Relocating - buy/sell simultaneously or rent in new area first?

[pongping]

Our original buyers fell through after asking for a substantial discount for no good reason post-survey, so we are back on the market. I'm fairly confident of another offer soon as we had nine viewings this weekend (lots of pressure on housing stock in our area at our price).

The house we were in the process of buying also went back on the market and my previous thread got me thinking. Should we pursue the purchase (of this or any other property - some nice new ones have also come on the market since we last looked), or would we be better off renting first with a view to buying in a few months?

Renting short term would take pressure of simultaneous buying/selling process. And gives you a great opportunity to really check out the area you're looking to commit too...

I've moved a lot & all bar once have rented in new locations first. The one time we didn't the house we bought was never quite right & was certainly not in the right area for our needs.

I would rent for 6 months, if you can afford it.

I think it's much easier to separate the instances of buying and selling, so yes, if you can bear it, rent for a while first.

If you rent you have to move twice, but have chance to spend more time looking around.

My sale/purchase fell through and I am about to start renting in my new area. Never done it this way before and a bit unsure how it will go but it's the best option in the circumstances.

I'd feel safer selling then renting then buying. You can get to know the area, view houses more easily, and you won't have 2 sets of chains to deal with. When you find a house you want to buy, you can also 'promote' yourself to the sellers by telling them you are chain free and ready to proceed. That's what we did.

The downside is that there may be extra costs as you pay to rent and move twice and also the hassle of repacking.

When we relocated we rented for 6 months. Thank goodness we did. The place we rented was nice enough but we had the time to work out we would much prefer to be on the other, nicer side of town before buying.

I agree. Rent. Gives you time to get to know the area properly. We thought we'd rent briefly but ended uo renting for 2 years until a house in preferred road came up. That road wouldn't have even geen on the radar when we moved to the area.

I would categorically rent because local knowledge of an area is paramount to happiness.

We moved 100 miles 9 years ago and regretted the house we bought. Had we rented we would have discovered stuff that is only known through chatting to people about the area. And then we could have bought somewhere 6-12 months later.

Yes you have to move twice but we lived in a hotel between houses for 3 weeks to get our forever house and we don't regret it one bit. My sons at the time were 6 and 3!

I think the most stressful thing about the whole moving process is the selling part, so the whole waiting for viewings, tidying, cleaning, negotiating a price, waiting with baited breath for the survey and negotiating again. If you rent you remove that part.

I would always recommend renting in a new area, also it puts you in a very strong position when you buy again.