House sold and relisted under 2 years

[Newhousecrying]

Would you buy a house that completed 18months ago? does it ring alarm bells? what sort of things would you be looking out for?

last sale before that was 6 years ago, the house has had one new set of neighbours in that time. It’s a house we bid on but lost.

Listing at 4% more than they paid 18months ago. House is a larger 3 bed 1930’s semi with garage and garden. Estate agent said they’re upsizing.

I would be very wary especially with the knowledge that new neighbours have moved in. Realistically it's very unlikely their circumstances have changed to such an extent that they need to upsize since they purchased so it sounds like they are using that as an excuse.

I would be cautious unless there was a valid reason (unexpected job relocation for example). I would immediately be wondering if the neighbours were unsavoury etc

Zoopla had a false sale listed on one property. It had not even been listed with an estate agent at the time it was supposedly sold.

Zoopla refused to delete the erroneous information because they say all their info is gathered automatically from the land registry.

If the property you are looking at has previous sale data always ask if the information is correct.

In answer to your question it wouldn't really bother me personally because people's circumstances change in a heartbeat.

Presumably that's irrelevant in this situation though as the OP bid on the house when it was last listed so she knows it was actually sold.

Yes, I agree with being cautious about upsizing unless they received inheritance or won the lottery. Moving costs a lot if money, so why pay out twice in under two years. It’s dead money.

If the house had been in poor condition, and they renovated it, I guess this would be acceptable, but doesn’t sound like this.

@ToHellBackAndBeyond estate agent said it sold a couple of years ago, and we bid on it then too. It was summer 2022 and sold for 6% over asking (according to land registry)

Having done this myself (due to family illness) I wouldn’t immediately think the worst. They could be upsizing having had surprise twins or need to live with older parents.

@Riverlee looking at the photos it doesn’t look like they’ve changed anything. All the wall colours are the same, just different furniture

Cautious yes, but doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem. They may have come into money and want to upsize, they may be separating or maybe need to move for a new job.

If this was their "make do" house and they've had a promotion and their dream house has come onto the market, they might have a genuine reason to sell. Wouldn't put me off bidding.

Are there any neighbourhood facebook groups?

We're going to be doing exactly this, selling about 18 months after we bought. There's nothing wrong with the house. People move all the time for all sorts of reasons. I'd be cautious about buying any house, regardless of how long the vendor had lived there.

@Newhousecrying No, it wouldn't bother me. People have all kinds of life changing events. There are so many reasons they might want/need to sell, some good, some bad. Just do the usual due diligence.

Death, divorce, debt. Most likely one of these

I agree with this, and the later poster who says proceed with caution as you should for any house. Walk past at various times of the day. Go on a Friday or Saturday evening. Hell, even knock on the neighbours door to see what kind of reception you get. It doesn't have to mean bad news.

No, it wouldn't put me off.
What's the main worry?

Presumably that the new neighbours are the reason for the very speedy relisting. Which seems much more likely than that they suddenly outgrew the house after less than 2 years.

We had this, and were nervous, but went ahead anyway. During the conveyancing process we found out the people had stupid amounts of money and/ or a crazy attitude to money and bought and sold houses every 12 months or so. Even with the increase in price it didn't make sense (stamp duty etc.) but no other issues with the house. Sometimes people just make decisions we don't understand/ wouldn't personally so we assume something that isn't there to make it make sense.

I had this situation, the couple were separating

Ghosts

It's quite possible that "upsizing" is just an excuse for something like separating or other personal circumstances that they don't want passing on to randoms. Or it may be crappy new neighbours. Have a walk past at different times of the day and see if there are maybe loads of cars, screaming or other signs of undesirable behaviours. Just as you would with any new property to check noise from a school, or traffic etc.

Lots of people moved in haste over the last couple of years with Covid and a crazy housing market putting pressure on people to grab whatever limited stock was available at the time. So there may well be a genuine reason for sale after a short time with adjusted working lives or family circumstances. But you are right to be wary and do lots of due diligence before committing. Can you knock on neighbours doors to say you are interested in buying to ask what the street is like?

We viewed and offered on a house against our better judgment (shared access, neighbours's big motorhome parked on it, lawn mowed exactly up to the boundary etc, spurious reason for sale).

Did some research, current owners had purchased only 6 months before. Google street view showed the motorhome on the shared drive. Just bad vibes really. When I rang the agent to withdraw our offer, he wasn't the least surprised, which confirmed we had made the right decision.

Trust your gut instincts.

I wouldn’t write it off. My son and his gf bought a house last spring. They split up within four months. Gf tried to carry on but struggled so the house is up for sale.

My friend bought a house and loved it. Within 6 months she was offered a huge promotion and had to relocate to another part of the country and had to sell.

Flipping?

Change of job?

Family obligations?