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Original poster

If you went into rental to break the chain...

26 replies

readytosell · 09/05/2021 14:46

At what point did you decide to do it?

Did you give yourself a time limit to find an onward purchase, or was it more buyer pressuring you to do it?

OP posts:
alloverthecarpetagain · 09/05/2021 14:55

We are currently considering it because our vendor (end of the chain) is dragging her feet about finding a rental and we don't want to lose our buyers. We are supposed to be moving at the end of May so we need to decide soon, I'd say in the next week or so. It will be very annoying to put it mildly, as we will miss out on the stamp duty holiday and because we have a dog it's hard to find rentals. We have done it before though, twice, and try and see it as an adventure living somewhere different for a while!

OUB1974 · 09/05/2021 15:00

We didn't rent but moved in with family. I wish we'd made he decision earlier instead of sticking with a house that wasnt right, but was the only one on offer. We pulled out for legal and survey reasons in the end, but wasted so much time and money.

We couldn't afford to rent, whichnis why we moved in with family. We didn't want to lose our buyers. It's put us in such a good position for buying. Now our new sellers are considering doing the same so as not to lose us.

lubeybooby · 09/05/2021 15:00

We were about 7 months in past our offer on a place absolutely perfect for us (forever house material), the vendors onward purchases had fallen through twice, they were dragging their heels. We nearly lost our buyer so exchanged immediately without even having a place lined up, then had to find a rental that would accept us likely only being there 3 months and accept cats. Thankfully it worked out but we had to pay the three months rent in advance

We then emailed our vendors via the solicitor saying that we had now broken the chain pinning our hopes on this house, we are cash buyers now and and would need to either exchange or pull out with a deadline of a month, intending to just buy a stopgap house, any house with no chain if they still kept messing us around. (we were being really nice but also pleading hard!) We then exchanged within 2 weeks and completed a month after that

Nightmare. Got there in the end though.

SeaToSki · 09/05/2021 15:08

We were buying somewhere that houses were selling insanely fast and to all cash buyers. So we sold and rented somewhere in the town we were looking to buy in. It meant we were on the spot for viewings and as we had a baby ds it made it easier for naps and feeding etc. We ended up paying for a month of rent that we didnt strictly need, but moving was also very easy as no time pressure and we got a house we really wanted in the end

alloverthecarpetagain · 09/05/2021 15:18

@lubeybooby sounds very similar to our situation, so glad to hear you managed to pull it off in the end!

umbel · 09/05/2021 15:35

Slight thread hijack, just it seems most would consider renting only if their onward purchase was already lined up and progressing. Would anyone consider renting with no onward purchase in place?

BlueyandBingo · 09/05/2021 15:55

We did it at the last minute when it became apparent our purchase was going to take a lot longer... this meant we were completely panicked into finding somewhere and consequently we hate our rental and go out as much as possible. Can’t wait to get out of here

tentative3 · 09/05/2021 16:00

We had a difficult house to sell for various reasons so advertised it chain free right from the start just to make it that bit easier. We had had sales fall through on it previously which had cost us financially and emotionally when we lost onward purchases and didn't want to go through that again.

By the time the sale completed the market had gone insane so we regret it to some extent but had had an offer accepted on a chain free property before even moving out (but after exchange, we didn't start viewing again until that point) so it may have worked in our favour and as long as the purchase goes through we won't have missed out too much, hopefully.

EggyBread4me · 09/05/2021 16:35

We are in rental at the moment for this reason. We had a buyer lined up for ours, but couldn't find anything. Everything we offered on seemed to have people that were chain free/cash buyers interested. We just couldn't compete. So we sold ours (we got a good price for it), and have been renting since June last year. Still haven't found anything, but don't regret selling.

Purplewithred · 09/05/2021 16:39

We knew we were likely to be at the top of a chain and were moving out to a new area so it seemed like a sensible idea to break the chain and get a feel for where we were going. Second time was when XDH and I split up, again a top of chain house, I didnt want to risk breaking the chain and wanted some breathing space so again renting seemed like a good idea. Both times it really paid off. Will definitely do it in the future.

Pumpkyumpkyumpkin · 09/05/2021 16:44

We've done this both times we've sold...can't be doing with the hassle of being in a chain, coordinating everything for the same day etc. So we've decided we want to sell, gone on the market, and as soon as dates have been agreed started looking for a rental. Its meant we've paid for a few overlaps of rent / mortgage but nothing major. The first time we didn't have a new purchase lined up so it gave us some breathing room to decide what and where we wanted, the second time we had a new build lined up that was going to be ready for 6 months. Both times we've been really open with the landlords about what we were doing and its never been a problem

user1471538283 · 09/05/2021 18:09

My plan was always to break a chain and move into rented. I needed time to find somewhere that would accept the Dcats.

My surprise was how quickly the rental market moves and we ended up losing one apartment because I wasnt fast enough. We found this one, viewed it, references and moved in in 2 weeks! We had an overlap though because it took another month for our house to complete.

If you haven't got pets or specific requirements and if you have 2 weeks before exchange and complete it might be doable. But honestly I was a bag of nerves!

Dogsandbabies · 09/05/2021 18:51

We moved into rental before we found anywhere. We wanted the perfect house and were willing to wait rather than rush into anything.

In the end we stayed at the rental for 12 months. We did find the perfect house and we got it quickly because of our position.

HamCob · 09/05/2021 19:05

We didn't have anywhere lined up to buy.
We had lost 2 houses due to vendors changing their minds about moving. We were about to lose our 2nd set of buyers as we hadn't got anywhere to move to do we decided to go into rented.

As it happened it all worked out really well. It takes the pressure off to find somewhere quickly and when we did, it meant we had a low offer accepted as we weren't in a chain. We were able to take our time with the removals due to the crossover period.
I would second what the above poster says about the rental market moving quickly. Hardly anything where we live and what does come on goes in hours! I really had to lower my expectations and not bee we picky in the same way as buying a house.

clareykb · 09/05/2021 19:09

We did with no inward purchase firmly in place..had ideas and did buy one of those. It is tricky to find short term rents though. We ended up in an Airbnb which whilst looked more expensive on paper wasn't really when you took off bills and fees, we also managed to negotiate a discount for being in long term.

StrongTeaDropOfMilkNoSugar · 09/05/2021 19:28

We moved into our chain breaking rental (Airbnb) yesterday. We said right from the start when we put our house in the market we’d be prepared to go into rented as we knew we’d have more chance to snag a buyer trying to beat the stamp duty holiday.

At the time we didn’t have somewhere to buy, but we had an offer accepted in January so fingers crossed we’ll only be in the Airbnb for a couple of months now as our purchase is also chain free (searches taking forever though).

Original poster
readytosell · 09/05/2021 21:15

Wow, thanks for all the replies, so much to think about.

It's definitely the least preferred option, but seeing so many threads on here and elsewhere about how slim the pickings may be. Family have really kindly offered to let me stay with them as long as I need, but they are completely the different direction to where I'm looking to move to.

Did any of you find any difficulties in terms of changing addresses, or getting a new mortgage?

OP posts:
Heronwatcher · 09/05/2021 21:21

We knew that once we hadn’t found somewhere a month after accepting an offer we’d probably have to rent if we wanted to keep our buyers so decided pretty soon. As others have said it really helps with the onward purchase. We used holiday lets (it was off peak) and ended up staying in 2 over a period of about 6 weeks but we found somewhere to buy before we left our own house. It was actually fine. We forwarded our post to a relative for a short time. We also had a cat. Quite a few self catering places will accept them so you might want to consider Airbnb’s etc if it’s going to be September onwards and you don’t think you’ll need 6 months/ a year.

DonGray · 09/05/2021 22:00

Friends did it - some years ago - onward purchase fell through, market moved, they were stuck in rented for the next 5 years

Bluesheep8 · 10/05/2021 06:32

We did it because we sold quicker than we expected to and felt pressured to find something to buy. We were also relocating to another area so wanted to get a feel for the place for 6 months before buying. I'm glad we DoD it that way and would definitely do it again.

Els1e · 10/05/2021 07:50

I’ve done it twice and would again. Takes a lot of the stress out. I’ve put furniture into storage but after being very realistic about what I really want to move with. I’ve lodged with family and also rented a wooden lodge, off season, on a holiday park. Accompanied by cat and dog each time. I’ve changed my address to a family member to make it easier. I’ve decided when I’ve realised that different parts of the chain are moving at different paces, usually around 6-8 weeks in. I also like it because on the day of completion, I’ve just gone and collected the keys, drank a glass of champagne and make lists. I then spent a couple of weeks, thoroughly cleaning, painting, getting new carpet laid. Jobs much easier with no furniture in. A bit more costly? Yes. But the reduction in stress makes it worth it.

Daisydoesnt · 10/05/2021 09:25

We sold our last house without even really looking for our next! We went under offer in Sept. Our buyers were cash and as expected the sale went through very quickly (about 8weeks). As there was just nothing that we liked on the market, instead we focused on finding somewhere really nice to rent for a year.

It’s been a bit hairy the last few months waiting for our perfect home to come onto the market - and I got really fed up at one point - but a PERFECT house finally came on two weeks ago. There was loads and loads of interest and offers but as cash buyers with a rental until at least December the vendors choose us. Yay!! We didn’t even have to get into a bidding war. The vendors were more interested in “easy” buyers who were not going to hurry them than getting a higher price.

So it can work but it’s not for the faint hearted!

Countrylane · 10/05/2021 14:15

I did this, as was keen to get rid of the flat I was selling. Worked fine. Stayed withe friends and was in new house within three months (and saved £20,000 on new place as had exchanged so was cash buyer. Their chain fell through and they were keen to sell.). But was just me then - would be v different now I have a family.

Talia99 · 10/05/2021 14:34

I did it because I was moving to a new area several hundred miles from where I used to live and wanted to rent to make sure I knew the area as a local. I sold in April and found a new place July / August. With various delays, I completed in October.

I put most of my furniture in storage, the leftovers in a family member’s store cupboard and rented furnished.

I moved in over the course of a week or so (I didn’t give notice on the rental until I had exchanged contracts so there was a two week overlap). It helped that the place I bought was really close to where I was renting so I could spend a couple of hours unpacking then go home and relax for a while.

The most laborious part was collecting the stuff from the relative.

Outonmyear · 10/05/2021 15:12

Did it 3 years ago, worked out fine.

Contemplating it now, but won’t be doing it as market moving so fast would rather lose buyers. Zero rental properties is also a factor.