Desperate to move but nothing to buy

[Winolicious]

Hi, been in my current house 5.5 years. It was bought out of desperation. I hate living here and haven’t settled so want to move. We sold our old house 7 years ago, very quickly and I feel in hindsight the EA rushed us to proceed when we had nowhere of our own to buy for a quick sale and told us the buyers would pull out if they had to wait. That was a big mistake on our part. We ended up moving in with my parents for what I thought would be another few weeks at least and ended up there for 2 years! it was extremely stressful for ourselves and my parents as naturally they wanted their house back to normal. The usual scenario happened while we were there, put in offers at closing and were outbid on several properties. We did find a house we wanted before this one we are in and got it but we had to pull out at the very end of the process because the seller hadn’t disclosed something very important. So back to drawing board, my husband saw this house not long after but I didn’t have the feels or to buy it but we had to get a roof over our head. This experience has panned out the way I want to proceed with a future house purchase. So, we have been looking for the last year and half at houses, I’m on everyday in fact, some have come up I’d have out in an offer but wasn’t in the position to. We have now done all we want to do in this house and it’s ready to go but I’m reluctant to put it on the market until I find something I’d want to buy. I know my house will sell quickly as others in my street have. If we do put it on I’d like to stipulate to the EA that we will not proceed with a sale until we have found somewhere else to go obviously in a reasonable timescale, I’m prepared to pull out if this happens, am I being unreasonable? I’m serious about selling but I don’t want to ever be in my current situation again. Has anyone else done this or been in the same situation and it’s worked out for you? It’s stressing me out just thinking about it 😩 any advice welcome!

You would be within your rights to say to the EA that you will not be moving until you have found somewhere to buy.

You could potentially lose the sale if it takes you months to find somewhere after accepting an offer on your house.

But then you could just relist your house if you feel it would always sell quickly.

All I hear is that the property market is very flat for sellers right now. So if you can find somewhere you want to buy at the right price you may not have the same problems as before. You then have to sell your house and that might not be so easy, or as you say your neighbours houses have sold quickly you may be in a sought after area and in a win-win situation. You won’t know until you get started on the whole process!

good luck - it is stressful both selling and buying I know

It sounds like you're in Scotland. You can say that to the EA but it's not usual and effectively creates a chain and/or an indefinite wait for your buyer.

Your choices are renting really or having the wait stated up front. But I think you find somewhere to buy and then try to sell your house. Or stopping your sale if you've not found anywhere (as other posters have suggested.)

We borrowed money to buy outright first before moving but ended up having 2 houses for 6 months, as our sale fell through, not ideal in a Scottish winter.

We moved last year, and had very keen and excited first time buyers. However we hadn’t found a house we wanted to buy. If the estate agent had put any pressure on us like that, we would have quite happily said fine, let them pull out then. We weren’t going to give up our family home until we had found the one we really wanted. We had sold very easily so knew we could easily replace the buyers if we had to. That’s the attitude you need to take. Ignore the EA who is only interested in getting a sale complete so they get their fee.

Thanks! I wish I had done that before and stood my ground but felt bad about messing the buyers around but look where that got us. I just thought we would come across to buyers as not being serious about selling, in my experience it’s easy to sell but not so easy to buy. I just want to get it on and see what happens rather than waiting around. I’m in Scotland and the offers over process is a nightmare!

Yes and the process here is a nightmare at the best of times. I had a couple of estate agents in to value the property at the start of the year and when I mentioned about not selling until I had somewhere to buy their faces were a picture! What do they expect you to do? You can’t conjure up somewhere to live out of fresh air. We can’t afford to rent so that’s not an option for us so I think pulling out if we don’t find something or being upfront at the beginning is our only option. Thanks!

Thanks I don’t feel so bad now. Our EA was one of the largest in the country and clearly wanted the quick sale! I will be adopting the new attitude I think.

I don't really know the Scottish system.

But wherever EAs are, they can be a pain with regards to pressuring people.

They are supposed to work for the seller but of course they mainly are working for their commission.

You have your previous experience to fall back on this time so stand firm about not being pressured into doing something you don't want to do.

Thanks, I won’t be making the same mistake again!

Just for clarification would you mention the not selling until you find something to a potential agent before you appoint them or after you appoint them? Thanks!

I would tell the agent so he can match the right buyer with you. We once viewed a house and the agent was honest that he didn't think it was the right house for us as the seller was holding out for a very specific property to buy. She repeated this at the viewing. We needed to move quickly (like you we had bowed to pressure to sell then got stuck living with family for a year!) So I was grateful for their honesty as it meant none of us wasted time or money pursuing a sale that wasn't right.

I would never move again without an onward purchase lined up. When the market is slow though you may have to accept this means you may not be able to sell so be realistic with your expectations from the start.

It should just be part of the normal initial discussions with the EA. They’ll ask what your position is, and you just tell them that you’re looking for a house and the sale is dependent on you finding one. Very normal situation and the EA shouldn’t bat an eyelid. Unless things work differently in Scotland.

Before. You need someone who is onboard with your plan. Otherwise they will pile on the pressure.

You can mention it before.

Will probably need to say it again though if the situation arises that you sell yours before you find somewhere to buy because they may still try to pressure you.