Those that have completed their Sale, but not bought

[areyouhavingagiraffe]

Hi guys, thought I would start a little thread for this. Anyone else in the same boat? I was due to exchange on both Sale and Purchase, however a few week prior to this, there were some red flags around my purchase (loft, lack of building regs, I know the subject has been done to death). I made the decision, after getting advice from various people to withdraw from the purchase. I decided to proceed with my Sale. I was selling a leasehold flat, I got a really good amount for it (far more than anticipated), and there are so many issues around selling leasehold, it was an absolute ball ache and so stressful, hence I made the decision to break the chain.
I am also in the fortunate position of being able to live with my folks; they have a large house, and as well as my room, I have an office, and the entire contents of my flat in their outbuilding.
The market was mental when I was looking back in April, and I felt so deflated every time I viewed place...... until the house (which I walked away from) came along. I hated the look from the outside, but inside it was lovely and I would have been able to move it without doing anything. Was huge downstairs, so much space and I had planned my christmas there already :-(. I did make compromises (not liking the kerbside appeal), and I offered well over asking, however with the issues raised I just didn't want to take the risk.
I have been at my folks for five weeks, and have started house hunting again; but I am just back to that deflated feeling again. I don't like any of the houses I have seen, and I can't understand the market. I feel like prices are higher, but then also lots being reduced, and coming back on the market. It seems a little calmer, but certainly less stock coming to the market over last few weeks. I am now wondering whether I should have just gone ahead. I was nervous about resale of the house, and it was not my "forever" house, if there is such a thing, and it was causing me sleepless nights. There was also a chance that future Lenders may not lend on property, it all sort of depends on how diligent any future buyers solicitor is.
I just hope this horrible feeling will go away.....
I am in a fortunate position now, chain free, lots of cash and am proceedable. My folks don't take a penny off me (I help out with shopping, chores etc) and I have a good relationship with them, and it's not like I have had to uproot my life (they are in the same area) and I don't have kids.
I just wondered if there was anyone else in my position, where you have completed and still looking, and whether any positive stories about not regretting the "one that I walked away from".

I feel very similar to you OP and completely understand. We are in rented and I’m miserable. I’m actually missing my house that I sold! I’m deflated that there’s just nothing out there. Definitely a lack of stock like you say.
We just have to hold our nerve. As I keep reminding myself, we sold for a reason (or a few reasons) and also, in your case, if that house would have been right for you to purchase then you’d have gone ahead. But it wasn’t right so you did the right thing.
I’m so glad that your family are lovely and supportive. Make the most of this time to save up more pennies.
We are both now in great positions when something does come along, and it will…..soon hopefully 🙏🏼

Similar situation. Our onward purchase fell through because the vendors withdrew from the sale, but we have decided to press ahead and complete on our sale. We’re due to move into rented accommodation in the next few weeks. We decided that we were genuinely committed to the idea for moving, for reasons which would not go away once we all ‘return to the office’, and we have missed out on a few alternative purchases that we liked to people who were already in rented and so chain free. It’s nerve wracking but I’m happy it’s the right decision for us. Good luck to you. I’m sure you’ll find something that suits eventually, and you’re in a great position in the mean time. Don’t lose heart.

I was, though I have now bought.
I was proceeding well with my sale and purchase, jumping through hoops to get there by stamp duty deadline. I knew there'd be a week or two when I'd have sold but not bought, but found a holiday let that would take my dogs too. Moved out, movers stored my stuff, all fine. Then a week later my seller pulled out. I did find a new place a week later, chain free, but I obviously was going to miss stamp duty, adding £12,500 to my costs, and I had to extend my stay at the holiday let, and as it got closer to school holidays prices went up and the last one I had was £1500/week! Plus no dogs. Me and my daughter lived out of two suitcases for 8 weeks in four different holiday lets and three hotels, my son moved in with his girlfriend's family and had the dogs with them. I have no family nearby.
My solicitor did her best and we did complete in about six weeks on my house. But I hate chains and the system here is awful. I lost £5000 in fees and surveys for two houses where the seller pulled out. I don't know what I'll do next time but I don't want to ever be in a chain again.

We did exactly the same thing (right to purchase falling through due to lack of building regs). We stayed withmypqrents for 7 months in the end (felt like longer...for all of us!). We are in a lovely house now and don't regret a thing. Being chain free obviously makes you a much better bet for a seller and much more likely to beat off the competition when something good does come up!

I think you have to see the positives in this situation. You won't have to fork out on rent/storage fees, you don't have the pressure of desperately needing to find another place to buy, and when you do find the one, you're chain-free! You shouldn't underestimate the bargaining power of being chain-free when it comes to buying.

Yep this is me! I originally sold my flat last summer and had an offer accepted on an amazing house within a couple of weeks. My buyer disappeared into thin air and my vendors caught wind of it while we were trying to figure out what was going on and put the house I was buying back on the market without even telling me/having a conversation (I literally saw it back on Rightmove). I managed to find another buyer for mine and completed at the beginning on the year and have been living with parents since. I was told what a good position I’d be in however it’s just not paid off so far as so many people are either cash or also living in rented/with family too. I’ve put offers on 7 houses since completing and not been successful with any of them! I’m really starting to feel I’ll never get anywhere :-(

Thanks all. Some great advice here, and yes I need to look at the positives. I hope we all find somewhere soon, but I guess there is no need to rush; I read something about so many people who have rushed through their purchase (to save on stamp duty) now regretting it. We just need to sit tight.
@Knittingbaker, that sucks that you have lost out so many times. Where are you? Greater London? Yes, I do worry that maybe being chain free is no big deal as everyone is chain free at the moment! But how long can this madness go on, it surely has to end soon! I think I will be here for a while now, but it does mean I won't have to compromise, which is what I was doing with the house. I talked myself into liking it, and planned Christmas there, argghhhhhhh! Won't do this next time.
I also really dislike Estate Agents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With my purchase (which I withdrew from), they also put property back on the markey to pressure me into going ahead with it, as they had thought it would affect my Sale (i.e, that I would have nowhere to live), however moving back in with folks was always my Plan B. Also great news you sold a flat, so many issues around flats these days and Lenders criteria, and Leasehold takes so much longer that we should look at the positives and what we have achieved

Yes we've broken our chain - originally we thought we'd be completing on our purchase with just a gap of a couple of weeks but we ended up pulling out of the purchase as there turned out to be a lot of issues the vendor was hiding and they were completely inflexible in how to sort them. I think they were relying on us feeling pressure to complete the chain and get it over the line to be honest. That house is still on the market several months later!

That's a real advantage of being chain free in addition to maybe being more attractive to vendors, you can also choose more freely and not be forced to compromise. But of course that could end up working against you if you end up holding out for that perfect house which never comes up, you have to stay realistic and pragmatic and focussed on the next part of the move.

Also we were 100% committed to moving, so breaking it into two steps made more sense than going back to square one, when you've no guarantee things won't play out in the same way again anyway and you have more variables to worry about. It would be different if you weren't so committed to moving I suppose, it might then make more sense to prioritise tying it all up in one go.

So no regrets here even though it hasn't been easy and we are in a rental for now.

@AnxiousMover, it's good to hear other stories. And that it wasn't just me dealing with vendors hiding issues. I just got off the phone to EA to give them feedback for a few places I saw over weekend (I was very polite but it was a "not for me"), and he said that with the market the way it is (saturated with FTB), there was really no advantage with me being chain-free....I should add that I have a very sizeable profit (from my Sale), and I am looking for properties outside of £500,000, so I guess I didn't realise I was competing with so many FTB (I assumed they would be looking for smaller properties). I think he was just trying to get me worried....and I feel he has succeeded a little, as I am not having a bit of a wobble! However, the fact is I was selling a leasehold flat, and they certainly haven't increased in value since I sold, in fact the other flats on the same Estate are still on the market, so I have to count myself lucky.

I’ve sold and I’ve had an offer accepted on a property. The conveyancing is progressing well and is close to being finished. I’m currently living with relatives.

However... my sellers can’t find a property. They’ve offered on four houses and have been outbid on them all. I’m worried they’ll ask me for more money as the market is moving so fast, or worse still, gazump me. I’d struggle to find anywhere else in this area.

I’m going to miss out on the stamp duty holiday, but if that’s as bad as it gets, I suppose I should count myself lucky.

We put ours on the market to purchase a new build but we pulled out of that fairly quickly due to fleechold charges and found an older home but in a better area. We sold ours well over asking on the proviso that we move out asap so we moving into Mums temporarily until our purchase is complete.

I'm doing this! We completed last December and I'm still looking! I lost the one I really wanted at final offers.

You OP and I are in very good positions whatever that EA said. When I've told EAs their eyes have lit up!

One EA told me that a third of their sales have fallen through and I imagine that will get worse as people realise they've over committed.

Yep, same boat as ( what it seems like) half the UK.
We sold in June and moved our stuff into storage and in with parents. Don't regret selling the house as our reasons for selling are still valid. But man I am getting so disheartened. We lost out on an ideal property to best and final ( all parties offering were chain free) but it just feels like there is nothing coming on and we are looking in several areas. It's getting a bit stressful living in with the family for various reasons and I'm now worried we will move just for the sake of it! Is there any hope out there?! Getting desperate.

Just commented on another thread I started last month that I broke down in tears today as I am in a rental after selling my leasehold a and my latest attempted purchase didn’t happen as I was outbid by a cash buyer today. It’s really shit. I hate where we are renting. Half our stuff is in storage and the fees go up this month as our 3 month introductory offer has ended. I naively thought we’d be in a new house by now.

I had an offer accepted on a property a couple of months ago but the vendor hasn’t found an onward purchase, won’t move into rental (fair enough) and I’ve given up on him.

Slight positive is a lot more properties have become available since the beginning of the month and I have multiple viewings this weekend.

I truly thought being chain free with a mortgage sorted and a six figure deposit meant I’d find somewhere super quickly. What’s that saying about God laughing when we make plans?

@Eastie77Returns, selling leasehold is very very hard so don't forget that you have made a major accomplishment by doing this!!! I am also feeling blue about it, but we have won half the battle

I’m almost in this position, sold last July and got guzundered at exchange due to the uncertainty of Covid, pre prices going mad.
Found a house to buy in June all seemed to be going well, no chain, divorcing couple, but due to the seller being a lying git things are currently looking very shaky and I’m pretty sure we will end up not buying this house.
My added complication is I’m currently living in Canada, we came here with my husbands job after selling the house, planned to do 3 years whilst our DC are at university, however youngest DC has dropped out of uni, is having MH issues and is having to stay living in his student accommodation as we no longer have a home, so it’s all a massive f* up.
He can’t even visit us as the border is closed to tourists (may change tomorrow 🤞🏻).
I’m coming back to UK next week to either get the sale through or start looking all over again, I can’t believe I’m still in this position feels like we got it all wrong!

Sorry there's so many of us in the same boat.

@areyouhavingagiraffe yes, I am grateful that I was able to sell the flat as I know many people have experienced difficulty moving on from a leasehold, particularly with all the issues around EWS1 forms, service charges etc. My freeholder was spectacularly unhelpful and failed to answer my buyers enquiries for almost 2 months. I ended up threatening legal action and getting my MP involved!

I do have to keep reminding myself I am 50% of the way there and selling the flat was hopefully the hardest bit out of the way. Keeping my fingers crossed for everyone.

Wishing everyone on here the very best of luck with everything

Me too. Glad I sold my leasehold flat. Currently renting. Leaving it for a couple of months I think. Let's see what happens with the market. A lot of people brought purchases forward to get the stamp duty holiday, so there may not be as many buyers around in the next few months.

Guys, I am praying to the property Gods for all of us! This thread is not giving me much hope but the title of it does say "those who haven't bought yet", ha ha. I guess we need to keep going, not make any rash decisions, I think lots of people did this for the stamp duty holiday. I am worried about the rate of price increases but that cannot be sustained forever, the market has to CALM DOWN! In the meantime, let's keep eachother updated and keep our fingers crossed. We are halfway there, no rush now. And for those of us which have sold leasehold, that's fab; my flat sold for a really good price but prices of flats have not increased since then, and a number on my estate have been on sale for over a year. Let's keep eachother going!
@Itscoldouthere, what were they lying about???? I feel like my Sellers lied, after telling me the illegal loft conversion just needed a fire door. Ha ha, and the rest!

@areyouhavingagiraffe my sellers conveniently left out/didn’t include the pages on the property information form about Japanese knotweed, their lawyer didn’t notice, my lawyer didn’t notice, it suddenly got a one line mention in an email 3 weeks ago ‘might be jk in the garden’ the EA says he didn’t know either.
We had offer accepted in June so we thought we were almost at exchange (no chain).
I’m still waiting to find out what/where the JK is.
Other things too, just disclosed that half the kitchen has no electrics as the ring main has a fault, been like that for 2 years, we’ve been trying to get gas/electric reports done for 6 weeks and they have just been ignoring us 🙄

We've been trying to move into rented to break the chain, but there's nothing to rent. Reading this thread is making me think that it might not be a great idea right now, and perhaps we should just wait out the storm.

I'm really scared of how much properties have risen in the last year (in the autumn we could have got a house literally twice the size for our budget - our area has been disproportionately affected by the working from home exodus). But how much further can they go? Surely there are only so many people coming out of cities with money to burn????

I'm scared about how much they have risen but it's been a perfect storm of factors. Most of which are going / about to go. Hopefully the frenzy has died down and prices might drop a bit (not predicting a crash but a small correction now that people aren't trying to outbid each other). I will be watching closely over the next few months.

I am also glad I sold my leasehold, they aren't selling at all now. There are a number of them on the market currently.

Good luck everyone!

@FanGirlFoof - it sounds like a good decision in your case, for sure.

Our house probably isn't going to be difficult to sell again if we lose these buyers. It feels like we've chosen the worst possible time to move. After waiting out Brexit AND a pandemic, it's just even more expensive. Who could have predicted that...

I certainly didn’t predict the price rises. I thought they’d fall due to millions of people losing their jobs and also because more properties were becoming vacant than usual (for the saddest of reasons).

Good luck to everyone. Hopefully, in six month’s time the stress of buying and selling will feel like a distant memory.