We want to move out of our 2 bed flat which we have outgrown and is slightly too far away from schools to guarantee a place for our DD who starts next Sept. We are in SE London in a bit of a property bubble. Although EAs so far have seemed confident we will sell our flat due to lots of buyers coming on the market and a limited amount of properties, there are definitely more 2 bed flats coming on the market than 3 bed houses, so we were worried that we would sell and have nowhere to buy in our budget (which would have been OK 6 months ago but we seem to have now been priced out due to supply and demand).
We tried to go down the rental route (renting our place and renting a house) but this fell through due to our mortgage company changing their policy and wanting to hike our rates.
So we are now looking at selling again and after finishing off a few cosmetics bits on our property we should be ready to go on the market in a couple of weeks. I am hoping the market will pick up again and there will be more to view, and we are trying to be flexible and modify our expectations (we would love a nice Victorian terrace on a quiet road but this is seeming unlikely). However at the moment all the properties I call up to enquire about that might possibly be OK are actually under offer (the agents are REALLY annoying me in the fact that they do not mark them as under offer online as it?s giving a false impression of what there is on the market). We have definitely decided we want to stay within the area rather than move further out, even though I know this is making it harder for us. I?m just not ready to leave our friends and life behind.
So ? the mortgage company have agreed to give us a year to port our current mortgage. Would it seem sensible to try and sell and then go into rental on a short lease if there is nothing suitable to buy and hope that we manage to complete on a new property within a year? Or is this a risky strategy and we should try and complete on the same day as we move out?
I know this is all academic until we actually sell our flat, but I feel like a need a clear plan of action and the property market all seems so uncertain. I?m scared if we move into a rental house prices will continue to rise in this bubble and we?ll be even more priced out than before?
Opinions gratefully received 