Chains - sell & rent?

[Gardengirl108]

We’re in the UK. Our buyer is not relying on another sale (so no chain) just the mortgage that’s already in place and we are 4 weeks along in that process. They are luckily being flexible on pace of the sale, and are going at our speed.

We are buying another property with the proceeds of our sale with no mortgage (our offer was accepted 2 weeks ago and conveyancing begun, survey next week). That seller is (well, was) buying a property with no upward chain. They have now been gazumped and are now very actively looking for another house to buy. The risk is the house they find may be in a chain.

My gut feel is to get a quick sale completed on our place (I have concerns that something might go wrong and it falls through, move into a short term rental in the place we’re moving to, putting the majority of our stuff into storage. Both rent and storage costs are much cheaper there than where we currently live (which is hundreds of miles away from where we are moving to). I think this means we could 1) alleviate stress of being in the middle of a chain although we’ve no idea what size of chain there might be in the future 2) reducing stress of moving from ours to the new house long distance all at the same time. Reducing stress is really important for us as there are other factors that are causing us stress at the moment, so need for this process to be as smooth as we can make it. I am a remote worker and DH will be looking for a job once we move, so luckily no work considerations. Is there anything in your experience that we should think about with this approach? Thanks

The expense of moving twice and storage.
So much of our white goods and furniture got damaged moving twice. Smeg refrigerator £2000 brand new, in the bin.
Availability of short term rental, we had to sign for 6 months, they kept the deposit too, we were only there 3 months.

I was gobsmacked at the price of storage when I got a quote last week for N Yorks. £570 pm for 300 sq foot working on the basis of more than three months. The 400 I actually need came out at £650.

The reason I wanted a big space is because when we moved two years ago, we used outdoor shipping container type storage, very secure, affordable, but all sat on gravel. It pissed down with rain the whole day of our move, and whilst the man with van and his child like assistant worked their backsides off that day, most of our stuff still got damaged. 5k's worth of furniture from our 2 bed flat that was less than 9 months old scratched, broken, covered with dirt and muck.

This time I do not want my stuff piled atop other stuff, and I will not go with an outdoor unit.

There were availability issues two years ago too. It was a massive plot, at least 200 units. We needed a second one, and by the time we realised we really needed a third (this happened over 3 days), every single unit had been rented.

So. We just chucked a few thousand pounds worth of stuff out, because we HAD to be out of the flat.

OP, it sounds as if there could be advantages for you being settled in the new location on a known timetable.

If you have sold and your current purchase falls through you will have the advantage of being chain free buyers.

Your stuff is insured against damage with Professional Removal companies. And they tend not to damage it. (I’ve had nothing damaged in 4 removals by professionals).