Buying a bigger home without a chain

[JennyForeigner]

Looking for advice or any experience really. We have a beautiful, apparently easily lettable home. It is quirky and doesn't now work for our family (at least one bedrooms short, can't divide rooms due to listing, 2 children with additional needs including for private space, distance from schools able to meet our children's needs - which is a significant one). We have explored possible changes and extensions to death and there are no real further options.

After a long search we have found another home nearby that would be great. We want to buy it but won't risk a chain because of our children's disabilities and other factors.

On affordability, we can just about afford to make the onward purchase and then sell, taking a reduced price if we need to or renting our current home, but it would stretch us massively, where we have tried to be cautious in our children's interests.

I know the MN wisdom is you can always sell if you are flexible enough on price, but has anyone been in this situation and not been able to sell their current house? Did you default to renting and if so, did it feel risky?

The thing is that although we will have to move, it doesn't have to be right now. We could manage another year or two and save hard in the meantime. I'm just not sure doing so wouldn't put us in a fundamentally worse position, while we have already waited more than a year before finding something suitable. A final factor is that my husband is already nearly 55, so we have limited time on affordability.

I guess this therefore to ask what others would do in our situation and partly what you think will happen in the economy/market?

Yes it will always sell if the price is right, but factors to consider are what you need to sell it for in order to cover your costs and live comfortably, and how long you can afford to wait. The second factor sounds like the big issue here for you.
With regards to letting, quirky period homes with listing constraints would not be top of list for ideal rental properties. Maintenance could be a pain in the arse, and quirky homes need quirky people so your potential market is smaller. You'll also have to consider insurance which is likely to be higher if it's listed.

If the house isn’t in a chain, then I would definitely go for it. I wouldn’t bother with letting your existing home, but would try and sell it first. If there’s no chain on the house, it may be a Probate sell, so may take a little more time if Probate hasn’t been granted.

Bear in mind the complications associated with letting. You will pay tax on the rent received and can no longer get tax relief on any mortgage. Your tenants will have rights so you will have a window in which to sell. It will complicate your stamp duty and if you let for a long time you may have capital gains tax to pay. And that’s before you get to the responsibility of being a landlord, rental voids etc.

Thank you, this has been immediately so helpful. Our current house is an unusual one in that it is part of a university estate, and it probably would let well, but what has been driving us is elderly parents worrying. We have some rigid thinkers in the family and they are not the people who are paying the cost of an unsuitable home day and night. We are, and we have been at the end of our capacity for ages. We started off trying to persuade them that there are things we could do to manage the risk if this house doesn't sell, and I think we then just got a bit confused about what was for the best.

We are both happy to make the move on the grounds that it is the right thing for our family and then sell at whatever price we need to here to make it all work. Ironically an immediate £50k discount would still be less than we would otherwise spent on the school commute over the next 10 years, and less than the price of the house we want to buy has been reduced by while it has sat on the market for a year.

I think from what you've said I would take the leap and buy op.

It sounds like you've found a house that will suit you well which is not always easy.

Trying not to have a chain given your family circumstances sounds wise. You can make the move on your terms.

And you can just about afford it.