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Original poster

Selling+renting while waiting advice please

23 replies

MrsTwentyNine · 22/09/2022 02:08

Hi everyone
We are in the process of selling our house and buying another. Sadly our vendors offer fell through but our buyers need to move in by December. We have a little one under 6 months and really didn't want to go down the rental route but looks like that may be the only way. Would anyone have any advice ? Our vendors are still "searching" for a house but obviously now won't complete before December. If we do rent, I can't seem to find any short term rentals near us! Do we rent for a minimum period but ask for a break clause ? Is there any other option that we haven't thought of? I didn't want to go down the air b&b route as I've been told it's less secure. I'm so upset as the house we are buying is our dream house!
Also aware stamp duty break is coming Friday...not sure that means much for us as we just want the house we put an offer on!

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Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 22/09/2022 02:09

Also , this is a silly question but do we wait till contracts are exchanged till we sign a rental agreement? This could mean we don't actually have anywhere to stay if we don't have a flat / house ready to move into after we exchange! Yikes!

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Mooserp · 22/09/2022 09:16

I'm in a similar position, I am waiting until contracts have exchanged (hopefully this week) before doing anything about renting. It won't give me much time to sort something out but I can move in my with my parents for a brief period if I don't find something quick enough. It's going to be a hassle, but the alternative is that I lose my buyer.

Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 22/09/2022 10:58

@Mooserp it's so difficult! They're going to announce a stamp duty cut tomorrow did you know? Are you holding off ?

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lechatnoir · 22/09/2022 11:04

I've done this a couple of time most recently during lockdown (that was fun Shock) and would suggest you look for a 1 year contract with a 6 month break clause and absolutely do not sign a rental until day of exchange. It is a pain but so much can wrong before exchange I wouldn't risk it. You can always ask for a slightly longer period between exchange and completion (4 weeks minimum I'd aim for 6 if you can) as realistically looking now and not committing for a few weeks is pointless unless the rental market has calmed down significantly and there's lot available. You will need to pay a holding deposit for a rental likely 1 week's rent but again, you don't want to be doing that unless you have money to burn!

Mooserp · 22/09/2022 11:36

MrsTwentyNine · 22/09/2022 10:58

@Mooserp it's so difficult! They're going to announce a stamp duty cut tomorrow did you know? Are you holding off ?

I know. And interest rate rise just about to be announced!

Who knows what is going to happen with the housing market. 😖My chain will collapse if we don't complete by 14th October due to mortgage offer expiring.

hedgehoglurker · 22/09/2022 12:37

Why are you making yourselves vulnerable for your buyer's sake? It sounds like you should stay put and wait for your vendors and your dream house.

Unless you have pressing reasons to move immediately or your house is a difficult sell and this is the only chance to offload it, you need to think about your own little family first.

Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 22/09/2022 17:29

@lechatnoir that's an excellent idea about asking for a longer period between exchange and completion. Thank you! Will do, I guess I should use the 4-6 weeks in between to secure a rental rather than do anything now. We are almost ready for exchange tbh!

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Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 22/09/2022 17:31

@Mooserp I'm so sorry! Hopefully it's all going to go through and will be worth it

@hedgehoglurker sadly don't think we will find another buyer anytime soon as we had several viewings with no offer! I felt that this way, we are in a chain free position to keep house hunting if the dream house falls through...ahh who knows

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Gettingonabitnow · 22/09/2022 18:28

Honestly - don’t do it. We broke the chain with two under fives and it nearly broke me. The stress of coordinating ending a rental agreement with exchanging is mega and the uncertainty of it all I found a lot to bear. It’s just not worth it to appease your buyer - there will be other buyers. X

Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 22/09/2022 19:40

@Gettingonabitnow ahh thank you :( We are looking at estate agents that are sort of air bnb like! Hopefully the stamp duty cut means we don't take a hit by paying a premium but I really don't know if we will find buyers again. Having constant viewings with the house needing to look immaculate with a newborn was stressing me out too...there's no winning is there!

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RitzyTitzy · 22/09/2022 22:03

We did this 2 years ago. We did though have a rental lined up before exchange which we had to because houses like the one we needed didn't come on the rental market very often. But we didn't sign the agreement until we'd exchanged. Because we exchanged and completed on the same day we had all our stuff ready in the moving vans, no sign of exchange still by 1pm.and nowhere to move to because we couldn't sign the rental agreement. It was a tense few hours!

I think it's worth looking at rentals before you exchange because one thing I found was for the few other places we did express an interest in, they only would accept one year minimum, no break clause. It's worth weeding those ones out ahead of time. Good luck!

swimmingincustard · 22/09/2022 22:16

We ended up in a static caravan, was fine for a few months although it was Spring for us a not winter.

Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 24/09/2022 08:01

@RitzyTitzy thank you! We are looking at some flexible renting agencies who are very pricey but may be the only way

I wanted everyone's opinion on one thing please - is it ok to write to our vendor directly and request they keep us in the loop? The estate agents are rubbish with communicating anything with us!

Also - if we were to find another property , do we need a separate mortgage offer even if the price was the same ish? We have already paid for surveys and searches through solicitors on this property as we didn't even know the chain was stalled!! What a nightmare this whole process is...

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Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 24/09/2022 08:01

@swimmingincustard thank you - ahh sadly not an option

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RidingMyBike · 24/09/2022 08:25

We're currently in rented - had to move into one last year as we were a work relocation and there wasn't time to sell and buy before starting work. So we moved into rental, sold, started looking for house to buy.

We've done this before but it's been a lot harder this time - rental market was fiercely competitive and we had to sign up for a year's tenancy without a break clause (we had wanted one at six months). As it is, it took ages to find somewhere to buy, then actually get to completion and the renovation work we need to do hasn't started yet and we're almost a year into the tenancy so having to extend it!

It did make us very good purchasers
though as chain-free and took pressure off at completion as we weren't moving that day (man we bought from left house in total state!).

lechatnoir · 24/09/2022 17:02

MrsTwentyNine · 24/09/2022 08:01

@RitzyTitzy thank you! We are looking at some flexible renting agencies who are very pricey but may be the only way

I wanted everyone's opinion on one thing please - is it ok to write to our vendor directly and request they keep us in the loop? The estate agents are rubbish with communicating anything with us!

Also - if we were to find another property , do we need a separate mortgage offer even if the price was the same ish? We have already paid for surveys and searches through solicitors on this property as we didn't even know the chain was stalled!! What a nightmare this whole process is...

Yes new mortgage for each property although your salary/credit checks will be valid if it's the same company. One thing to bear in mind, if you sell and come off the property ladder some lenders give you a grace period (our was 6 months) to not be classed as a new customer. This make quite a difference win terms of available rates, chargers and access to different lenders.

Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 24/09/2022 19:35

@RidingMyBike and @lechatnoir thank you both!!

We are now wondering if it's possible to insist they complete the sale eg: we buy the house from them but rent it back to them? At least this way we know it's ours...

Is there any legal issue with this? I guess I need to check with lender if happy to let out as it's a residential mortgage ...maybe with consent to let ?!

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Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 24/09/2022 19:35

@Mooserp have you thought about this? ^^

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Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 24/09/2022 19:52

Or can I ask them to take my monthly rent off the asking price for the number of months they delay ?!

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Geranium1984 · 24/09/2022 20:06

We are in this position... haven't managed to sell our house in time for our 2nd baby's arrival so we've had to rent and leave our flat on the market.

We have a six month break clause in the lease. It was very competitive to get the place (barely any rentals available let alone suitable) so we offered £150 pcm over the advertised price and 6 months rent up front. In our offer email we also wrote a bit about ourselves and put a cute family photo in. Might be over the top but we were desperate 😅

Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 24/09/2022 20:17

Hi @Geranium1984 ! I'm just checking , why did you leave your house on the market and rent if it hasn't sold? I must have misread!

But congrats on second baby :)

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Geranium1984 · 24/09/2022 21:39

Because it is a 2 bed flat and we have a toddler and a baby on the way so there wouldn't have been space for the new baby! There are also stairs involved so the whole thing would have been too difficult with two kids.

We are now looking to rent our London flat out for a bit so it should cover the cost of our temporary place.

Original poster
MrsTwentyNine · 25/09/2022 10:52

Ah I understand ! @Geranium1984

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