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Original poster

How do other countries move house and avoid chains?

82 replies

Nevermindtheteacaps · 22/12/2023 07:43

Having just, after 9 months which included several collapsed chains, sellers pulling out, buyer threatening to pull out, forays into the international banking system and countless other stresses completed on the sale of our house I am wondering:

If the UK house buying system with chains and no guarantees is the worst in the world, what do other countries do? And do they tie up buying and selling so no one is left homeless?

OP posts:

IMustDoMoreExercise · 24/12/2023 18:15

shockeditellyou · 22/12/2023 18:30

I do think the English system could be improved if the seller had to provide all the searches and survey in advance. At the moment, having an offer accepted is only really a starting point and we spend far more time getting to exchange (the legally binding bit) than other countries. There’s too many opportunities for people to mess you about, whereas if the sellers have to provide searches etc up front, you know what you’re actually buying far more quickly and can (in theory) proceed to exchange more rapidly.

They tried to do this around 15 years ago, but the lenders decided that they were not prepared to lend on a survey which they had no control over.

Not sure how other countries get over this.

IMustDoMoreExercise · 24/12/2023 18:19

puncheur · 24/12/2023 17:35

France: most people who are buying a house are doing so from a position of being renters, or are buying a second home. Most people who are selling are doing so from the position of having inherited a deceased relative’s property. Offers are binding and you pay a deposit to the seller so there are no chains. You generally move in some time after the sale has gone through (gives you time to modernise, decorate etc).

Yes, I think that we move (or used to move) house more often than other countries.

I remember the average used to be 7 house moves in a person's lifetime. I have only ever bought the house I am in. I really don't know how people cope with the stress of moving multiple times.

puncheur · 24/12/2023 18:42

Yeah, the norm in a lot of countries is to rent until you are ready to buy, build or inherit your ‘forever’ house. All my French relatives (some in their 80s) are still in the first house they ever owned.

Thepossibility · 24/12/2023 19:30

We sold our house on the condition that we paid the new owners rent until we found a new house and had the time to move out and clean up the property. It worked really well. In Aus.

mondaytosunday · 25/12/2023 00:06

In the US you put conditions on the offer, one being you selling your house. Offers are legal commitments and you put a small amount of money down when accepted. In Boston area at least, it's rare not to sell as soon as you put a property on the market - in a hot market anything will sell. But closings are quick - none of this conveyancing business that's out of your control. Chains are unusual - It just doesn't seem to be an issue.

CarolinaInTheMorning · 25/12/2023 00:41

I echo what other posters have said about buying and selling houses in the US. It does vary from state to state, however, but the differences are not huge. Probably the main difference that might exist is that in some states lawyers are heavily involved, and may even provide title insurance, while in other states, the real estate agents handle most aspects of the transactions, with title companies handling the closing and insuring the title.

We have moved around a lot for jobs and so have sold and bought several houses in several states.
We have never been in a chain, and we have never accepted a contract that had a condition of our buyer selling a house.

Also, we have always sold before before buying our next house. Only once did we have to rent and that was because we were purchasing new construction and the builders were experiencing delays in getting shipments of supplies.

madeofwaxlarry · 25/12/2023 00:58

When we bought a house in Australia the sellers stayed living in it for a couple of weeks until their next place was ready, all part of the contract and they paid us rent for that period.

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