When do you make offers, look at houses, consider your budget etc??

[itsmeagainlol]

Friend is selling his house and downsizing. The house is in trust and he can carry 67.4% (Approx £300,000) to the new house. He can't say exactly what his current house will sell for (estimates around £450,000).

He has 3 months before the house has to be put on the market.

How long does all the conveyancing etc take once a sale is agreed? On average?
When should he look for a second house? Can he make an offer before his house is sold? What is the normal? Do people say I'll give you the asking price but need to know if the mortgage company will give me that amount, so they don't know exact figures either?
I know the trust issue complicates things but he will be a cash buyer.
The trustees have no answers for these questions.

He won't be a cash buyer unless he's already completed on the sale of the current house and physically has the cash.

He can start researching his onward property now, but may not be allowed to view or offer without an offer on his current property.

Not sure about current timescales, but conveyancing took about 6 months for our purchase, with no chain. This was about a year ago. I imagine selling a property in trust is more complex so may take longer.

Where is he living currently?

In short, he should get his property on the market when he can, find a buyer then find the property he wants to buy. Once the chain is complete, everyone starts their conveyancing.

@helly29 He's currently living in the larger more expensive property.

Is he not allowed to view 3 bed properties at all until his house is under offer? Is it just about checking on rightmove and getting estate agents to email him viable properties?

If he is looking to buy in an area where there is a lot of demand then estate agents may not let him view as he’s not in a position to proceed.

That will be their advice to the sellers .

Why doesn’t he just sell up and move into rented for a while until he works out what he wants? £300k is a lot to spend if you don’t know what you are doing.

And then he will have the advantage of being a cash buyer.

There is no rule about viewing properties before being able to proceed.

However, in a seller's market as it is at the moment you'll likely find that vendors/estate agents won't let people view if they're not in a position to proceed,as through they'll likely have other people wanting to view who can.

If something has been on the market for a long time they might be willing.

The conveyancing will take longer, depending on how many people are in the chain. He can, and should, start looking for a house as early as he wants as it can take a long time to find something suitable.
However, there's no point putting in an offer for a new house until he's got a buyer for his own. He could ask to view, but obviously no one will take him seriously until he's got a buyer lined up for his own house.

He can get some valuations done with no cost/obligation, so he can be more certain how much he's dealing with. He can get a mortgage in principle, or at least find out what kind of amount he's likely to get, from a broker. There are free ones, London & Country or good, and again, no obligation. Then he'll have an idea of budget and can look on Rightmove etc and get an idea of what he can afford. Probably not worth trying to view places without the property even being on the market... but keeping an eye on recent sold prices and how quickly his chosen area is moving will help.