Moving advice needed. Selling maybe rent then buy?

[Grumpants]

Hi,
I need some advice. We are about to put our house on market and want to buy a bigger family forever type home within catchment of an outstanding secondary school. We live on the wrong side of town now the catchment areas have changed here. Hampshire so no grammar schools etc ( I will let you guess which expensive commuter town it is)
Obviously we may not sell quickly in current market ( would like to move before having to apply for DC1 secondary place in October).
Also we may not find a suitable house in right area.
Is renting in between selling and finding a house a terrible idea? Assuming we even managed to sell ours and really can’t find a house in time? Financial implications etc? I have never rented before btw.
Also anyone know what happens if we moved after application date for schools?
We have 3 DC no1 to start secondary and no3 to start year R in September 2019 so that is what we are aiming at, no 2 would be going into year 5.

Any advice welcome as I get very stressed over such things and it’s just an idea DH has thrown in the mix for if we can’t find a home.

[specialsubject]

Step 1 , read the how to rent guide on gov.UK. so many on here getting shafted by crooked landlords or agents taking advantage of cluelessness about rental rights.

[JoJoSM2]

It sounds a lot hassle with 3 children and presumably a lot of 'stuff'.

However, it would be an excellent idea otherwise. You'd be able to sell as being 'chain free'. You could then rent a place in the right catchment for your children to go to your preferred schools. It would also enable you to wait for the right property to come up so wouldn't need to make unnecessary compromises on your 'forever home'. Once the perfect house came up, you'd be chain free and anyone's favourite buyers.
It also wouldn't matter if the perfect house then came up 2 streets out of catchment if your children had already started at their schools by then.
Additionally, if the 'forever home' needed work, you could just carry on renting for a few months whilst the builders cracked on with the refurb without you in the way.

Financially, it probably cost a few k more then, say, mortgage interest for the same period. However, it could also help you sell for more or buy for less as you'd be chain free.

We did a similar thing (but didn't have children in tow) and the only reason why we managed to secure a fantastic fixer upper was because we were chain free and a new mortgage in place etc.and we carried on renting for 3 months whilst major building work got done.

[namechangedtoday15]

Read, read then re-read your LA's policy about moving and the school in question. We were in a similar position when we were about to apply for primary schools. Here, you had to have at least a 12 month tenancy in order for that address to be classed as your home address and had to be able to demonstrate disposal of previous property. There are also provisions about moving after the date of application and withdrawal of a place (albeit I think there has to be dishonesty for a place to be withdrawn after your child has started).

It worked brilliantly (financially & otherwise) for us - we ended up renting for about 2 years whilst we waited for perfect house to come up. We stayed in catchment so that wasn't an issue, but meant we got the house we wanted because we could move to sellers timescales, had an overlap between rental and purchased house so did immediate works straightaway and transition was much easier for our 3DC.

[withouttea]

We did exactly that. We sold (chain free) and rented in the catchment of a great school, and actually we are still renting the same place after nearly three years...just not found the forever house yet. Also, I wonder if house prices may come down due to financial uncertainty around Brexit, the economy, etc. So we decided we would only buy (in catchment) if we find THE house.

After 20 years of home ownership I quite like being a tenant! Last year our boiler, our shower and our fridge freezer all broke. We just called the agents to fix it. Ace!

Do invest your house equity though, if you rent. It can make a big contribution to your rent, properly invested. And ask about potential landlords - are they 'accidental' landlords or doing it for a living? It matters.

[Bluesheep8]

Hello, I'd recommend selling and renting. We were relocating 2.5 hours' drive away and ours went under offer really quickly when we out it in the market. Cue frantic viewings in the new area, staying overnight on the Saturday each weekend and doing back to back viewings on both days. By each evening, we couldn't even remember which house was which. It was awful. We put in 3 offers that then fell through for various reasons, then saw sense and decided to rent. Rented for 18 months and whilst doing so we were able to check out areas properly and chat to locals about them. Also, we were able to arrange to view quickly. We've now been in what I hope us our forever home for 2 years, in an area that wasn't even on our radar when panic viewing to buy. Schools were not an issue for us, but I would definitely say that renting will give you the time and space you need. One of the best decisions we ever made. We rented through an estate agent....

[Grumpants]

Thank you for such reassuring replies. It has really helped to know this plan is ok and could work. X