ok, property WWYd...

[EdlessAllenPoe]

we have been living in our house for 5 years.

I love it, but

1. it only has 2 bedrooms, or 1.5 if i'm honest and

2. the secondary catchment is crap, and has been so for about 16 years.

3. is not a problem right now, DD is in reception... but 1) is getting to be a problem. We are going to have to move somewhere in the next two years.

there is the option of moving to a larger house in the same road to solve problem 1). we can extend our mortgage enough for this. Moving into the better catchment is more expensive, and getting the kind of house we want will be hard. Our current one backs onto fields, quiet area, lovely neighbours...nice dogs walks etc etc.

so, a house comes on the market in the 'nice' catchment...within our price range

1. it has 3 bedrooms
2. it backs onto fields
3. it is detached (my kids are noisy!)
4. it is near, but well back from, a busy road.

we are not ready to flog our own house now, i'd say it needs some tinkering with rather than major work, as we only just finished doing the kitchen and bathroom last year.

so...would you make an offer in the hope of making a quick sale?
or would you sit tight until you could approach this in a more considered way?.

I am enough of a rightmove addict to know these houses don't come up that often.

Sit tight and approach in a more considered way

I doubt they'd accept any offer from you until your place was under offer. If it was me I'd go and look at the house and see whether you really do like it as much as you think you would. If so, why not try to get your place on the market and see what happens?

they are just kicking their tenants out...

houses on my road usually sell reasonably quickly so long as the price is reasonable.

it does feel precipitous....we can view tomorrow so long as the tenants have gone by then!

How exciting! You never know, we saw our 'dream home' before our place was even on the market - put it on straight away, accepted a good offer within 2 weeks, and (fingers crossed etc etc) are due to exchange on the dream home in a couple of weeks. But oh my nerves, shot to pieces, etc etc etc argghhhgh!

I wouldn't ever recommend putting in an offer on a house you have no means to buy.

It's a bit irrelevant, because no-one would accept the offer.

I would say that your only chance is to get the estate agent that it is on with to come in a value your property asap and see how quickly you can get viewings on yours. If you're not prepared to spend a couple of days decluttering for EA photos etc, then you're not committed enough to buy and sell.

that's it, they're so hungry for new property the lady at the end had a valuation done the same day as she made her first call to the estate agents...

need to talk to DH about it. he may not like the house anyway, when he sees it. so long as i tidied up the house would be ok for EA photos. the house we will be looking at only had one interior photo and that was really messy! Though i know that would put lots of people off.

just exactly what do they count as enough to make an offer - on the market with valuation? an offer on our house? sale agreed? what's the standard?

haven't sold a house before. was quite easy as first timer, just needed a 'how much can i borrow' appointment...

In my experience no-one will take you seriously until your property is under offer (if you need to sell a property before being able to buy). Otherwise it's pure conjecture on your part.

Certainly your offer can't be considered until you are under offer. My experience so far is that there are a lot of potential buyers who are chain free at present. But if you go with the same estate agent, then they potentially get 2 lots of commission from the chain, so will work pretty hard on it. You may not be considered for viewings until you have your house at least on the market, if not at 2nd viewing stage.

If you do it this way then you are likely to maximise the gap and extra mortgage cost between current and new house as you are likely put in a higher offer to new house to secure it (or keep upping your offer) - then you are likely not to hold out for best price on yours and may take a low offer.

However if things move fast in your area and this is a rare opportunity I would go for it but be clear before you start what the max you will pay for new and min you will accept for old BEFORE you get all caught up in the drama and pace of it all - treat it like going to an auction - keep calm, be clear on your boundaries and be prepared to walk away and not look back..!

Definitely get your house on the market quickly - just tidy up for photos, then whilst EA are putting it 'online' get work done asap. Also go and see the house to see if you like it as much as you think - if its been rented it may need work doing? You can tell them how keen you are/how much kids would love to live there, or whatever, as they may want to think of a nice family living there.

We did this with the house we bought. We put in an offer (not accepted by notoriously pushy EA's), but they 'registered our interest'. We got our house on the market asap and (luckily) could come back 1.5 weeks later with an asking price offer.

So it can work out, but don't set your heart on it in case it doesn't. :)

house needs loads of work, but is very exciting nonetheless.
we plan to go to market, though not be too hopeful that this house will still be around when we get an offer.

it might be of course...tenants had just left, was quite messy, terrible decor, no real kitchen, bathroom..has to go!