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Original poster

Please tell me the benefits of selling, then moving into rented?

39 replies

De88 · 26/04/2021 22:18

As above really.

We haven't been able to find anything for ourselves after accepting a good offer on ours with a buyer I don't want to lose. Partner says buyer can pull out if they aren't happy to wait but I don't see how we wouldn't be in this situation again anyway, unless we were very lucky? We really do need extra space, and as soon as possible.

It looks more and more likely we are not going to find something as time goes on, another problem being that our money is tied up in the house- we were going to be borrowing from family to make up exchange deposit, which now isn't possible. So looking at going into rental for 6 months at the end of it, hopefully no more.

Please reassure me there will be positives to renting after the sale is complete? Big thanks.

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surreygirl1987 · 26/04/2021 23:47

We are doing that. We are due to complete within the next 6 weeks or so and will be going into rented then. It's a hassle, especially with a toddler and a baby, but we were lucky to sell our house at what feels like the peak of the buying frenzy, for a much better price than we expected, and didn't want to feel rushed into buying our next house, which we aim to stay in for at least a decade. Renting will hopefully give us a bit if breathing space to property hunt properly, although we will of course still feel some pressure as I'll be mindful of rising prices over time. I have been assured that being chain free, in rental accommodation with an approval in principle will make us very attractive buyers... so here's hoping! Good luck!

Confusedaboutlots · 26/04/2021 23:56

about to do that too - also with toddler and moving to new area of london. feels safer being chain free - we can complete our sale, get the money in our bank, take time to explore and research the area and property properly and then pounce on the right property when the time is right. less pressure so feels good.

PickAChew · 26/04/2021 23:59

You'll be a genuine cash buyer when you do find the right place.

RickiTarr · 27/04/2021 00:04

It does make you an attractive buyer as you will then be chain free.

OTOH, I would have an eye on what would happen if you separated while renting. Would that disadvantage one or both of you? Make it impossible to get back on the ladder?

greenlynx · 27/04/2021 00:12

You will be more attractive buyer. You also could be more flexible in your plans as you could move out easily.

Scarby9 · 27/04/2021 00:16

I did it when my first lot of buyers dropped out and I lost the house of my dreams as a result.
I sold so that I was ready to pounce immediately on the next house when it appeared.
It took a whole year in rented accommodation, with most of my possessions still packed up and stacked in the dining room, before the house I now live in came on the market. At times I thought I would never own my own home again, and it was a weird, limbo-like year, but the house I now live in is perfect.

Original poster

De88 · 27/04/2021 11:54

Thanks so much. Think partner will need a bit more convincing that it isn't just time effort and money wasted- I'm not sure paying for somewhere to live IS a waste. We've got 3 kids and both work full time so it always will have been a pain in the arse to move... hoping to get pretty much everything into storage. @Scarby9 thank you i hadn't thought very much about the possibility of it all collapsing! Glad you've found your perfect home, hope that happens for us too.

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RazorstormUnicorn · 27/04/2021 11:57

I've sold and we are likely to move into rented while we look for the right house for us. Things are going crazy here (north east) and I am wary of over paying in the frenzy. I also would prefer to make the decision unrushed.

Anyway, am hoping breaking the chain will go in our favour when it comes time to buy.

Amammi · 27/04/2021 12:03

Just make sure you have life assurance - that comes for many people via having a mortgage and they sometimes forget to source this for themselves independently when they are renting.

Africa2go · 27/04/2021 12:19

Much less stressful breaking up the chain
Money is in the bank (having achieved a good price)
Gives you breathing space to explore the area you want to buy in / pounce when you see the right property / make yourself attractive (no chain / can work to seller's timescales)
You're not responsible for maintenance on rented property (saves money / frees up time to send with your children)
If you have an overlap between the purchase and rented property, you can stay in the rented for a couple of weeks whilst immediate works are done once you get the keys (e.g. we replaced the carpets etc before we moved in)

As above, just check you have life assurance and that if the time you're in rented accommodation coincides with applying for schools etc, check the admissions policy.

Original poster

De88 · 27/04/2021 12:24

@RazorstormUnicorn

Anyway, am hoping breaking the chain will go in our favour when it comes time to buy.

Thanks and @Confusedaboutlots @surreygirl1987 Same, I'm not expecting house prices to drop in our area, probably just a bit more steadiness once this madness dies down?

We accepted our offer from someone who cheekily knocked on the door before the for sale sign even went up, but estate agent lined up 10 viewings the same afternoon we'd instructed them and we've still had enquiries even though it is off the market. Anything that would have been of interest for us appears on Rightmove with the 'sold STC' already on it!

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Original poster

De88 · 27/04/2021 12:43

Thanks @Amammi @Africa2go we do both have life insurance separate to mortgage, and additional cover through work. We're staying in the same area because our older two are already in primary and high school, and we are lucky we'd be happy with absolutely any of the schools when it comes to the time.

weirdly @RickiTarr we have talked about this a fair bit recently as know so many couples who've split over the last year.

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AgnesNaismith · 27/04/2021 12:48

We sold years ago, just before the market crashed and all mortgages were tightened up so much we couldn’t get one. Dh was then made redundant and we spent 10 years renting. My experience is to avoid at all costs - but if your circumstances are more solid then quite different.

Africa2go · 27/04/2021 12:58

One other point, do your due diligence about where you put the proceeds (and the maximum protection you get in an individual account / linked account).

RickiTarr · 27/04/2021 12:59

weirdly @RickiTarr we have talked about this a fair bit recently as know so many couples who've split over the last year.

Maybe I’m being a misery, but I do like to have the worst case scenarios covered.

HumourReplacementTherapy · 27/04/2021 18:14

We've just done it.
The benefit has been getting our offer accepted on a property. If we hadn't have been in Rented, we wouldn't have been accepted. They had 8 offers.
We've already done the hard bit and have sorted out/skipped lots of stuff.
When it comes to completion day, it won't be as stressful (but that's because we're on a 6 month let so we'll still have the rental when we complete..... cost us £ but we can move in at our leisure and do a few jobs first.

Mumtofourandnomore · 27/04/2021 18:52

We did it, but not deliberately as our vendor pulled out and we didn’t want to lose our buyer. The main issue is that where we are, most rentals are for a year, and so if the perfect house does come up, you’d likely still be tied in to your rental. The other disadvantage is that you are definitely dropping £xx down the drain on rent, and if prices rise then you have a risk of being priced out.

When we did move 10 months later, we completed in five weeks to a house with very motivated sellers - we offered almost 10% under and it was immediately accepted. So we did recoup our rental losses (in my mind), but I have four children and it was quite stressful......

Dogsandbabies · 27/04/2021 19:05

We sold last year. Desperately needed more space after our second arrived. We rented a very spacious unfurnished flat and were hoping to be there for 6 months while looking for somewhere suitable. We therefore had no storage costs. We have been here for 18 months and due to move in our house this weekend just before number 3 arrives. We found it took out a lot of stress from both transactions. And we were able to negotiate on our purchase. Overall it was a very positive experience and we would definitely do it again.

deathbollywood · 27/04/2021 19:14

We did it and it was a mistake. Couldn't find anything decent to buy and ended up compromising as felt stressed and panicked. It was 10 yrs ago Still regret it.

Werk · 27/04/2021 19:48

We did it recently.

However, we had already had an offer accepted on a house. I am not sure I would have been happy about proceeding with nothing in the pipeline. We didn't really unpack as we moved into a furnished air bnb - it felt like a bit of a holiday, I suppose.

It cost quite a lot to move twice and of course there was the rent (which we got a bit cheaper due to lockdowns) but it did mean we could take our time moving into our new house and gradually sorted some things out - like internet connection for WFH. I would do it again if it meant keeping a chain in tact or if we were moving area and wanted to get the feel of a new place before committing.

I did worry about what would happen if one of us dropped down dead/ was made redundant. We have LPAs and the money was in a joint account so we could access it easily.

I didn't think about the splitting up thing - I was a family solicitor back in the day and I had a couple of cases where spouses had been "tricked" into selling the matrimonial home - often with promises of a new home in the near future - I probably should have thought about that more carefully

doublenotdobble · 27/04/2021 19:57

I'm planning to do this too, stage one of the move to Scotland from London. My plan is to sell the house here and rent somewhere for six months and use that time to make a purchase. Whilst I can't say I'm wildly happy with moving twice it will help with the chain (impossible and expensive to sell in England and buy in Scotland simultaneously) I'll get the chance to check out various area and declutter in the first move.

Confusedaboutlots · 27/04/2021 22:02

yeah. i will add that we have been looking to buy in the past month or so. but there has very much been a frenzy in terms of viewings and offers. it’s been mad and i’m really reluctant to pay over what the house is worth.

so am hoping the market calms down whilst we rent. but also even if it doesn’t we will be able to think about what we can buy with the budget we have at the relevant time - after a few months of living in the area and renting.

our lease has a six month break clause and whilst you can’t predict everything i wouldn’t expect to be in the rental for more than a year.

the house we are renting is spacious and in a good area close to childcare and so i feel we will be living a good quality of life whilst in it.

BlueyandBingo · 27/04/2021 22:16

We have done this and we are in rented right now. I hate it.... our rental is small and pokey, I can never find anything as we didn’t unpack all the boxes and things keep going wrong- I am currently sat up waiting for a gas engineer and we have a faulty valve or something.

We are hoping our purchase will go through in the next couple few weeks and we hate the rental so much we are happy to move ASAP and pay rent and mortgage.

If I had to do it again I wouldn’t even though the housing market is crazy where we live (specific pocket of SE London) and the majority of buyers appear to be chain free for 1.5m plus houses.

Viviennemary · 28/04/2021 10:50

Its a risky move. If prices go up then what.

Original poster

De88 · 28/04/2021 12:26

@Viviennemary this is my worry too. We do have a good amount of equity and our income will definitely and reliably be going up, so as long as they don't rise by a ridiculous amount I am confident we'll be safe.
@BlueyandBingo @deathbollywood this is at the back of my mind too :-( not finding anything AND being stuck in a rented property that we hate. There are some lovely rented properties in our area so again just hoping they'd come up at the right time for us, if there's still nothing

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