Is this at all possible?

[spacejam]

Hypothetically speaking...

I have a seen a house in the area I wish to buy, on sale at o/o £95000.

I have £24k left on my current mortgage. Approximate value is £43k.10 yeas left on the mortgage. I have 12k in savings.

Is there any point in attempting to buy the new house (on a 27 year mortgage) before my own has even gone on the market?

I've read a little on bridging loans, but don't how "easily" available they are.

Thanks!

Wouldn’t it be better to just get yours on the market immediately, to form a chain?

Yes, but this one I've seen will go quickly. And mine isn't quite ready to sell.

It would actually be great to move out of here completely, and be able to de-clutter and do all the things that i want to do and then sell. It's so small with barely any storage space, etc.

Depends on your income really; can you afford to borrow say £83k for a second mortgage, & use your £12k as a deposit?
Maybe have a chat to a broker?

I am going to call tomorrow, but I wanted to know if he is likely to think I'm an idiot for even asking 🙈

Not an idiot for asking, it is doable. Good luck.

Don't forget to add 3% stamp duty for second home if buying before selling first home. You can claim it back on sale 2nd home within 3 years but need to pay it out first at about £2800 depending on price.

Thanks @cabbageking

Reading up on that now, and it's now 4%. I don't think I'd get the new property for less than £100k, so that's £4K tax plus10k deposit, plus legal costs.

That's more than I would have in savings.

I assume the 4K tax needs to be paid straight away as part of the purchase?

Nothing I can do with the equity sitting in my flat?

Bumping

In theory, you could remortgage your flat to release the equity, but that's not realistic if you're looking to sell the flat soon-ish. Re-mortgaging it as a buy-to-let could be an option?

I'd suggest speaking to a mortgage broker (it's usually free) - they might have some other ideas.

Some estate agents wouldn't entertain you if your property isn't on the market or, even worse, under offer.

But nothing to lose in trying...

I have a meeting with the mortgage advisor on Monday, and a viewing on Tuesday!

Good luck

You'd have to pay the whole of the stamp duty land tax upfront and claim the difference back when you sold your current place, but there is a time limit for that, so do check what that is. Also check the amount you'd have to pay given the actual prices involved, IIRC below a certain value you don't pay it anyway, I think it's 250,000. But I think that's changing.
There are a lot of advantages to splitting buying and selling if you can afford to, not least being able to do work on the new one more easily (tradespeople like empty places too, they can do a job faster and cheaper), then refurb the old one to get more for that too.

Thanks @BlueMongoose

Because it would be a second property I'd have to pay 4% tax on it. The threshold is only £40k.

I don't think it's doable. As I would need at least £16k just for deposit, fees and tax, assuming I can't take any money from my existing property.

But at least I'll have started the process and just viewing this one might spur me on.