Outbid again - please tell me it will be ok

[starsandstuff]

DH and I had enough of our crappy neighbours a few months ago. Put our beloved little terraced house up for sale and it sold really quickly. We didn’t know about the stamp duty holiday at that point and hadn’t realised the market was going nuts. Fast forward, we’re due to complete next Wednesday, removal van is booked, and I’m devastated because we’ve looked at literally dozens of houses, have been outbid on 6, and now have to move back in with my Mum 30 miles away.

Now, I’m very lucky to have that option. We’re not homeless and we’ve made some money on our sale due to said crazy market. But we love where we live and despite having a healthy budget we apparently can’t afford to live here. Everything we bid on went for £50-75k over the asking price which is insane. I mean the last one we loved was a 2 bed semi with no garden just a paved yard (though a stunning kitchen) and it went for £360k which…what.

So I’m really grieving having to move especially when it was due to other xxxxs and not just us deciding to upgrade or make money, and worse, I’m despairing of finding anywhere at all and having to live with my mum for the next year (I love her but we’ll murder each other long before then).

Please tell me stories of how you found the most amazing house for buttons when you least expected it. Or some version that will help me get through the move next week. Thanks.

It’ll be ok, the positive is you’ve sold at the top of the market, when the stamp duty holiday ends and the initial moving because we can work from anywhere idea subsides the market will flatten out prices will stabilise and the market will return to normal as currently it’s unsustainable, enjoy living like a student for a while and take your time to find that forever home

Can you move elsewhere in the country?

Given the amount of people who seemingly haven't budgeted for missing the stamp duty holiday I suspect some houses may be coming back on the market over the next couple of weeks. However there are likely to be some people who agreed to go into rented to break the chain.

I'd suggest making your position known to some estate agents, but also doing things like looking at places SSTC on Rightmove etc. that you like, bookmarking them and checking back every so often in case they come back on the market. Most won't, but there might be the odd one.

Hopefully we'll be returning to normality soon so prices will stabilise (but I can't see them actually going down...)

@starsandstuff I could have written this! At the age of 40 with a young family I too am going to move back in with my mum next week. I love her, but It’s absolutely shit. We had to break our chain or risk losing our buyer.

we just offered on a bungalow yesterday...we offered full asking...they went with a cash buyer instead...this is the 3rd time this has happened. im feeling like giving up! its too stressful

It is a bloody nightmare, I think people are losing their minds. Round here people are buying property at inflated prices within days of it coming to market. Some of them are the type that would usually languish on the market for months.
I can’t help but think there will be a mighty hangover from all this, I am not going to overstretch myself as I’m worried where things are heading.
Good Luck with your search

If you hadn't realised the market was going mad, did you undervalue your house? Is this why you can't afford to buy anything and why yours sold so quickly?

you should pull out of your sale

Can you move into rented while you look? You’ll be in a more attractive position then but without moving into your DMS.

I had to sell my lovely house because of wanky neighbours too. Unfortunately I had to sell well below the value due to said neighbours which has left us having to take a much higher mortgage.
Absolutely do not rush yourself into buying an 'it'll do' property because of your situation. We wanted so desperately to move that we settled on a property that appears to be a money pit. We knocked £40k off the asking price due to the horrendous survey and it'll cost us more than that to put everything right, but he house won't gain it back in value. There's a reason it was on the market for 5yrs and they must have been laughing all the way to the bank.

You are in a good position now you've already sold your property though as we lost out on some gorgeous houses because my property took forever to sell.

We are struggling in a slightly different way we are cash buyer ( money in instant savings), but vendors are being seduced by massive bids. Several agents have advised us that they expect several sales to fall out of bed with mortgage valuations being lower and properties to become available again.
We are still viewing properties, but there are two that we put bids on and were second in line. In both the cases the successful bidders need mortgages and the estate agents are not confident they will get a mortgage valuation to match their bid. We have been told that 2nd July could be a big day for deals falling apart.

It will be fine. You have sold at a great time to sell, and the market will calm down fairly soon. Much of the insanity is driven by the stamp duty holiday, and there’s also the shifting of people who readjusted their lives due to Covid. It’ll start being more ‘normal’ before long.

We moved into rented and last month our offer was accepted on a house that went to best and finals. I know ours wasn't the highest bid but we were in the strongest position for the vendor who is returning to other property they own. Take heart that your temporary difficulty could put you ahead of the game and perversely save you some money. We didn't offer over the asking price and know that others did.

Unless you had to declare dispted with your neighnours, and that reflected on the balue of your house, it's surprising that you cant buy similar or a 2-bed in same area. Have you looked at 2 bed terraces with a bit of potential like loft/small extention possible? Even if you don't do these improvements, you can still sell well when yo uaer ready to move again. Of course if you need a 3 bed as planning for a family that's an issue.
But if not, and you love the area, you'd need to (slightly) downsize or go for a busier road / tiny garden. Loving the area is so important! (wish I realised that in the past).

Huge sympathy to you...we've been trying to move for nearly 2 years, have sold ours twice before but lost buyers because our purchases haven't worked out, plus covid and lockdowns in amongst all that - we were thinking we would never move. We weren't in the position to move in with family - my mum is very elderly, doesn't have the space and it wouldn't have worked for any of us.
Finally, it seems to be happening for us. We did find a house in our budget - it doesn't have everything we want but we love it and it was within budget, just. You'll be in such a strong position when you do find the house you want and maybe you'll be able to save a bit whilst you're staying with your mum.

I feel for you, it's a nightmare. Our house sold for what was a fair price back in April, we've done 6 best and finals, even where our offer was the highest they went with someone else with a shorter chain! Prices have gone through the roof and we're lucky to even get a viewing, let alone an offer accepted. We need at least another £15k to even be in the running for a house which needs work, when our budget in March would get us a ready to move into property. It's crap.