Advice please

Mustlovedogs

Our house has just gone on the market today. Over the last four weeks, we’ve seen four properties we were interested in sell within a week, so in our area, you really have to be ready to move quickly.

What’s making me anxious is the idea of selling but not being able to find a suitable home in time. I know this is a common situation, but I can’t shake the worry—how do others manage this uncertainty?

If we don’t find anywhere in time, we may have to pull out of the sale, which I would really hate to do. Renting in between isn’t an option for us. I’ve had buyers pull out on me before, so I know it happens, but I’d much rather be on the receiving end than be the one letting people down.

For those who’ve been in this position, how did you handle it? Any advice on managing the process (or the stress!) would be really appreciated.

MysteryMe

It's a stressful process, no getting away from that. All you can do is what you are already doing. Just keep on top of what houses are coming onto the market, you can do a lot of pre viewing research and then as soon as you get an offer book viewings for those properties that you have identified as potentials. End of the day, if a buyer is not willing to wait then you wont be able to sell to that particular buyer. If properties are selling as quickly as you believe then as long as the price is right, another buyer will come along.

Mustlovedogs

MysteryMe said:

It's a stressful process, no getting away from that. All you can do is what you are already doing. Just keep on top of what houses are coming onto the market, you can do a lot of pre viewing research and then as soon as you get an offer book viewings for those properties that you have identified as potentials. End of the day, if a buyer is not willing to wait then you wont be able to sell to that particular buyer. If properties are selling as quickly as you believe then as long as the price is right, another buyer will come along.

Thank you 😊 

youth_leader

It is very stressful, I do empathise.  I had two 'cash' buyers six months apart, both withdrew, it was extremely upsetting. I will never get over the creeps who pretended to buy my sofa for their dogs and 'duck' -  for peanuts because I was told I'd 'have to move quickly' - they sold it two days later for four times the amount on ebay.   You can only fully relax at exchange.

Don't worry about being ready to move as you will be in a chain - you need to complete the chain before anyone can exchange.

I  would recommend focussing on what you can control. 

Make a file and keep all business transactions to do with your sale/purchase in it.

Sort out a cleaning routine so you aren't constantly cleaning.  Daily whisk around and once a week deep clean. 

Sort out your clutter from the loft downwards, three piles, keep, donate, sell. Start packing items you don't use regularly.  The kitchen took me ages, wrapping all the glasses.  And don't talk to me about herbs!

Have a look at Phil Spencer's website for information on viewings - Moveiq. 

Write a list of must haves/nice to haves, the exact location you want to reside,  and discuss the detail of your new property purchase in detail with your partner. 

Go into your local estate agents and introduce yourself, tell them what you are looking for, make an impression and ask them to phone you if anything suitable comes in.  I was able to view my bungalow before it was advertised on line.  

Good luck.

Mustlovedogs

youth_leader said:

It is very stressful, I do empathise.  I had two 'cash' buyers six months apart, both withdrew, it was extremely upsetting. I will never get over the creeps who pretended to buy my sofa for their dogs and 'duck' -  for peanuts because I was told I'd 'have to move quickly' - they sold it two days later for four times the amount on ebay.   You can only fully relax at exchange.

Don't worry about being ready to move as you will be in a chain - you need to complete the chain before anyone can exchange.

I  would recommend focussing on what you can control. 

Make a file and keep all business transactions to do with your sale/purchase in it.

Sort out a cleaning routine so you aren't constantly cleaning.  Daily whisk around and once a week deep clean. 

Sort out your clutter from the loft downwards, three piles, keep, donate, sell. Start packing items you don't use regularly.  The kitchen took me ages, wrapping all the glasses.  And don't talk to me about herbs!

Have a look at Phil Spencer's website for information on viewings - Moveiq. 

Write a list of must haves/nice to haves, the exact location you want to reside,  and discuss the detail of your new property purchase in detail with your partner. 

Go into your local estate agents and introduce yourself, tell them what you are looking for, make an impression and ask them to phone you if anything suitable comes in.  I was able to view my bungalow before it was advertised on line.  

Good luck.

This is super helpful. Thank you 😊. I think I'm more concerned about selling, not finding anywhere for a certain period of time and then pulling it. The thought of letting someone down makes me so so anxious. 

youth_leader

Do try to relax and enjoy looking for your new home.  As soon as you have an offer you can look seriously, hopefully the vendor of the house you choose will find somewhere quickly and all will be well.

I was so excited to receive the second offer six months after the first disappointment,  and it seemed so real I actually found somewhere, but yet again it was not to be.  He withdrew by email at 6.30 pm at night, the EA were working late and she was good enough to phone me.  I remember how upset I was then, he had lied and wasn't a cash buyer, his ex wife had the cash in Sweden and he wasn't getting any of it!

Mustlovedogs

youth_leader said:

Do try to relax and enjoy looking for your new home.  As soon as you have an offer you can look seriously, hopefully the vendor of the house you choose will find somewhere quickly and all will be well.

I was so excited to receive the second offer six months after the first disappointment,  and it seemed so real I actually found somewhere, but yet again it was not to be.  He withdrew by email at 6.30 pm at night, the EA were working late and she was good enough to phone me.  I remember how upset I was then, he had lied and wasn't a cash buyer, his ex wife had the cash in Sweden and he wasn't getting any of it!

I had it happen to me three times with my last house (I wasn't part of a chain then, just didn't have a family and was staying with someone until I found a property I liked). 
I had people who pulled out as a bungalow came up they preferred (they were so nice about it though and offered me money to clear any expenses I'd paid out for , i didn't take it though). The second made stupidly low offers and bartered but then agreed to a sensible price. Then dropped out. I'm sure some people do this as a hobby....🙄

Bigphil1474

We sold up and moved last year. First time in nearly 30 years. The mistake we made was going to viewings before we'd sold, finding houses we wanted to offer on, but couldn't as we weren't proceedable.

We had a reset and basically just did shortlists and 'viewings' online through Rightmove. If a property sold, we took it off the shortlist, added more on as they came on etc. When we did get an agreed sale, we had a shortlist of about 10 houses ready to go look at straight away. We liked 2 of those, offered on our favourite, they wouldn't budge on price so we had to move on. Offered on the second and accepted. Moved in 6 months later. We were looking in areas we knew well though.

Mustlovedogs

Bigphil1474 said:

We sold up and moved last year. First time in nearly 30 years. The mistake we made was going to viewings before we'd sold, finding houses we wanted to offer on, but couldn't as we weren't proceedable.

We had a reset and basically just did shortlists and 'viewings' online through Rightmove. If a property sold, we took it off the shortlist, added more on as they came on etc. When we did get an agreed sale, we had a shortlist of about 10 houses ready to go look at straight away. We liked 2 of those, offered on our favourite, they wouldn't budge on price so we had to move on. Offered on the second and accepted. Moved in 6 months later. We were looking in areas we knew well though.

Sounds great and thanks for the advice.
I've woken up feeling sick this morning 🤣 I have anxiety anyway and I'm just worried about not finding anywhere and having to let a buyer down. What if they spend money on a survey etc and we have to pull the sale, in that case I suppose I should compensate them really....

whizzywoo

It is indeed stressful.  We had three buyers pull out at the last minute for various reasons over a 10 month period.

We were so close to exchange & complete with the first one we actually moved out into a static caravan and put our stuff into storage.  And in fact are still there and will complete on our new house a few weeks.

The 4th buyer completed within 3 weeks of offer and acceptance.  BUT they were true cash buyers and decided against Searches so it went very quickly.

I would suggest that you do as much packing, throwing away, selling and donating as you possibly can.  Look around for a decent storage that doesn't cost too much.  Look for a possible cheap rental such as a static caravan and take it from there.

Thinking too far ahead will only make it all too difficult to contemplate.  One step at a time and just do the things that are in your control.

Mustlovedogs

whizzywoo said:

It is indeed stressful.  We had three buyers pull out at the last minute for various reasons over a 10 month period.

We were so close to exchange & complete with the first one we actually moved out into a static caravan and put our stuff into storage.  And in fact are still there and will complete on our new house a few weeks.

The 4th buyer completed within 3 weeks of offer and acceptance.  BUT they were true cash buyers and decided against Searches so it went very quickly.

I would suggest that you do as much packing, throwing away, selling and donating as you possibly can.  Look around for a decent storage that doesn't cost too much.  Look for a possible cheap rental such as a static caravan and take it from there.

Thinking too far ahead will only make it all too difficult to contemplate.  One step at a time and just do the things that are in your control.

Thank you will definitely have to take one step at a time. I've been completely transparent with my estate agent and she will be transparent with the buyers also. They buyers will be made aware that sale is subject to us finding somewhere to go (we can't move out as have two toddlers). We just can't wait for properties we like before putting house up as they are gone in days  so you have to be ready. Its all a gamble I suppose!