Sold, what now?

[doodleygirl]

I’m after some advice as I’m going round in circles. We have had an offer on our house for the asking price which should be cause for celebration but there is nothing that we want to view. Should we go into rented and wait until spring or should we take it off the market and wait until next year?

We do have a dog and I have been told it’s hard to rent with a dog?

If anyone has any advice it would be helpful.

Hi @doodleygirl
I think keep looking for a house. The buyers can wait until you find something or they can walk away and another buyer will come along.
Hope everything works out!

I am worried about being in this situation. Want to sell but can’t see anything we like.

It’s so hard. Our mortgage is very high at the moment, once we sell we will then buy for cash, this makes me wonder if renting short term would be best.

sooooo it sounds like you might end up wasting buyers time who will instruct their solicitor and a surveyor. this will cost them money. you are basically wasting their money .... potentially thousands of £ that they worked hard for. you should not be selling if you're unsure. it's actually really selfish. please don't do that to other people looking for a home

@whyisitallsohard don’t be so presumptive. We have asked our buyers to hold on before instructing anyone for a few days. They are fully aware where we are at.

And your advice would be?

The problem is it’s not traditionally a popular time to move in the run up to Christmas anyway. Let alone uncertainty with interest rate rises which is dampening the market with many people staying put for the time being. It’s almost a double whammy.

Was there a specific reason why you put your property up for sale now?

If I didn’t have to move, or sell a probate property, at this time of year I would honestly wait until the Spring when the market is traditionally more buoyant.

I have definitely noticed locally there’s not much up for sale at the moment which very definitely limits your choice onwards.

@friendlycat I do sort of agree but we have been offered asking price and my thought is that we can sell, and rent until spring. We would then be cash buyers and hopefully more attractive to sellers.

I keep going round the various options and thought I would ask for some advice.

I would do the calculations - how much would it cost to rent for say 6 months v how much your mortgage would be if you stay.
And it depends how desperate you are to move.

Renting is definitely more problematic if you have a dog, we have looked into it and can’t for that reason.
I would carry on looking, but make sure your buyers are happy to wait for an extended amount of time. It depends how quickly they want to move.
Its a tough time to be selling, we are trying to sell too but so far we haven’t even had someone come to view it despite being on for 40k under what it was valued for. A buyer is worth their weight in gold right now.

Yes you can be cash buyers which will be attractive, but in your area what is the rental market like? Some areas people are having to bid for rental properties and offer over the rental price to secure the rental. Then you have a dog to factor into the equation that actually doesn’t make you a great rental candidate! Only being honest here, not trying to be negative towards dogs.

Plus factor in the rental cost for say 6 to 8 months plus. Only you can do the calculations and include two move costs, hassle and uncertainty.

There’s also a general election next year that also affects the property market.

I know you say you’re being offered asking price but factoring in your rental costs and double moving costs do play a big part, together with your reasoning of why to sell now and not wait until a more favourable market. Only you know these and they may be very valid as to why you want to sell now.

Are you in or near a holiday area? Round us it’s wall to wall winter lets that work out same price as mortgage + bills, take kids dogs whatever and want minimal notice when you find somewhere.

I think you've done really well to get an asking price offer and should try to keep your Buyers as no guarantees you would get such a good price next year.

I would take a look at rentals in your area and see if you can find anything suitable. If you can rent, it would put you in a very strong position next year to get a good deal on your onward purchase.

@doodleygirl we are in exactly the same position as you. Buyers offered asking price (chain-free, cash, no mortgage) and we couldn’t find anything. We are moving into a rental property next week until the summer with two cats and a dog. We had to be very flexible on area but it’s just a stepping stone and we don’t have kids so there’s no school issue. I don’t say it’s easy (and it doesn’t help that we both dislike the area we’ll be renting in) but for the reasons @Twiglets1 mentioned it felt like the right thing to do.

Only you can make the decision obviously, and it depends on location and circumstances, but in your position, this is what I would do:

1. Hang on to your buyer if you can. You may not get as good a price again.
2. But set yourselves a couple of deadlines. The first is for the rental/stay put question, the second is for the house search.
3. Find out exactly how difficult it will be to rent. Some landlords don’t like dogs, but others will accept them. Talk to letting agents and find out if it will be a possibility.
4. If it will be possible, let your buyers know and they can start the searches etc.
5. Meanwhile, proactively contact every single EA with your requirements and budget. They will know of plenty of people wavering about selling. They will be tempted by a proceedable buyer who wants their type of property. Also do a mail shot to houses on a road you like. You have nothing to lose.
6. But if you haven’t found a place to move to by your second deadline, move to rented or pull out of the sale before the buyers have lost any money.

In theory, renting is the answer. It means you sell your property and pits you in a good buying position, with no chain.

But it's very stressful.

Firstly, the physical and emotional toll of actually moving, packing everything etc, is horrible enough but it's frustrating when it's just into somewhere temporary.

Secondly, that's assuming you even find somewhere to rent, and if you find somewhere, will they accept the dog? Would you be happy to get rid of the dog? (I wouldn't!).

And lastly what if you end up in rented accommodation for 12+ months? That's a lot of money wasted.

Personally, I'd keep looking every day and keep the buyers informed, if you have to pull out because you can't find anywhere then unfortunately that's just how it goes, and your buyers won't be out of pocket because you've already thoughtfully told them to hold off (which any buyer should do anyway, until you've found somewhere).

You seem to be in a fortunate position with an offer of asking price. As you seem to be downsizing massively - its maybe not so easy to find a much cheaper property that appeals to you. Hardly surprising.
This could play out really well for you though, I would say push through to keep that buyer and move in to rented. Then wait with your gains making good interest in the bank while the prices settle out. You then will be in a great position to make offers on something that's maybe not such a big step down and you can escape that very high mortgage payment. The only suggestion I have is that you probably need to be thinking of a longer period in rental to try and time the falls.

Do you think finding a rental will be easier? So many over priced houses about. Landlords are desperately trying to sell themselves.

Look further afield. Check the auctions. Leaflet drop - others might want to sell and feel it’s not the right time. Put adds out on SM.

Be more proactive.

It's worth doing the numbers properly. If you sell and have enough cash to buy another property then that cash could make enough interest to pay most, or at least a large part, of your rent. You would also be able to add to that cash pot at a rapid rate by depositing that painful mortgage payment amount that you no longer need to cover. Sit back and watch your position improve whilst prices fall then buy something better for cash than you would get now. It makes sense imo but you will need to stick out the rental for 12 months or more imo.

The interest would really not be enough to cover the rent ! Nothing like.

Obviously the OP didn't specify how much cash she would be left with - but if we were to assume its enough for an average property, £300K, then that can easily return 15k a year without putting it in to anything risky. That's over a £1000 a month toward rent after 20% tax (again speculative on thier tax position). Plus being able to squirrel away whatever they have left from the current high mortgage payment. It could work out very nicely.

Thanks for all your thoughts. Being proactive is a great idea, we will get onto that. As we are still paying a mortgage having to carry on or pay rent just leaves us in the position we are already in. We are going to have a chat with the estate agent today and see where we go.

Personally I would just see if your buyers will wait until you find somewhere and then keep looking for something. I wouldn't go into rented. That will just lead to more expense and upheaval having to move twice.
If they can't wait or it doesn't look as though you will find anything in the next few months. You could take it off the market and try again next year as yo say.

Hi. We sold our house in April on the first day of viewings, which took us a bit by surprise. We hadn’t seen anywhere to buy either. On accepting the offer we made it clear that we wouldn’t be moving until we found the right house. Our buyers were happy to wait luckily. You just need to be honest. We found a house 8 weeks later and are completing next week.

Have a look and see what rentals are Like near you. Consider Airbnbs etc as well.

If you really want to move I’d get the money in the bank personally.

I am in exactly the same position. We sold recently a day after our property was put on the market with one viewing.

Our buyer is solid from what we can see. We’ve told them to not wait for us, and if we have to rent then we will.

We have put our property on the market previously when we thought we wanted to sell and we didn’t have much interest, nor did we have any offers for second viewings and not a single offer.

It looks like property prices ‘may’ fall and therefore we are happy with our asking price and I don’t know if we would get less in Spring next year.

Renting doesn’t appeal to me, but being in a chain is far worse in my opinion. I want to be in a strong proceedable position when we do find a place we really love for our family. Fingers crossed!