How soon do we need to find a house to buy?

[Banks26zilla]

We recently sold our home privately before going on the market, however we are now struggling to find somewhere for us to buy.

How long would you say it should take roughly before finding somewhere to buy? The market where we are seems to very slow at the moment with not many new properties coming onto the market.

If anyone has any tips please let me know

It depends on the buyer circumstances. If they have children, they ideally want to get the schools for next year sorted as soon as possible. That is just an example.
As a rule of thumb, I would say 3 months.

It depends how long your buyers are willing to wait, really. Most people wouldn’t want to wait longer than a few months between offer and completion, unless they have circumstances where it’s also to their benefit to delay.

Would you consider letting the sale progress as normal and going into rented if you haven’t found somewhere you like / completed on your own purchase? It takes the pressure off trying to find what you want with an approaching deadline potentially pushing you to settle for something.

We sold our place in January but accepted an offer in October 2024. We’ve moved into rented and we’ve just had an offer accepted. It is an incredibly slow market where we are (in the sense that so few people are selling) and highly competitive.

I think you need to agree a reasonable timescale with your buyers. Maybe 2-3 months to find somewhere?
Otherwise you risk them pulling out (at this exact point Sod’s Law says something you like will come in the market!).
It also depends how serious you are about selling. You may decide to take your house off the market if you can’t find anything. The ideal option is to move into rented. You then have the pressure removed and are in a good position when you do find something you like.

If you sold off market do you have a very motivated buyer for your particular house as they may be willing to wait longer. Do they have anything to sell or are they renting/living with family? Our EA suggested that 6-12 weeks is about normal and once you get over 3 months buyers start getting impatient (as does the EA who want their fee who star t to put pressure on as well!).

We waited 3 months for a couple who were downsizing but as time dragged on it became obvious they weren't that motivated to sell and were waiting for their perfect home. Two years later they are now our neighbours as we got fed up waiting and bought a probate property on the same street and they still haven't found anything so it's a delicate balance.

The lady buying ours is downsizing and moving to be closer to her daughter. However her buyer is a divorcee currently living back at home with parents so guessing they are wanting to move ASAP.
They had a provisional completion date of end of May, our buyer was expecting to potentially move into her sisters if needs be, so I guess that gives us more options

I think you need to set out a reasonable timeline for yourselves and your buyer for finding somewhere, after which you’ll take your other options e.g. rented. Whilst your buyer might be able to move in with her sister, I imagine both she and the sister will want that to be for no longer than a few weeks max rather than an open-ended “until we find somewhere we like” arrangement which could go on for months.

As you have a chain, I'd suggest you get out looking pronto. If you don't find anywhere you'll have to consider if you want the cost and risk of breaking a chain.

The only time limit is specific to your chain no.one on here can say except that the more people involved the more likely one will.pull out if the time doesn't suit them.

Most people stop viewing houses when they've made an offer but I'm.not sure they stop watching the market necessarily-.especially if there is no chain in place. So I wouldn't leave it too long and definitely get out there looking.

Totally depends on buyers and any chain below them. However, if you have found somewhere within a month I'd keep them informed - that way you and the chain can work out where you all stand.