Onward chain worth the risk?

[Mamma2027]

We’re need to move by a certain date so we are looking for house where we’re can complete the purchase asap - otherwise our other options for buying will become very limited and we may even need to rent.

We were looking to buy a house with no onward chain and there have been a couple that are good enough though with some cons, and the sellers are very motivated to sell.

But we have seen another house with a short onward chain that is close to completing, seller is also very motivated. It ticks more of our boxes but DH thinks the risk of the chain collapsing isn’t worth it. My thoughts are that even with no chain a seller can still pull out for any reason and nothing is guaranteed.

Any thoughts or advice is welcome!

I had two ‘no chain’ offers accepted and one turned out to be nothing of the sort snd one seller pulled out due to illness. I did manage to find another who’s buyer had pulled out so managed to complete in five weeks. But I had put all my stuff in storage, farmed out my dogs and stayed in four Airbnbs and a hotel during the process.