Completion not available at certain times

[WiseUpWash]

We would like to sell our house and move, for no other reason than we would like to move out of the city and to the countryside.

it is a nice house in a good area of a big city, well presented.

because of work, I cannot physically move house from July - September.

if we put the house on sale in January, how likely do you think this would be a problem to buyers? Either we’d need to complete in June or October. Or should we wait to put it on sale til after September?

Would this put you off?

I don't think it would put me off. But why couldn't you move? Will you be out of the country, or is it that you would be have time to pack etc? There are removal services that do it all for you if it's the latter.

Yes it would put me off unless you were willing to discount some money for the inconvenience

No, you cant predict when exchange/completion will happen. Months may be the case in the end. Just do it

I will be out of the country yes

Even if you knew about it from the moment you put an offer in?

You have to consider the entire chain, not just your buyer. It is very restrictive and would put many off.

Honestly I'd wait to sell until you can be flexible. In a chain it's so frustrating having one person who can't do certain times for completion. The people we were buying from threatened to pull out every 5 mins unless we agreed to their every whim. It's exhausting. Everyone has their ideals but you've got to try to be flexible to make it work

It depends a lot on when you get an offer.

If someone offers on a house in January they are quite likely to expect to move before July.

If someone offers on a house in May then the natural completion could easily fall in to the July - September window.

Yes if we missed the June window to complete because of delays on the seller’s side. Eg taking a long time to respond to enquiries.

I think if you really are going to do it that way have everything you can lined up in advance in terms of documents/paperwork you can anticipate being asked for in the queries eg planning permission docs, boiler, electricity certificates etc

Yes, I'd probably put it on the market in May/ June and brief the agent that you won't be able to complete until October at the earliest. Should be fine and manage any expectations from keen FTB types.

You don't need to be in the country to complete

Yes this sounds like the best idea. Thank you for all the thoughts it’s been interesting reading.