Should we sell house before we have found a house to buy?

Intel1982

Hi,

Our house is ready to go on the market but we haven't launched it yet as we haven't seen anything suitable for us to buy.

I would like to put it on the market to see how much we get for our house before we commit to anything, but on the other hand worried it sells and we have nowhere to go! What do people recommend? We are in Scotland.

Thanks. 

user1977

Depends on the state of the respective markets for the properties you are selling and buying. Have you had a chat to agents/solicitors about it?

peterhjohnson

user1977 said:

Depends on the state of the respective markets for the properties you are selling and buying. Have you had a chat to agents/solicitors about it?

Typically, Agents will urge you to sell now because if you sell later, it might be with another agent! It's in their DNA

Emmia

How long might your place take to sell? Are you intending to price it at an attractive level?

BarelySentientAI

I know some things are different in Scotland - but I didn't think they built chains from the top down.

In E&W, I wouldn't entertain any buyer who hadn't yet accepted an offer on their property, let alone one who hasn't even listed yet.

samlee0211

We went on the market last Friday, first offer today, there is nothing out there we like apart from one but it’s under offer but still on the market as awaiting the buyers proof of funds. I really want the house and have put forward an offer. If we don’t get that we could be waiting a while 

sheramber

It depends on what you are buying.

My seller had  bought their next house with entry in a month.
So , were only interested in people who were able to complete on a month.

I had already sold and was living with my son so no problem

 My buyer had wanted entry in a month when his rental ended so I  sold and moved in with my son for a few weeks. 

When We  were looking for our previous house  we did not market our current one as we had specific wants in the next  house, which that house met.

We only marketed once our offer was accepted.
We agreed a sale within two weeks it we knew there was demand. We had three offers. 

We had explained to our vendor that although were offering on July we could not move until January. This was accepted as they had no other offers

Our preferred buyer  wanted to move in December  when their rental ended 

We brought our entry for the  new house forward to December which was acceptable to our vendor.

It is all down to negotiation and what each party requires. 

Sapindus

I'm selling first and moving into rented while I look for somewhere to buy.  I had an offer from a buyer who hadn't marketed their house yet, like you.  By the time they had chosen an agent, got it on the market, and had a few viewings but no offers, I had found another buyer who made an offer and was ready to proceed. The first couple have now taken their house back off the market, deciding "the time's not right".  I was fairly relaxed about timescales but didn't want to stop marketing my house and wait for them to get their act together in case they never got it together, and in hindsight I think I might have been waiting a long time.

If you wait until you find your dream house before putting your own sale in motion, there is a strong possibility you will end up disappointed like my first buyers.  And the seller of your dream house may well be suspicious of your motivation.  Or you may feel pressured into quickly accepting a lower offer on your own house, so as not to lose the dream house.

So this is a risky approach UNLESS you are confident that your house will be snapped up in an instant and the house you want to buy will have no-one else interested and the seller will wait.

No-one knows for sure.