I am struggling to find the answers I am looking for so hope you guys can help me.
I have a house that I own outright i.e. no mortgage and I want to sell it and live somewhere else.
I know that the first step will be to get it valued, and for that I am going to use Purple Bricks and also a local agent. And possibly an auction house as my property needs quite a lot of work done on it.
But I am concerned that I will sell my house and can’t find a new place to live, thus leaving me homeless. I don’t have any friends or family that I can move in with temporarily, and as I am self-employed, it will be incredibly hard to find anywhere to rent (I know this from past experience). I’m thinking that in the worst case scenario I would put my stuff into storage and strike a deal with the Premier Inn / Travelodge or an Air BnB host. But I hope it won’t come to that.
I don’t really have any savings so my budget for the new place will depend on what I get for my current house.
Do I just get mine valued and put it on the market, and then start looking for properties within that budget?
What happens if I find a buyer for mine but I haven’t found a new place to live yet? Do I negotiate with my buyer a period of time to allow me to remain there until I find a new place?
And if I find a new place, can I make an offer even though mine isn’t sold yet? Like an offer that is subject to mine being sold?
I wish I just had the money to buy a new place and then worry about selling mine later because it would be a lot easier that way.
Sorry if these are stupid questions but I have never sold a house before and the uncertainty of how it works is putting me off getting the ball rolling with a valuation, and giving me a lot of anxiety as I am anxious to leave. I’m sure the estate agent would answer these questions but I don’t want to waste their time so asking here instead. Thanks for reading.
3 comments
Bizarre, the mse guide was the first result on google for me: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/buying-a-home-timeline/
Scotland has very different processes for buying houses compared to England and Wales. I don’t even want to think about simultaneously selling a house in England and buying one in Scotland
You appoint an estate agent to sell your house. Get a few valuations done, and find out about their fees before you sign up to anything.
You also need to appoint a conveyancing solicitor to do both the sale and purchase of your new home. DO NOT under any circumstances use the one offered by your chosen estate agent because they will be some national call centre type with no local knowledge. Again, shop around, ask for local recommendations from friends, local social media groups etc.
Once your house is on the market, register with all the estate agents in the area you want to move to as a potential buyer.
You can start looking for a house to buy before you have sold yours, but most sellers won’t take any offers you make seriously until you’ve got an offer on your property.
Once you have an offer on your property then it’s time to do some serious house hunting. Some buyers might push for a quick sale and for you to move out quickly, but at the moment it’s a seller’s market so if they want your house then they will just have to wait.
Once you’ve found somewhere you like and you have an offer accepted, your solicitor will do all the work and negotiate with everyone in the chain for a completion date so that you effectively sell and buy all on the same day. Hope that helps.