty around a month.

Really basic maths but no landlord wants to give up 4 months rent per year. Not even per 2 or 3 years if I can help it.

I'm not trying to be negative (and the renters reform bill will change contracts anyway) but I'm just trying to make you aware that giving ANY indication you want to move on soon will probably rule you out.

Obviously I can only speak from my own experience.

curtis122

Yes I was just reading up on the reform bill as I vaguely remember it was changing letting contracts. It will change all contracts to periodic tenancies with no end date so that would actually work in our favour.

pinkteapot

I have also just noticed that you're not selling till end of next year - end of 2024 - is that right? The reforms plus the interest rate situation could have changed the market a fair bit by then.