Has anyone found buying/selling homes relatively stress free?

[NapQueen]

If so why?

Ive been told it is one of the most stressful things you can do. I was really concerned going into it, and whilst there have been pockets of action/excitement/tentative waiting; its going ok so far.

However we have a way to go yet. When people say its stressful is the stressy part yet to come? Is it the exchange/complete portion?

Any way you managed to keep calm and serene throughout?

Are you first time buyers? I found buying my first place was fairly straightforward. In hindsight I realise the vendors bent over backwards to keep me happy - this was 20 years ago. Buying and selling at the same time is a completely different kettle of fish.

Depends on the situation of buyer and seller. When I bought my house I was a FTB with somewhere to stay so purchase wasn't reliant on me selling anything. The house I bought was a probate property, the EA were great at sorting out paperwork and communicating with seller who lived in a different city. No issues at all with purchase. The seller didn't take any of the furniture or belonging out of the property - EA were great a really sorting out a removal man and van to take it away. My solicitor wa also bring.

However now looking to move again and it's awkward juggling the timing of getting your own property up, taking offers, looking at a property to buy, considering your offers etc. hoping to buy a chain free property to make it less complicated.

We are selling to a ftb and buying a vacant. So a chain but a tiny one. I think I found buying as a ftb more stressful as I had no idea and was chomping at the bit.

I found buying my first property pretty painless. A little bit of stress when haggling over the price but then only 8 weeks between offer and completion.

Now however, trying to buy and sell at the same time and its a complete nightmare. All sorts of trouble with the chain which has collapsed twice. Back on the market now which has considerably slowed since the first time we listed.

Hoping the rest of it goes smoothly for you!

I think it’s stressful because of the risk involved and the fact that there is no legal contract until the last minute. If that didn’t bother me, I wouldn’t have found it nearly as stressful.

Ours was simple because there was a very small chain, as we weren't selling our old house and our vendors vendor had already moved out. Everyone was motivated and more importantly they were just nice people. We also had an excellent solicitor, which was a huge help. I know that we were very lucky though, and this is the exception rather than the rule!

I've been following your threads. You are still at am early stage. We completed on Friday and we found the last 3 weeks stressful as you think you're about to exchange and another enquiry comes in, the you keep reading market has turned, etc. It's not a done deal until completion but exchange gives you a lot more assurance.

And we had an offer before we officially went on the market so easy enough on that part.

Yeah I am anticipating lots of stress and uncertainty to come. Was wondering if there were any tips or strategies to keep stress down but seems its just luck and circumstance.

Buying our first home was stressful because it was 2006, places were selling before being listed on RM so finding somewhere was a challenge! The conveyancing process was ok though because we had no worries about selling and buying simulataneously. Biggest hiccup was that completion was put back by five weeks because the top of the chain wasn’t ready and that left us with no time having both a tenancy and the new house to decorate etc.

This year we sold our house and bought another. Horribly stressful: will the house sell, will the sale complete, will we find somewhere we like, will that chain collapse... and so on. I managed to get our small chain moved in 15 weeks (it took us three weeks to offer on a place) and that was only because I asked for updates weekly from both EA and solicitor, I actioned anything we needed to do immediately - I’m certain that if I hadn’t the solicitors on all sides would have been happy for it to drag on indefinitely and we’d still have been waiting to move. Issues included: vendor at the top of the chain booking a holiday over a completion date they’d known about from the start of the process and refusing to move their stuff before going away until it looked like the entire chain would collapse; our solicitor calculated our completion statement wrong (not what you want to hear when you’re waiting for a call about key release on the day!) and many small but significant issues along the way, most caused by a lack of communication tbh.

First house over 20 odd years ago wasn't stressful. We moved from a rental to an empty property. No chain.

Our last move was a nightmare. It took a year to sell our house and was a roller coaster! I didn't believe we would move until I had the keys in my hand.

Our last move went like a dream. We got a first time buyer within a week at asking price (London) in February. Didn’t want to move until summer as kids starting new school in new area in September. Exchanged on sale in April with a set July completion date. Then found a house to buy which vendors were happy to fit in with our already arranged completion date. So much could have gone wrong, but worked perfectly.

We had a very stressful collapse of chain, took our house off the market and had a fortnight break. Then an agent rang and said please come and see this house it's perfect for you. Wed done a drive by and rejected it the previous month. Sold our house in two days at more or less full asking to a FTB. We were clearing the mortgage and the house we bought was a probate sale so a very small chain. I wouldn't say stress free but not stressful. I chased everyone as I wanted to be in my new garden for the summer. Saw it in March moved in in May.

I sold and bought 2 years ago having been in my first house for 25 years!
The actual process was quite stress free. We had an offer within a day of our house going in the market, from a cash buyer. We hadn't actually looked for anywhere to buy at that point as we thought it could take ages to sell! We viewed a house in an area we wanted to be, the house was horrible but the area was perfect so we made an offer. The owners were also moving into rented accommodation, so the chain was very short. After all, houses can be changed, location can't!
We knew the survey in ours would throw up a couple of issues so were already prepared to reduce the price. Sure enough it did, so we reduced accordingly. Same with the house we bought. This all took about three weeks. Things ticked along ok, we set a moving date for when we returned from a long holiday in Canada. The only issue was with our solicitor in that they were very slow, but as most of the communication was online, that meant we could sort things whilst still on holiday. The most stressful time was when we had to get papers signed with witnesses whilst on holiday. We had to find a notary to do this, in the middle of Whistler 😱.
Luckily the postmistress could do this for free and she sent the papers back express for no charge! We returned home on a bank holiday weekend not being able to speak to anyone to see if the exchange was going ahead for a move that Friday.
Luckily it all went as planned. The absolute worst part was actually moving out for a house we loved to knew that was grotty. I cried secretly for ages! Now, though, our new home is perfect as we had enough money from the sale to renovate it as we wanted (we were downsizing).

When I bought my flat as a ftb it was so easy. When we moved to our house we kept the flat for a bit to allow decorating etc and that was relatively stress also. But next time we move we would have to exchange on same day and I can imagine that's when it gets tricky