WWYD- House sale

[Xtraincome]

Will make it as quick as possible here so i don't drag out my question. (We are not on the market yet and have not found a house to move into either)

• we are selling a house for around 400k+
• moving to a house for roughly 300k+
• we are moving area, roughly 30 miles away from where we are, closer to DH work
• we are currently fixing a couple of little bits ready for sale

My question is: is it worth us putting on the market and then looking for a property or should we sell first, rent where we want to live, then buy? Is the market that competitive that we are better off not being on a chain?

To answer potential follow ups:

• we are downsizing from a 4/5 bed, 4 reception to a 4 bed, 2 reception
• moving for better secondary schools
• DDs are 7 and 4 and DD4 will be starting school in September all being well. But I will home Ed in the interim if needed.
• we are moving from Northamptonshire to Rugby, most likely Bilton/Hillmorton/Clifton/Dunchurch

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Well ive just done a thread about how ww have been waiting months for our sellers to find somewhere to move to and our mortgage offer is likely to run out costing us thousands, so id say unless you are absolutely sure you can find somewhere and be ready to move, then dont put your house on the market, as playing games can cost others thousands

Thanks @Branleuse we are moving so we can get into the area. We would even consider a new build for ease- we want to take the profit out of house for an easier life.
So maybe we should really start looking for our place now.

Put your house on the market.

Start viewings as soon as you accept an offer (having kept an eye on Rightmove / Zoopla etc).

If you find a good house and get your offer accepted, fine, proceed as briskly as possible.

If there is a delay act decisively and move into interim rented that will get you the school place you need and keep the chain from breaking.

New builds can be a nightmare. They frequently demand that you to Exchange but with a long stop date… this can leave your buyers waiting in an unknown completion date, dependent on delays in the construction industry. If you decide on a new build I would definitely plan to go into rented!

New builds can definitely be a nightmare if you're in a chain which is why I did a part exchange. I wanted to move to another area and really didn't want to rent, so it was perfect for me. Might be worth considering?

Actually ignore me, that won't be an option if you're buying a cheaper property.

Check the school catchment areas very carefully. As with everywhere there is a big variety in the quality of the secondary schools and location is pretty key. Have a look at Houlton.

Thanks so much guys, this is our plan- valuation is comfortably above 400k as we spoke to the estate agent who listed it 2.5 years ago. Very excited!

@Lolalovesmarmite we are looking at Rugby High and Ashlawn and assumed that if we are in the Ashlawn catchment we have a really good choice of either. Are there any others you can recommend. Will add Houlton to list. I am using locrating.com heat map for catchments.

Thanks again guys.