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Original poster

Has anyone sold their house then can't find one good enough?

17 replies

Ladyof · 15/01/2021 21:57

We have sold our house and now I am really struggling to find something like. I feel bad keeping our buyers waiting but literally nothing suitable is coming up.

I've been honest from the start and said I wasnt prepared to go into rented etc and I have been actively looking since about a week before christmas. I was hoping it would really pick up this week but it's been worse than last week.

I've rang all local EA to see if they have any thing suitable coming up, my EA has posted letters, I've put a post on facebook. All to no avail.

Any other ideas, I am starting to panic slightly now do I need to chill?!

OP posts:
ManyMaybes · 15/01/2021 22:18

It’s not been very long at all. I’m a first time buyer and have been looking for a year with no luck. Perhaps I’m picky...

Having said that the past few weeks (months really) have been totally dead in the housing market I’m looking at.

FlumpetCrumpet · 16/01/2021 12:10

We're in your buyers position, had an offer accepted on a house at the beginning of November after accepting an offer on ours. We are set to complete on our sale in the next few weeks and our purchase is similarly ready to go except that our vendors haven't found anywhere to move to and are saying they wont rent. So we are having to rent ourselves because given the uncertainty over sdlt we would rather have the money in the bank than run the risk of our buyer pulling out and having a flat for sale in a market that has (potentially) just fallen off a cliff.

As soon as we have exchanged on our sale we are going to ask one more time for our seller to go into rented and commit to completing before the end of March. If they won't we are going to start looking elsewhere. We have lives to live and can't stay in limbo waiting for them to find a property that may never come onto the market.

I realise it's been less time for you (and I've tried not to sound like I'm taking my frustration out on this post Grin) but I thought letting you know our thinking might be useful to you.

Hope something come up for you soon!

PowerslidePanda · 16/01/2021 12:34

Similar to FlumpetCrumpet. We accepted an offer on ours at the end of October and had no intention of renting - we have a 3 year old and 1 year old twins, so moving twice will be a right faff. But when it became apparent that we weren't going to find somewhere quickly, we nonetheless decided it was better to take that hit than to lose our buyer.

We did eventually find somewhere a couple of months later and are lucky that our vendor found somewhere themselves quite quickly - but would have taken exactly the same view as Flumpet otherwise. Wouldn't wait ages for someone who wasn't prepared to do what we did for our own buyer.

RevIMJolly · 16/01/2021 12:53

I had a chat yesterday with an EA who was trying to persuade us to put our house in the market as we are actively looking to move (we’ve had photos done and all details are ready).
However, there is nothing coming up so I ‘m not keen to get into the stress of having sold out house and still looking for a new one. I got the definitive impression that the EA was under pressure to get us to get our house on.

Notaclue01 · 21/05/2021 08:09

Just found this thread and am in the exact same position as the OP. We did actually find somewhere but were told on Monday the seller now wanted to move back into the property (she was renting it out). In the 4 weeks we have wasted property prices have gone up in the area we are looking and the surrounding areas, and it all just feels hopeless as nothing suitable within budget is coming on. Our buyer here in London is a first time cash buyer living with mum and Dad and has said she will wait, but in all honesty I just feel like it’s not all going to fall into place.
We can’t rent either for various reasons, 2 dogs and a 2 year old being a couple of the main ones.
Any advice would be great from people who have been in this situation this year as these are not normal times for buying and selling!

readytosell · 21/05/2021 08:16

I've just accepted an offer this week and there isn't much available that I'm interested in. Similarly don't want to go into rental and have never said that I would either and that I would be making an onward purchase.

I'm not sure how long is a fair time to find something though? I know my buyer looked at a similar property near me that sold about 3 weeks before mine went on market, but no idea how long was loooking before that.

I've said about a month seems reasonable?

Original poster
Ladyof · 21/05/2021 08:24

I am still looking for a suitable house we sold before christmas then buyers pulled out, now on 2nd buyers who have been waiting since feb. Luckily they are being really lovely and said they are happy to wait but I feel so bad and it is so frustrating not being able to find something suitable.

OP posts:
umbel · 21/05/2021 08:30

Same here. Sold in Feb and still looking. We had one onward purchase fall through in March, then the market here went crazy - hardly anything coming on and what does seems to go in days. We’ve tried leafleting, Facebook, begging estate agents, all to no avail. Our buyers are sitting tight for now and we are trying to keep communication open with them about our situation so they don’t feel they are being messed about. I don’t see what more we can do.

MrsWooster · 21/05/2021 08:39

Perhaps reconsider renting? It’s a huge pain at the time but the long term advantages are massive in terms of improved ability to secure the ultimate right house in a cash-buyer/no chain position. We rented for a year 8 years ago and, despite being heavily pregnant at the final move to our permanent home, it’s just a blip of memory now.

surreygirl1987 · 21/05/2021 08:59

Yes we are almost definitely going to rent for a bit between selling and buying, despite having a 2 year old and a 10 month old. Nothing is impossible... it's just going to be an annoying faff that's all.

umbel · 21/05/2021 10:12

Finding a rental has become almost impossible here too! Luckily we have a friend we can move in with short term, but we’re all agreed we’d like to at least have had an offer accepted somewhere before moving in. No guarantees and all that, but it seems sensible, given our circumstances.

justanotherneighinparadise · 21/05/2021 10:13

Same here. We won’t be putting our house on the market until we find something that looks suitable as I know our house will sell really quickly. We did initially think we might go into rented but I don’t want to. So we’re going to just sit and wait and hope something appears online that we can throw ourselves at.

AfternoonToffee · 21/05/2021 11:22

How much have you widened your search? I was in a similar situation three years ago, our house sold but nothing suitable. I completely changed my search criteria, and the house we are now in (which I really love) pretty much ticked none of the boxes. For starters it is a 3 bed not a 4.

Good luck. It is crazy out there, my MIL'S house went on RM last night, it needs a lot of work (no gch for starters) and there is already viewings lined up for this afternoon.

huuuuunnnndderrricks · 21/05/2021 11:31

You will have to be honest and they will either wait or not and you'll have to get another buyer if not and hope something else comes on the market .. both times I've moved I wasn't prepared to give up my lovely house unless something I loved was available and wasn't going into rented .. our last buyer waited 9 months from accepted their offer so sometimes they will wait !

Livingintheclouds · 21/05/2021 15:11

I wouldn't wait. In fact I've pulled out of a purchase after waiting over two months. I feel I was misled my EA,who said vendor would rent when that wasn't the case. I'm moving some distance for schools so have to move, and as it is I have a hotel and a holiday let booked to tide us over the delay between my sale and (chain free) purchase. Not easy with kids and dogs but necessary.

readytosell · 21/05/2021 15:34

@Livingintheclouds

I wouldn't wait. In fact I've pulled out of a purchase after waiting over two months. I feel I was misled my EA,who said vendor would rent when that wasn't the case. I'm moving some distance for schools so have to move, and as it is I have a hotel and a holiday let booked to tide us over the delay between my sale and (chain free) purchase. Not easy with kids and dogs but necessary.
Sometimes the EA is at fault only hearing what they want (someone saying they may consider renting, as opposed to saying they definitely are).

But often it's people saying they'll go into rental, then find out how much it actually costs, finding out hot the rental market is in a lot of places, realises how much hassle it will be, many landlords demanding 12 month contracts ... and only then decide it's not a great idea. They should have sussed it out well before!

Chipsahoy · 21/05/2021 16:14

We are going in to rental but I warned our buyers that it’s hard to find rentals so don’t expect it to be quick! Renting certainly isn’t the easy answer. For us it’s so we can relocate and be sure we are happy there before we buy.

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