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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Selling two houses

11 replies

Ofthe · 22/05/2021 23:15

DP is inheriting a property from his DM who sadly died last year. We need to sell it, and want to use the proceeds to buy a family house, as his mum wanted for us. We’d also have to sell our flat and put the proceeds of the two together to buy the house.

We’re worried that it could become very complicated. If we sell our flat but not MIL’s house we’d be forced to move or lose our sale. If we sell both but can’t find anywhere to buy, we’re under pressure to move into rented...

Maybe I’m overthinking. Has anyone else done two sales at once?

OP posts:

takemetothelakes · 22/05/2021 23:22

Can you not sell your MIL's property first then sell yours? Honestly, I wouldn't want to be selling two and buying another. If I wanted to market them at the same time I'd probably move into rented then buy.

Original poster

Ofthe · 22/05/2021 23:26

A house we loved came on the market and obviously we can’t make an offer as neither house is on the market yet. It just made us think that we should get on with it. Everything seems to be moving so fast.

OP posts:

tunnocksreturns2019 · 22/05/2021 23:28

Sell MILs house. Do NOT look at what’s on the market until it is sold. Then sell yours/start looking

BasiliskStare · 23/05/2021 01:14

So many people will not agree with me but we sold our house and moved into rented accommodation so we were properly cash buyers, given in our area things were moving fast . It is a bit of a faff but less than being in a chain , ( Other opinions are available)

TheTeenageYears · 23/05/2021 06:53

I think you should sell the inherited property first and then put your current property up for sale and look for a family home. As a seller I don't think I would want to commit to a buyer who was relying on not one but two sales in order to complete. Chains fall apart all the time, you would be doubling your risk.

kitten789 · 23/05/2021 07:04

We were in a similar situation and had two to sell and buying one.

Selling two was really stressful, one fell through 2 times and because of this we lost out on the house we we were purchasing and lost our other sale. It cost us loads in legal fees as we had to start all over again on the two sales and a purchase. My advice would be to sell one first, get that gone and then just a simpler chain going forward. The property market is also really hot where we are at the moment and we didn't look attractive when making offers as we had a complicated chain and people selling were able to pick and choose who bought their property.

CeibaTree · 23/05/2021 07:19

We were in this exact situation a few years ago. My advice would be to sell your MIL's home first. When we were selling my parent's house we lost our buyer just before exchange as their own buyer pulled out and they were unable to find another one. We found another buyer quite quickly but the whole process was delayed for 3 month longer than it was originally set to. If we'd been selling our own place at the same time and were trying to buy based on the proceeds of both places, it would have been so incredibly stressful.

At the moment with the property market being so bonkers, estate agents near us are not even allowing viewings unless you are under offer/sold yourself so I agree with a pp - stop checking Rightmove etc until you've sold at least one of the properties with the other on the market and are in a proceedable position.

mayblossominapril · 23/05/2021 07:20

It’s a bloody nightmare
We are trying to sell two, one Sale is progressing and should exchange soon. The other had an offer that they then realise they couldn’t afford. So we have lost two properties that we could have moved to now.
No rentals available in our area atm and it’s all a bit of a mess

wtheck · 23/05/2021 08:39

We had two to sell at one point.

We sold the one we were not living in first then the other.

No way on earth would I sell two at once if I had onward purchases depending.

Original poster

Ofthe · 23/05/2021 09:31

Good advice. Thanks for talking us down.

OP posts:

Livingintheclouds · 23/05/2021 13:40

I've sold three in the last six months to finance my return to London. It wasn't a big deal. I put one flat on in September with tenant in it but who had been given notice and luckily the first viewer bought it and we completed in December. The other flat and house went on the market in October. I'm completing on the second flat next week and my own house early June. I didn't look at houses until my own house (the bulk of the money) was under offer, and as I had the proceeds from the first in the bank that made up the money I needed, with the third property to finance any renovation (and now to cover me for extra stamp duty if I miss the holiday). The second flat went under offer a week after my house.
So do as pp says and get at least one sold and other under offer before you start looking in earnest, otherwise you set yourself up for disappointment.

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