Cash to spend but don't want to get into another chain

[Mirrorbel]

Completed on my property (yippee) and living in temporarily accommodation. My property chain was so flimsy I took the decision to not add to it with an ongoing purchase.

Having taken time to recover from the ordeal of selling, the reality is dawning that I could now be stuck in another chain with my purchase. I did know this but completing on my sale became my absolute priority after so many false starts.

Presuming most vendors won't move out without a completed purchase to go to or will they?

Was thinking a probate property could be the answer though understand probate can take ages.

I'm a cash buyer at this stage and considered auction properties but none come up in the areas I want and I don't want a new build.

Will you help me get my head round this and tell me how I avoid a chain.

New build

Look for properties advertised as chain free. Probate isn’t the only reason for this - you get former rentals, or people selling a property to move in with their partner. Our house vendor bought a house from someone who’d purchased it for his daughter to live in while at university and then sold it.

1. New build, which generally speaking would be my last choice in most cases.

2. Find a plot of land and get your own home built to your own design by a local builder.

3. Although quite rare, this is what did happen with us on our last purchase. The owner was very elderly and was moving in with her children. It would be a similar thing with an elderly person moving into a care home.

We sold and then rented. When we bought our sellers did the same thing so it was very easy. However if you are renting then providing you are on a rolling contract it’s not so stressful as you should only need to give 2 months notice max. We weren’t particularly looking for chain free but I think more than half the properties we looked at were advertised as such.

there are various reasons houses are chain free, just look to see if it’s mentioned in an ad or ask a local estate agent which houses are chain free.

we will be selling a chain free house because we will have already bought the next one (complicated reasons why!) but the last time I bought we were only in a chain of three. Long chains - or indeed chains - are not inevitable!

I sold a property a while back without having completed on the next one. The buyer made a full-price offer (which was not the norm at the time) but with the condition they wanted to complete in the minimum time. It meant me moving in with family while I waited for my house completion to go through. A gamble, but one I was prepared to take.

I think motivated sellers would consider doing what I did. You'd have to make it worth their while though with a good offer. So I wouldn't rule anything out.

You're also in a great position to snap up properties that fall through. People in a chain and it breaks, often will compromise on price to keep the chain togthr. Get in touch with estate agents and I bet the fall over themselves to get you something. You're their ideal buyer.

Good luck!

My son only looked at chain free houses when he last bought. There were a surprisingly large percentage. Not all probate by any means.

Take a step back - is it worth limiting your choice of properties like this? You're in a great position as a buyer but you're imposing a condition on yourself which will make the house hunt harder.
Totally get the pain over chains, but you've already taken a chunk out of the stress out of the situation because you will always be the bottom end of the chain and not stuck in the middle worried about losing buyers. You will likely have no-one making demands of you, and the main impact on you will be the waiting. You might find you actually get into a house more quickly by selecting from all of the market and getting the process moving immediately, rather than having a long house hunt trying to find a place that suits AND meets the chain-free condition.
That said, can totally see that if you got into one of these situations where vendors haven't got an onward purchase in mind and expect to spend months house hunting themselves after you've offered, then they are well worth binning.

So much useful advise and food for thought.

Karmatime it hadn't occurred to me that many 'ordinary' properties may be chain free

As long as probate has been granted, it's a good chain free option.

We are selling my aunts house as she has gone into a home. We are looking a for a quick sale as it will need to pay her care home fees, Again, it's chain free. So other people will be in a similar position

We're buying a probate and it's not caused any issues. The probate was in place before we offered so it's been quick. I wouldn't let it put you off the perfect home.

A buyer in your position would be really welcome as we wouldn't want to be dealing with a chain either, same with probate properties

The house that I've just bought was chain free. The vendor had inherited her mums bungalow.

We sold and moved out and lived with my parents for 8 weeks and just moved in a week ago.

Lots of people are in all different situations.

We’ve been there twice!