Waiting for the right house...ready to sell but not on market. Anyone else?

[OUB1974]

We have decided to move from our end terrace. It's a nice house but we never settled here and we don't like the street (mainly due to neighbours). We can stretch to around £50k more than we end up getting for our current house.

We're in the situation where there's no point putting our house on the market as there's nothing to buy. We've had photos done and we're ready to go once something comes on, and I'm worried about missing out, but on the other hand if we went on the market there might be nothing for a year and we'd lose our buyers anyway.

A lovely house came on a few months ago, which prompted us to get the photos done, but it went too quickly. Other houses have been put on at high prices and aren't selling. Some local agents will let us view and some won't before we sell.

We're stuck in this catch 22. We are quite specific about what we want and can just about afford it but there's nothing on the market! There could be something tomorrow or not for 6 months.

Has anyone been in this situation and how did it work out? The agents all have different opinions. Some say to go on the market, but then they don't tell you how to manage it if we can't find an onward purchase. I'm registered with most of them so we hear about them early. I just want to move!

We are literally in this situation, however we haven't had photos done, just an informal chat with a very helpful estate agent.

We came to realise that we needed to save just a bit harder for the next house up (extra room downstairs, bigger garden, set back from road and 4 bedrooms). We could afford to move now to get away from knob head neighbours, but it would mean a sideways move for us and wasn't worth the upheaval. Nothing was coming up that made it worth our while getting the ball rolling so we've decided to see out our fixed term (4. 5years,only just fixed before the interest rates went mental) and see where we're at then.

Fingers crossed for you though, everything is moving quickly. A friend is proceededable as lives with in laws, and it seems that as soon as she calls to enquire about a house it's already gone!!

It was quite a few years ago now but we waited until something came up we wanted to buy before putting our house on the market. Thankfully we sold within the week and it all worked out. I only wanted to live in a handful of streets and was prepared to wait / miss out rather than sell my home and have nowhere to go / be pressed to buy.

If it is meant to be - it will be!

Oh, and we put our house up for sale with the same agent we bought through. I think this helped them get it on the market pronto.

We were in this position. Saw a house, put in an offer, offered to put ours on with same agent. The house went to cash buyers. This prompted us to go on the market. We wanted something done, saw something that needed a loft doing, offered and were accepted and the chain collapsed above us so we started looking again. Found something done and now happy. I think for us we needed to go on the market for the push and to avoid losing out. The one we are now buying is a better option.

When we bought this house we had been buying something else and our vendors couldn’t find. We were first time buyers then and stuck in a horrible rental after relocating and ended up pulling out. It happens. Our current house is better than the one we lost.

so we were in this situation, saw something we liked, went on the market and now they’ve sold to a chain free buyer which is fair enough.

however we are on the market, can take our time to get the right offer and find something. So I would just go in the market. It’s all very slow and might take a while for you to sell anyway.

Just accepted an offer on mine after a week on the market. I have nowhere to move to but I'm planning on leaving the country and renting so I am not bothered. You could maybe rent if you sell your house depending on prices in your area? Most conveyancing is taking up to 6 months at present.

You will find most estate agents wont accept an offer unless yours is on the market. They just record it as a note of interest.

We viewed some properties while preparing to put ours on the market but stopped as saw 2 we liked and they both got snapped up fairly quickly and didn't want to risk the heartache of seeing a house we absolutely loved but not being able to make an offer. All the agents we spoke to would not accept an offer unless we had already accepted an offer on the property we're selling.

We put the house up for sale, ended up seeing a fantastic (for us) property days before we got an offer on ours and I was still so scared someone else would beat us to it! It took us 6 weeks to get an offer, and we priced well to try and get a quick-ish sale.

The seller accepted our offer a week ago, they haven't found a place yet but are keen to move things along - EA advised that at worst if it takes them too long they'll be going in rented accommodation for a short time.

We are in a similar situation but have just gone on the market. Little interest and the market is quiet.

That said we did offer on a property which was accepted. Apparently they weren't in a hurry to move so was ok we hadn't sold. Then they found somewhere a few of days later from vendors who wanted to move immediately and we were dropped.

Feels like a massive anti climax as nothing is happening

Yes, this makes a big difference - the EA is then highly motivated to facilitate both sales.

We are in a similar position, although ours went on the market on Friday. Ours is a slightly niche property, so might be harder to sell than some.

The trouble is that if you are not proceedable when you see a house you like it is likely to get snapped up. It's very unlikely they'll wait for you to get yours on the market and get an offer.

We were in this situation in 2021/2022 and gave up. That’s how we dealt with it.

I am amazed anyone ever manages to move - the circularity is so painful. My mother has finally sold and re bought which took nearly 6 months from the offers being accepted, and only two properties were involved.

She now has cash ready to buy somewhere for my brother who is temporarily living with her (she downsized) and we had an offer accepted about a month ago, but our vendor shows no sign of finding, so we are leaving that to poddle along while watching out for other opportunities.

Market is totally congested. Houses are coming on at higher prices than they did in October, but stuff that went on then is now being steadily reduced in price, so that is a waste of everyone's time. The only keenly priced ones are rental properties - the landlords seem to want out - but my brother doesn't really want to live in a street full of student houses.

I can see him still being in DM's spare room come Christmas at this rate.

We sold our house - rented for 14 months while deciding on where and what to buy - and bought a new one. My inlaws sold and moved in with us for 6 months when they we're moving last year.

Anyone the delays a sale while waiting for the right house is an arsehole.

If you put it on the market be prepared to move.

And if you are trying to move out of an area with children at local schools? You think those of us that want to find a proceedable house to move into before we uproot our kids are arseholes? Have you seen the state of the rental market currently? Anyone who wants to ditch their mortgage in favour of a hens-teeth rental whilst hoping that some unicorn house will appear must be simple.

It's so difficult isn't it. I don't think there's an ideal solution, apart from to be prepared to try a few times. I don't feel like we could rent as a) most of our purchase price will come from the sale of our current property and we can't afford to rent (we own our house outright but have a low income), and 2) I'm worried if prices go up in the meantime we'll be priced out.

Oddly enough, less than half an hour after I posted another one came on the market. It is a really good sensible house that has everything we need and potential to extend in a few years. So we're going to see it...and then if we like it we'll press the button and get ours on within the day. Well priced houses are selling quite quickly, especially smaller ones, and I think we should be OK with ours. But I think we just need to be prepared to lose out on one or two before we manage it. We will get there in the end. We have an amazing estate agent who I have every faith in so I'll follow their advice.

We were in your situation, when we found a house we liked we priced realistically and had an offer within days. I think partly due to luck and partly due to price. That said, we were planning on going on the market and just hoping something suitable came up. The EA’s often have houses that don’t make it to rightmove because the agents have buyers in mind (at least that seems to be how it works in my village), so unless you’re on the market you may not hear about suitable properties. Good luck with the viewing

Not everybody is able to rent/have family to descend upon and very few actually do.

It's by no means ideal, but it is what it is. Nobody forces the buyer to wait. The only reason I'd hold off putting my house on the market is if I knew for sure it would sell instantly, otherwise I'm going to miss out on a potential purchase by not being proceedable. I'm also not going to spend hundreds of thousands on something that isn't "right".

We're not allowed to look at the house that has come up...it's very frustrating. I do think we would sell quickly. I think we just have to be prepared to miss out on a few before we find one. And in a couple of months we might think differently.

I'm not prepared to move in with family or rent at the moment - if we did go on the market though we'd just have to be upfront about it so the buyers know the situation.

It really is impossible, I think it's just a case of perseverance. Good luck to everyone else in the same boat.

I would not sell to someone who is not in a position to proceed. It takes ages for sales to go through so selling to someone who does not have a sale agreed is asking for a huge delay.

I’d go on the market but try and find a seller who is happy to wait. For example we are buying now, but living with in laws so can move whenever. Just be honest about your situation. I wouldn’t accept an offer from someone who wasn’t under offer themselves

Yes we're the same. Had photos done but haven't bothered going online yet.

We're going to attempt moving 150 miles away. It's so daunting!!

I think we'll sell quickly but we won't find anywhere quick enough. I wish we could do part exchange for a new build to make it easier 😂

No, I understand about not accepting an offer. But we will let people look at ours and give them the opportunity. We could be proceedable within a matter of days potentially so hopefully some will let us view!

We are in the same position. Going to view one that looks ideal for us on Friday but haven't put ours on yet so I feel like it's almost pointless (have been honest about ours not being on yet and they don't mind us viewing).

We also have our brochure and photos etc ready but this is the first house we've wanted to view in months. Feel really stuck. We're also away for the next 2 weeks which means we still can't put ours on even if we like the one we see.

What's the rental market like where you are living. We had to rent for eight weeks between our sale and moving into our house . I won't lie it was hideously stressful but very much worth it in the long term. I know around here houses are snapped up really quickly so if you really want to move I'd seriously look at putting your own house on the market.