Selling and buying a house

[Anotherchangeanothername]

Mumsnet, I need some advice. HELP!
Currentlylooking to move into a bigger place in summer next year. Feels like ages away, but a friendmentioned in moving times it isn't!
From what I gather, its best to put our place on the market, and then accept an offer, and then find a place, is that right? Then we go into a long precarious chain which is likely to fell through at any moment?
From deciding to move, to finding a buyer then a house how long did it take?
We're also on a great rate mortgagewise, withpenaltiesif we exit early, has anyonenegotiatedto stay with the same mortgage provider have you got them wavered?
Finally, we're planning on sprucing the place up a bit, doing the garden and painting making it look more presentable, is there anything else we can do to increase the saleability of our flat?
Obviously market isn't the best, but we're in a desirable location with a ground floor unit with its own garden...

bump?

It took me 15 months from putting my house on the market to moving 18 months ago.
Prior to that, I decluttered majorly, painted and laid new carpets in some rooms.

I would recommend marketing as soon as. I think it will depend on the area your current property is in (is it desirable) but also where you're wanting to move?

Once yours is sold you hold the cards. From my experience of moving into a larger home you're buying from people looking to downsize or with no chain.

We put ours on the market last week and have accepted an offer within the week. We are lucky to have a first time buyer so hopefully our chain won’t be too long but until we find a house we won’t know.
I would suggest as pp said de clutter and paint, get rid of as much as you can don’t keep things just incase! Try and be critical of your home and neutralise as much as possible. There were 3 for sale on our road, ours is the only one so far to sell. Our decor is pretty neutral or easy to change.

Don’t delay looking for a new property until you get a buyer. Get the legwork done. We online viewed, did drivebys, researched schools etc. So that by the time we got an offer, we were ready to view 3 houses, one of which we put an offer in on. Luckily there was no chain beyond us, so it wasn’t too complicated.
We didn’t view anything properly until we had an offer, but did an awful lot of driving and walking around villages.

18 months!!! Buggar that is far longer than I expected!
We are still in the process of sprucing up (we've only painted one wall!)
We're in a desirable area and looking at moving a little further out in London, but I would say still desirable but less desirable than our current location (if that makes sense)

Sorry another question, do you think we get a estate agent in to value the place before we paint, or do we wait until we've done the lick of paint etc.
And is a bright red feature wall in our living room out?

@Bert2020 how long will the FTB wait until you find a place? What happened if you don't find something you like soon?

I thought it was online viewings only? Is it worth putting up for sale if no-one can physically view it?

Definitely get rid of the red, when I’m looking it makes me think layers of paint. Take away as many obstacles to buy as you can.
We’ve laid our cards on the table, the ftb know we are searching but are happy to wait. If we can find somewhere without a chain we would prefer it but it all depends. You can have the estate agents in to price before sprucing but personally I would wait a bit and then do it. Is there a reason you wouldn’t move sooner?

@Greenbutterlfy566 there are hoops to get through such as proving your ability to pay for the house and move but you can physically view now. It has saved a lot of time wasters and just coming for a look folk.

Ok- I am binning the red wall.
Its about timing for schooling. We are close to the primary, but want to move closer(ish) to the secondary but with more space!
We could move sooner it would just be a bit of a ball ache with the school run

Bert-thankyou. I have phoned a few EA's and they told me online view only. Maybe its different areas.

I wouldn't be doing much other than sprucing up your current place at the moment, and yes, get rid of the bright red feature wall. Use the time to declutter, get the inside and outside looking tidy and inviting. Don't bother with the valuations until you've got it in saleable condition.

Would you move into rented if you sold quickly? If so feel free to market straight away. If you definitely don't want to move until next summer, I'd be looking at getting it on the market after Christmas. If it's priced well it really shouldn't take months to sell.

As other posters have said, do your research for the new area, have a drive round at different times of day and evening, look at traffic volume, street noise etc. Then start looking when yours is on the market.

Really depends on whether you find someone who loves your house. We had ours on the market for over a year and eventually took it off as it was causing so much stress. We put it on 6 months later and sold to our first buyer. Once they had put the offer in it took 2 months until we moved but we had a very straightforward chain.

It will depend on lots of things to how long it will take to sell (maybe ask a local estate agent for local knowledge of the type of place you have).
My personal experience was shortest - 9 weeks to longest 5 months.
Re mortgage you can move your mortgage to a new property then add a new mortgage for any difference.

Right. Declutter. Paint neutral walls (just white or a selection of colours?). Do the garden. Then see an estate agency and get a valuation.
Seems that there isn't a conscious on when we put it on the market.
We're in Notting Hill so I think ours would sell quickly (obviously no data to back this up)

Big tub of white, no point in having lots of colours even if it looks nice. You want as blank a canvas as you can ideally.

There's lots of advice online about preparing your home for sale, have a google and you'll get some ideas I'm sure. Good luck!

Hi I'm moving to London next summer for my daughter to start sixth form.
It depends on the desirability and area of the house you are selling as to when you market it, but ideally you should be under offer before you start looking seriously (a seller will not be minded to accept an offer if you arent). Get it spruced up before you get agent in. Neutralise it and depersonalise it but not to the extent it is soulless. I have to sell two properties to afford something in London. My main house is large, and will have smaller pool of buyers, another is a rental property in a very popular area. I will put them on in February/march next year. Priced well both should sell. As soon as one is under offer I will start viewing, but I am looking on rightmove now. It gives a good idea of the value of the area. You can do a lot of research about sold prices and how long homes are taking to sell. I find the ones that stay on the market are just priced too high.
If need be I will rent, if my houses haven't sold or the process hasn't completed in time. It seems you can stay where you are and still go to the secondary if you have not finished the process?
As for mortgage, if you port it (same lender, same amount, same deal) you may be able to avoid penalties but you still have to get an offer so they will again look at your finances, value the new property etc and may charge a fee for doing this.

Thanks all. @pipandmum where are you looking at moving and do you have an idea of budget if you don't mind me asking?
Were into secondary, so we don't have that issue thankfully!

You are not a "proceedable buyer" until your own place is under offer (if you need a mortgage to buy the new place) but decide on your preferred streets/area. What type of house you want, are you prepared to buy a do-er upper or do you want turnkey ready etc and get out looking. So that when you get that good offer you can get on the ball quickly getting a place for yourself. We looked at places recently before our house went under offer, it helped crystallise the area we wanted to live in, the state of the place, what issues were dealbreakers etc.

As to the house I'd declutter, make it look spacious and clean, polish up taps and door handles . Remove most knick knacks personal photos etc if you can, buyers need to imagine they own the house and could live in it themselves. Open curtains, pull up blinds and give the windows a clean to make the place as bright as possible. Neutral decor, air the house and don't forget the outside, I think you mentioned you were in a flat, before viewings make sure the entrance hall is clean and no rubbish blowing about outside etc.

Good luck