When to accept offer

[Stumpy54321]

Hi. Just about to market our property. We are wanting to move to a small market town not far from the main city we currently live in. It will be our last move so want to make sure it’s the right property although understand there will be compromises to be made. The search I feel will be difficult as the area is much smaller so less available property’s.
if we find a buyer but still haven’t found a property should we accept the offer ? I don’t want to be in a position where we can’t find somewhere and let the buyer down. Could we say we won’t accept any offers until we find a property should?

Serious buyers will probably ask what your position is. I think you should be honest about your situation then you're more likely to get the right buyer for you. I.e someone not in a hurry.

Failing that could you sell chain free and rent while you search?

Thanks for the reply. Yeah we will be honest for sure. Renting is not an option, moving once is stressful enough.

You should accept the offer but just explain you haven’t found anywhere to move to yet but are actively looking.

I think the thing is - you may have to accept if you take too long to find your onward purchase you may lose your buyers. Especially if your holding up the whole chain

A cash buyer or investor maybe your best bet, but they are rare. I think you have to be honest about how quickly you want to sell. In this market it's slow so if you get a buyer ... it might take a while to find another.

Saying yes actively looking but then your Uber Uber fussy about the houses you would offer on, thats not being entirely straightforward.My sister lost 2 buyers because they took 4 months to find a house to buy and the end of the chain lost their buyer so the whole chain collapsed twice.

You have to be honest or people will call you on it if not and people sometimes don't like being yanked around

It’s normal to get a buyer before you find your onward. Many people will not even let you view if you’re not under offer.

We are viewing a property even though we are only just on the market.
this is currently the only property we like.
We will not formally accept any offers we receive until we find a property. We won’t go into renting and won’t be pressured into buying somewhere so we don’t hold the chain up. We are not under any time restraints. If the right property comes along then great, but if it doesn’t then we will wait for as long as it takes. Moving is a stressful and expensive process so it has to be right.

Are you in Scotland or England/wales etc ? Assuming it's UK?

Properties you view might not even entertain your offer until you have a buyer already secured unless you’re selling your place chain free.

Yes uk

Possibly. Will see what interest we get, any offers will be considered then if we don’t have.a property in mind the offer will be noted.

I would wait until spring when more buyers and more properties on the market. Once you accept offer you can be somewhat dictated to - depends on how easy your house type is to sell. Large houses requiring lots of work are harder to sell at the moment

I ask where you are because in Scotland you really need to be on the market for sale in order to have an offer accepted. If England it might be considered. Scottish system is fast moving, no gazumping. Once an offer is accepted in Scotland no one can view it or offer. It's reserved for you. Sellers do not want to cease interest when they do not know how long it will take you to sell or if you create a chain by accepting an offer from someone that is also subject to sale. If you accept an offer then you agree a date of entry or keep the contract open if agreeable by your buyer, until you find something. If England it's gazumping galore so you can have an offer accepted but if a better offer comes along then they might ditch you. Which is likely to happen.
You really need to be on the market for sale to be considered a serious buyer. If you see something you like it's likely that someone else is going to it too and they could be in a better position thus making their interest much more desirable to the seller than yours who may have taken no steps to sell. Some sellers refuse to allow viewings if you haven't taken any steps.
You need to show them you're serious. Such as- Is your finding in place? If you need a mortgage have you spoken to a mortgage advisor to see what you can afford? Have you chosen an agent and had your photos done, ready for marketing?
You need to ask yourself what makes you sound like a good buyer just like what would make your buyer reliable.
In Scotland from the time you offer to the time you get the keys is on average 6-8 weeks. England it can be months. No one wants to hang about in Scotland people want to get going so buyers really need to show they are serious.

funding
Autocorrect sorry

Yeah that’s what I want to avoid be dictated to or pressured. I’ve read a lot about this situation and so many people say to just go into rented, like it’s that easy to do. Moving once is expensive and stressful enough let alone twice.

We are now on the market and viewing a property next week. This property needs some updating so won’t know how much until we view. After that there’s nothing else suitable.
I just don’t want to accept an offer then feel under pressure to find somewhere. I appreciate people may look elsewhere but if we can’t find somewhere we can’t move forward anyway.

I think there’s a risk of not being able to view properties until you have an offer on yours. I refused to have viewers who weren’t in a position to offer and progress and I couldn’t view properties until I had an offer on mine.

We are in a similar position. Our next house needs to meet specific circumstances and there aren't loads to pick from. Renting isn't an option.

We are marketing our house and if /when we get an offer we will accept it but not expect them to do a survey until we have found somewhere. We will probably start the basic legal preliminaries as we will need to collate that information for any seller and will help our buyer know we are serious. This is the right balance for us. Not asking a buyer to commit to big money until the chain is complete but they also have to show signs if being committed.

Round here it's selling that's tricky so without an offer I don't look serious if I find my next house.

Overall all property chains are precarious so I'd try not to overthink it.

Thank you. It’s so difficult as buyer and sellers have differing views. Won’t have viewers until the buyer has a buyer, won’t be able to view until you have a buyer it’s a vicious circle.
We are in no rush to move and will make that clear to any potential buyers. We have large family house needs no work so ready to move into. I won’t be pressured into buying a house that’s not right so we aren’t holding up the chain. If we can’t find a house we cannot move forward