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.

We did what you’re suggesting last time (in 2019) and it worked I.e. we sold our house about a week after listing and immediately got our offer accepted on the house we wanted, which we saw prior to listing our house.

Thought we’d do the same again this time as we were looking for a particular type of property which was hard to find (but our current house is in a very popular area and nothing weird about it/ it’s a popular kind of house so thought we’d sell easily). WELL, we did list it last October in order to offer on a house we loved and we got a dozen or so viewings but no second viewings or offers. By which point we’d lost the house we wanted to a cash buyer.

After that experience we decided to get bridging finance instead so we could buy first and then sell (we also needed an overlap for practical work related reasons). And we’ve now bought (a month ago) and just trying to sell. We do have a low offer and have had another second viewing but it’s still not an easy market. So all I’d say is, maybe be careful with your assumptions!

We've just come off the market, also in Bristol. We were on for a few weeks then changed our minds but there were a few houses we loved but weren't taken seriously because we hadn't sold so I'd get on the market asap.

Which agent are you going with?

Bought and sold in Bristol at the start of this year - I would 100% get your house under offer before you start seriously looking. Our experience was that housing stock is still limited and anything decent will often fly off the shelves within a matter of days - and you've said yourself that this is what you expect to happen with your house. Most places we looked at received at least a couple of offers, we lost out on two to cash buyers, and we wouldn't have been in with a shout unless we were under offer ourselves.

I would put yours on the market, start viewings and start looking yourself at the same time. Make it clear upfront that you'll need to find a place to move to before you're ready to complete, and continue to hold the line on this as you hunt.

You need to be listed on the market as as minimum as most estate agents do not let to view unless you are in a position to move (so house on market or confirmed funds plus mortgage in principle if applicable.) Yes I'm in the Bristol area and things sell within the week typically in this area at least.

Thanks for sharing your experience - with Ocean

Everyone thinks their own house will sell quickly - a few are right about that, most are wrong. Either way, it makes sense to put your house on the market before you find somewhere. If your house really is as desirable as you think, you'll find buyers who are willing to wait for you - even if your first one ends up getting impatient, you'll easily find another. And if it turns out your house is harder to sell than you think, good thing you've got some time to do it before your dream house comes along.

We have missed out on 2 dream properties because we tried to offer when ours hadn’t sold yet.

When we sold the agent didn't let anyone view unless their house was verifiably on the market.

There's sort of a middle ground here which is what we did. Get ready to sell, see an amazing house online, book viewing, put ours on the market at a really competitive price, got an offer quickly (within a week), make offer on new house.

I can't remember how quick it was but definitely within a couple of weeks. I do think it's all about pricing to sell though if you want to do it this way. Too many people have to hold out by putting the asking price too high.

Setting the asking price lower means you're more likely to get more viewings and more interest which means you'd probably end up selling at a higher price anyway.

As buyers, we weren't really taken seriously unless we at least had our house on the market - some EAs wanted the RightMove link to prove it before booking a viewing. Fair enough, really. Nobody wants a tyre kicker showing up.

I work in property (but not an EA!). If you are going to do it like you first suggested PLEASE do not overvalue your house. We have seen this many many times and vendors get terribly disappointed when the offers dont come flooding in.

Look at Rightmove and see what similar houses have actually SOLD for and then price yours accordingly. Take the emotion away from it. If it was such a great house then why are they selling etc

As a personal aside when we were buying we saw one house that was overpriced. The EA persuded us to see it as it was in the same road. The owners an elderly couple were convinced that it was worth XXX and it was nice but very dated. The EA asked us afterwards to give feedback and I told them it was just too much for what it was and the EA revealed that it wasnt the first time she had heard this and that she had fed back to the sellers a number of times but they werent listening. Eventually it came off the market. If there isnt a compelling reason to move people will stay.

Also, 70% of buying decisions on a house are made by women!! If the women doesnt like the place it rarely happens that a couple buy it.

We did it this way round last time we sold and bought OP. However, we knew we were gearing up to sell, so the house, garden, and front exterior were all pretty much immaculate, freshly decorated, decluttered, and ready to go. We also had been keeping an eye on the market as well, to make sure we were pricing competitively, rather than the inflated prices that an estate agent might spin us to get the contract. I'm sure it also helped that we put the house on the market with the same agent that was selling the house we wanted to buy as well. It would probably be a good idea if you had all the big local estate agents in to evaluate your house. Then if you see a house you like with one of them they'll be aware you were on the cusp of putting the house on the market anyway, and you'll already have a relationship with them, which might help smooth things along a bit.