Saw the the house I want and mine is not even on the market. Will I get it?

[meadowquark]

Short version: sold my house SSTC three times last year, but the property market got so crazy that I could not get what I wanted or was priced out. Eventually pulled out myself and decided to stay put for a while or at least the market cools down.

So I wasn't even looking, but rather got busy preparing my house for arrival of my first aupair in September. Actually all became very stressful as ours is 2 bed house and all rooms are messed up as I am trying to fit everyone in (including extra sofa bed in our living room for us to sleep on).

I don't know what's got into me but I went on Rightmove on Friday evening and voile... There was house on the top on the list, in Essex, where I wasn't even looking... Quickly googled the schools, the commute, went to view today and I want that house!

I lied to the agency that sells that house that my house is under the offer (bad I know). I am confident I can sell quickly if I price it correctly, so do I need to put it on the market tomorrow? Or speak with my mortgage adviser first? What do I tell to the agency? That I am keen but I lost my buyer? Anyone with successful similar stories?

Oh no no, I have not put an offer, just did the viewing today.

I think I was just lucky.

Saw THE house last year when we didn't have ours on the market - pretty much the first one we viewed, and knew it was the right one.

Didn't put in an offer as we were not in a position to do anything. Kept an eye on the market and it was still for sale about six weeks later.

Got ours up for sale and had a few weeks of faffing about with time-wasters. In the meantime THE house sold.

Spent another two months feeling very upset (I had to go past it every week) at the 'sold' sign outside, viewing places that didn't quite match up. Found something else we quite liked, put in an offer but someone else beat us to it.

After two more weeks I was ready to give up but our buyer was keen to move in. By chance, surfed the net late one evening and saw THE house back on the market. We had to pull out all the stops and do a lot of negotiation on price, but.......it's now ours.

We did but we were local and able to go on with the same EA which helped to seal the deal.

My house is back on the market with the previous agency. They say I can get the price I need quick (a little under the market price). Mortgage appointment booked for the beg of September as there was nothing available earlier. The agency of the new house called and I said I am very keen but "I cannot hold of my buyer at the moment", so I may need to go for a quick sale.

I am shaking with panic, how sudden and unplanned it is, and I am very much a person of "status quo". But the gut feeling is "just do it".

Thank you for all who shared experiences. It is so encouraging. And sorry for gramatical mistakes in my first post due to posting via phone.

Good luck. I hope you get a buyer ASAP. I really wouldn't lie about your position if you do make an offer. It will be easy for the sellers to find your property on right move if they do accept an offer