Wait for perfect house *then* put ours on market? (Bristol)

[HeadCookandBottleWasher]

Hey folks - do we wait for our dream house to come up then put our house on the market?

We need a bigger house but not many genuinely interesting places come up for sale (only one in last 6 months we'd seriously consider). Defo don't want to sell, cross our fingers and wait. Not with kids, renting, schools and prices going up etc.

Our estate agent said we have to have sold ours or have ours already the market in Bristol to stand a chance of buying. Told me horror stories of hordes of cash buyers renting ready to pounce. But they want their commission on sales so take their 'insight' with caution.

Has anyone done something similar to what we're planning:

1. get ours ready to list with agent
2. see perfect house
3. immediately put ours on market
4. put offer in and get offer on ours roughly all at same time!

?

Would we be dismissed out of hand by most vendors if we 'only' have our house on the market?

We'd expect to get offers in on our house pretty quickly due to the area we live in and the type of place we have etc.

Exactly how I did it. I'm currently sitting in my dream house after seeing it in the October last year, put ours on the market in November, sold early December and completed in February.

I'm buying in Bristol right now. Most EAs won't even let you view unless you're proceedable, which means in effect in your situation, that you've got your buyer.
I know it's bloody nerve wracking.

It’s better to do it the other way round normally. Get a buyer for your house first then be the perfect buyer for that perfect house before someone else offers first.

I'm going through house buy and sell process
We're in NW so different market however we entered this process because we saw a house we wanted
Put house on market
House we wanted sold

House still on market (been 2 weeks only) and seen some that would tick the boxes but both wouldn't entertain offers from us until our house is sold

Similarly I would not accept an offer from someone whose house isn't sold. And I'd keep house on market and accept an offer from a more proceedable buyer

If our house sells and we don't see anything we want then we will move into a rented and I expect for many vendors this puts us in a more favourable position as the end of the chain.

If your property market is HOT it may all work out if acting quickly but as a seller myself I would much rather take an offer from someone who has sold their house first

How long would yours take to get ready to put on the market, and how quickly do properties like the ones you want to buy get snapped up?

If houses are sitting on the market for months, as they have been around here for the past two years, you are probably fine waiting until you see something you like. If they are in such demand locally that they go to best and final offers in the first weekend, you are going to lose out.

If you’d need to repaint before putting yours on the market, or do a major declutter, or anything else that takes more than a weekend, do that now.

I've always had a firm offer before seriously looking for another house. You're setting yourself up for disappointment otherwise. Very few sellers will wait until you've sold. It could take year. Or more.

No definitely the other way round, you want to be in the best position possible to proceed. Some agents won't even let you view if your current home isn't sold

We did this - happened to find the ideal house, they accepted our offer on the condition we sold within X weeks - which we did. However, the house had been on the market for a couple of months and there was no upper chain, so no huge urgency on the sellers part. If they'd had multiple offers, there's no way they would have picked us! As a result of picking us, we ended up with a chain of 3 behind us so it took ages. They could have held out for a quicker / easier sale. So I think the chain matters here.

Selling ours, we asked for only viewings from proceedable buyers so we could close the chain quickly and get on with it.

This would put me off as a seller, if I'm honest - but I know that's not necessarily reasonable, as in that position I would also only just be starting the process! You could consider a bridging loan if it became a problem for sellers/their EAs, although that obviously would cost you money.

Yep it is unlikely your offer will be accepted until your own house is under offer - you’d have to see a house, put yours on the market and accept an offer on it, and then put an offer in on your dream house, and hope all of this happens quickly enough that the vendors haven’t accepted another offer in the meantime.

What happens if your offer isn’t accepted? Do you take your own house back off the market?

We did it this way, but told the sellers estate agent up front that we’d use them to sell ours if they let us view and we made an offer, as there was something in it for them that way. And if they are telling you they have “hordes of cash buyers renting ready to pounce” then they should find it easy to sell yours, shouldn’t they…

Good point, this is exactly what I did.

Unfortunately these days some sellers won't consider a buyer unless they have sold their house. So I think you would at least have to put your house on market to be considered as a serious buyer.
But I wouldn't go into rented accommodation if I sold before funding something to buy. Because it could take a very long time. I would be honest with the buyer though and tell them you won't exchange , until you have found somewhere

that is good advice - yeah we have the photos and agent ready but no way are we ready for a viewing - we need to do that

Good shout. Being honest from outset that we'd need to find our house - so a slow chain

Another good point!

Also another amazing suggestion. So glad I asked this question. You're all amazing HUGE thanks folks

You're gambling either way. As people above have said, most sellers won't take an offer seriously until you're proceedable. Even if someone "accepts" your offer and allows you a certain number of weeks to sell yours, you still need to get your property sold super-fast to seal the deal. Realistically (especially in the current market) this means "pricing to sell" (ie low) and quite likely will require you to have a current property that fits into the segment of the market where there is most demand / least supply.

We did the opposite our house was very easy to sell but it took a long time to find what we wanted. We lost our first buyer because of this quite understandably but found another buyer straight away. We were downsizing and moving away and we were completely clear that we would not be moving into renting. It finally took 15 months and fortunately our buyers were prepared to wait. I think it’s really important to be crystal clear about what you are prepared to do.

Having gone through the process recently, the best would be to put your house on the market first and get an offer… kick off the legalities…. And then find your dream house to be in the best possible position you could be in…. Competing against other people trying to sell their house. You will be looked upon more favourably as well for your offer to be accepted.

in saying that it can be just good old luck… there is no right or wrong…. But the stronger position you are in, the better chances of you getting your dream home.

“If houses are sitting on the market for months, as they have been around here for the past two years, you are probably fine waiting until you see something you like”

but equally your house could sit on the market and houses keep coming on the market and then selling. If you’ve made the decision to sell just put it on the market then you stand a better chance of being in a position to move on a house you like when you see one.

Ultimately it is down to the seller, not the estate agent, as to whether they will accept an offer.

I would not accept an offer from someone who was not under offer themselves.

I agree with above, no way would I let anybody view my house without having theirs on the market yet and I sure as day wouldn’t accept an offer from someone who wasn’t yet on the market. It take months for you to sell your house!

I'd consider leafletting where you want to live, explaining the issue - and what a nightmare it is trying to put your house on the market on at the right time to match up with the right house coming on the market. Even if someone could give you the heads up that they would be putting the house on the open market, you would be much better poised to jump when it went up.

Good idea - I am considering this along with all the other good suggestions you're all making on this thread. You're all total stars - thanks :)