Moving house with kids To rent or not?

[tuesday123]

Am having a feeling of dread. Saw a house we liked on the market, so put our house on the market. Our house has sold now but we got outbid for the house we wanted. We did say to the people buying our house that we would move into rented so we would be out of a chain in case our house purchase fell through. Our thought at the time (and even now really) is that it would be better for us to be ready to proceed for when we do find our 'forever' house'.

I am absolutely dreading the idea of moving out of our family home with three kids in potentially 4 weeks! I know its bad planning from us but I'm feeling all emotional about leaving our family home that I have really grown to love.

There's nothing on the market that takes our fancy at the moment - in fact, theres hardly anything on fullstop! Just dreading the thought of having to move twice and also have no idea where we're going to store all our stuff!

Sorry, just thought I'd let off steam. If anyone's got experiences of moving (with a lot of stuff and young kids) please reassure me thats its not going to be that bad!

[Slowlybutsurely]

It's not going to be that bad!! We moved into rented when we sold ours last year as we couldn't find a house we liked. Fingers crossed we should be competing on our new house next month. Yes it is a pain moving twice but I feel like it's given us some breathing space to find something we like rather than rush into something we would regret. I did think that there would be less to pack this time having had a big sort out last year but we seem to have accumulated more stuff (I blame Christmas!!) so am currrently trying to be ruthless and de clutter!!!

[cheminotte]

Sorry we are in a similar situation. We've sold but are struggling to find somewhere suitable. I'd rather rent thanbuy the wrong house out of desperation but there are hardly any rentals either!

[tuesday123]

How long did you give yourself to pack up a house? I appreciate it will differ by house sizes. If we hired a removal company that does it all for you - do they actually do it all for you?! Can I leave my house in the state that it usually is and get them to pack everything up and take it to a rented house? Or is some packing/sorting expected from me? Sorry to sound clueless!

[Slowlybutsurely]

I packed myself-my old house was tiny. It took a while but did it over a few weeks. Was a bit of a rush towards the end. Clearing the loft was most difficult with all the stuff (mainly old any clothes etc) we'd shoved up there. I wish we had funds to have packers as lots of people on here say it's well worth the money! I believe the come the day before and pack and then move you the next day- but I could be wrong?

[didireallysaythat]

Have you found somewhere to rent ? We found it difficult to find 6 month rentals under similar circumstances (we had had an offered accepted but the sellers hadn't). However moving twice in 6 months did make us declutter. We rented a large garage with a house attached !

[tuesday123]

No, not even started looking for somewhere to rent! Only found out about house purchase falling through this week. And then only found out that people buying our house want to move in ASAP yesterday.
On top of that, my eldest child is waiting for school places to come out for primary, so don't know if thats going to affect things if we move (currently in a good area for the school we want). When do primary places comes out - is it next month?
I'm getting completely stressed by it all! I have no idea where to start with packing - am hoping to get someone in - how much do they charge? Have no idea!

[Slowlybutsurely]

I am in the same position re Primary places. Although our rental and our new house are both within catchment of the school we want so that was ok. From what I read, the places come out on the 18th April (well in my area- not sure if this is the same everywhere?). However, on reading the small print it is the address up to the 28th Feb which is the cut off point so you are ok now.
My removal costs were about £600 I think but that was without packing.
It is do-able, try not to panic. The hardest part for us was co-ordinating signing the lease for the rental with exchange on the house we were selling as I didn't want to sign up, have the house sale fall through and be liable for mortgage and rent.

[Cherryminx]

We did the same when moving from one city to another. We had removers who packed everything up including packing half of stuff for rental place and half for a storage unit. It cost a lot but is worth it - they do it all in about a day and we had a big house with quite a lot of clutter.

Finding a rental place was tricky and a bit nerve racking as all the good places went within hours of going on the market and we were over 500 miles away so couldn't just pop down and do a viewing. So we had to settle for something less than ideal but it was fine. Didn't like living in a rented house as I was worried about damaging stuff and having to pay for it.

Not sure how it works vis a vis school places - think you need to check with LEA.

It was pretty stressful not partly because we knew no one where we moved to and so had no one to fall back on for emergencies/ looking after kids etc. But 4 years on its fine. We bought a lovely house and are very happy we moved.

It was expensive - we had to pay 6 months rent even though we only lived there for 4 months and there was no incentive for the LL to find a new tenant quickly.

[didireallysaythat]

I'd look for somewhere to rent before worrying about packing. Although if you live somewhere with a lot of rental properties it could be quick (and shorter than 12 months maybe possible). The credit checks on renting took us around two weeks, rent and deposit had to clear before we could get the keys etc. Staying in the school catchment sounds wise (the date is usually around the middle of April), especially if you intend to stay in this area. We used a man and a van to move us without a packing service to keep the costs down (we hoped we'd have to do it twice in 7 months so each move cost £300 for 2 or 15 miles moved) - the packing service would have been lovely though !

[didireallysaythat]

Oh yes and I agree on the importance of coordinating signing documents to ensure you're not left homeless or paying for two houses. Our fab solicitor really helped us by reading our tenancy agreement as well so that we paid as little rent as possible but had a safe buffer around both moves.

[IAmAHologram]

Packing service for us was £200 on top of removal cost (so about 25%) and they did it in a day, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if you had to do it twice.

Remember too that until you've exchanged contracts you don't need to sell. If you really don't want to sell, you don't have to. (Of course, if it took you 6 months to find buyers, you'll probably not want to pull out.)

[tuesday123]

Thanks for the comments. Will definitely be going with packing service. Good tip on getting solicitors to coordinate rental contract and purchase. Thanks.

[NoSquirrels]

Also, bear in mind that you buyers might "want" to move quickly, but if it's not possible (no rental place available etc) then it's not possible. Nothing is ever quite ideal in house buying, so if both sides need to compromise usually.

Call the school admissions people and clarify what happens if you move after offers, and if you need to stay in catchment. Better to know than be burned after you've signed the contract.

[namechangedtoday15]

I think its actually an advantage for finding your next house and also makes the stress of moving much more manageable.

Did it with 3 yr old twins - I can't imagine the "normal" shenanigans of selling (and getting out / cleaning etc) and buying (trying to set beds up etc for children) in one day! Must be a nightmare. When we moved into and out of the rental we had an overlap (i.e. got the rented house a week earlier than we needed it, and kept it a week longer), meant in the week before we completed on the sale, we could get lots of the children's stuff organised / make sure it was clean / safe etc at the rental property so they were more settled. Then we stayed in the rental property a week or so after we completed on the new house so the new house could all be cleaned, the children's rooms were decorated and we could have all the carpets changed.

Also meant when it came to finding the new house, when all the houses within our budget were going to sealed bids etc, we had the advantage of being chain free / able to compete quickly etc.

In the end we were in rented for about 2 years - was great not having DIY to worry about and upkeep on the house. You do need to check how it affects school places though.

[specialsubject]

don't forget to read up on your rights and expectations; 'how to rent' on gov.uk.

it is extra hassle moving twice but it does take the pressure off.

[HereIAm20]

If you are in an area where each house has people going after it (like we are) then it does offer a distinct advantage to the Seller to have an offer from someone chain free especially if it is not a first time buyer type home. We used packers the last 2 times. They do it really quickly but definitely put anything (like passports, important docs etc into a box and take to a friends, put in your car etc as they may get packed and take ages to find.

Also empty the bins - I have heard tales of people opening boxes a couple months later to find the bin (complete with rubbish in - ew!)

When we moved to the US unfortunately my hand luggage found its way into the packing pile so I needed to urgently buy new glasses! (specs - not wine glasses!)

[tuesday123]

An overlap with rent does sound sensible. (Costs gradually escalating!)

[GreenTureen]

We're planning on moving out of ours and waiting a year or so more to buy again. We desperately need a bigger house (expecting ds3 in May and currently in a two bed) but we have a large CCJ which is dropping off in 2018 which will massively affect new mortgage offers.

I'm thinking of the main advantages of renting, which is the overlap a pp mentioned - having your new house keys (for the rental and the new purchase) a week or two before you need to be out. It takes an awful lot of the pressure off.

Dh and I moved into our current house as first time buyers with no dc and barely any stuff. The thought of packing up the house now, including 3dc, one of whom will be a young baby, then being dumped at the new house and having to sleep there that night is a whole different kettle of fish and one i'm quite pleased to avoid!