House sale fallen through - advice needed

[Banana82]

I am new to this board but would really appreciate some impartial advice!

So, we were in a chain on 3 people. We were the middle house. We were due to exchange contracts last Friday but Friday morning, the lady selling the house we were buying pulled out and took her house off the market. We are now stuck trying to decide whether to go ahead with our sale and move into a rented house while we look for another house to purchase. I have put some bullet points below to try and help outline the situation!

• Our house sold very quickly twice. Literally the day it went on the market. First buyer dropped out as we hadn't found a property to move to and they waited about 3 months for us to find somewhere.
  
• The area we are looking to move to is very popular, good lifestyle, schools etc. When houses do come on the market there is literally 20/30 people attending on block viewing days and the houses go for well above asking price. Just to give you an idea of what we are up against.
  *We need to be in the new house by September next year to apply for my sons school.
  *We would rent in the area we want to buy but the cost of renting is the same price as our new mortgage for a house half the size.
  *Do I want to uproot my family twice?
  *We would be in a better position if we rented, no chain, no stress of selling a house.
  
  We just cannot decide what to do for the best. Part of me thinks to just sell and go. Start a fresh, chain free. But the other part of me thinks, thats my home. It sells easily, do I want to lose it and be renting in a tiny house for what could possibly be a year.
  
  Any independent advice would be gratefully received! Oh, and our buyers have given us until end of the month to find somewhere to rent otherwise they are going to have to pull out as they can't wait forever.

[ApplesTheHare]

Hang on, so your buyer won't even let you have the chance to find somewhere else? They can't want your house that much. You could start looking at houses this week, see one, make and offer and have it accepted and they'd still most likely move much quicker than if they started from scratch all over again. They are being a bit silly...

That aside, the decision is obviously yours but I think it depends on how keen you are to move, how you think your own situation might change over the next year, and how likely you are to find another house you'd like to buy fairly quickly.

[SpeckledyBanana]

Something similar happened to us, and we chose to sell and rent. Not pretty, but we did buy a house in catchment in time for applications, and we're happy here.

[Waitingfordolly]

I think I'd sell and rent because you'll be in a stronger position to buy. We did this though we ended up finding somewhere and lived with family for a couple of months rather than having to rent in the end. You know you'll be in the catchment area too.

[UnderTheGreenwoodTree]

You can go back to the buyer and give them the choice of hanging on a bit while you househunt. They may be happy to wait a while, or want to pull out. Our buyers were very happy to wait when our sellers were pissing us around.

I know the thought of being chain free is good - but moving twice, and getting a rental is an awful lot of extra hassle. Depends how much stuff you have I guess.

[RoganJosh]

I'd go for a bit of both if possible. So, try and find somewhere to buy, but if it doesn't work then I'd rent.
Would renting mean you could then be more flexible with the area you buy? If you've already got in the school, just as an extra benefit.
Also, are you in the U.K.? September seems very early for a school admission deadline.

[UnderTheGreenwoodTree]

Btw - I hope your seller had a good reason for pulling out on exchange day! We had this happen to us, and it was awful, so disappointing. But we were first time buyers, so not quite as bad. We were furious though, all that time wasted, and back to square one.

[namechangedtoday15]

I'd sell and rent.

[itlypocerka]

I would also sell and rent. In your buying situation you have a lot of competition and are a less attractive buyer because you come with a chain. Sell and rent and you are instantly a more preferred bidder because you aren't relying on your own buyers in order to proceed. Won't make a difference if you are being outbid by 10s of thou, but if offered £Xk by bidder A who is in a chain and offered £X-5k by bidder B who is chain free many sellers would choose B.

[LyraMortalia]

I would never sell and rent you have double the moving costs and run the risk of house prices increasing. Your house sold in a day, ask your buyers to wait til you find another house, if they refuse start again you sold in 24 hours last time chances are you will sell again in a week.

[rallytog1]

Having recently been in a similar position I would sell. Put your stuff in storage and rent somewhere small. Your house might sell easily at the moment, but the market could change at any time and there's no saying you would sell it as easily in weeks or months' time.

When you have cash in the bank and no chain behind you, you're much more attractive as a buyer, and are in a stronger position to negotiate prices downwards on anything you might want to buy.

I would never, never walk away from a sale. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

[Banana82]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Our buyers are telling us they will wait til end of the month then they will start looking for something else. They don't seem to understand that that option is going to take them at least 3 months. I think they don't want to hang around forever and as houses in the area we want don't come on the market very often they could be waiting a while. I'm still looking every day for houses for sale and also looking round some rented houses this week so we can get an idea of what to expect. It's just so agonising not being able to make a decision.