Moving in with the missus and selling houses.. logistics!
Discussion
After a bit of advice regarding selling two houses to buy one. Here we go…
I have 2 young daughters and a 3 bed house with about £50k equity, t’other half has 2 bed house and young lad with ~£100k equity.
We’ve reached the stage where we’d like to sell both and move in together, for context the houses we’re looking at are around £550-650k and we aren’t in a position to buy one without selling both houses when income/equity is taken into account.
So with that in mind we’re now in a conundrum on how to proceed.
The options I can think of are…
1. Put both on the market and link the chains together to sell and complete at the same time. I think this looks like a nightmare and has a high risk that one half of the chain falls over.
2. Sell hers, move them in to mine and then sell mine. This is a pain as my house is not big enough really for all 5 of us and means two moves for them.
3. Sell both, rent somewhere for 6 months or so and then look to buy, simplifies the chain and we can take our time house hunting. Downside is moving twice and renting rather than paying our own mortgage.
4. Sell one and part ex to a new build. Not sure if we want a new build, no developments where we want to move to.
I suppose my question is, what would you do? Interested to hear from anyone who has done something similar.
Thanks.
I have 2 young daughters and a 3 bed house with about £50k equity, t’other half has 2 bed house and young lad with ~£100k equity.
We’ve reached the stage where we’d like to sell both and move in together, for context the houses we’re looking at are around £550-650k and we aren’t in a position to buy one without selling both houses when income/equity is taken into account.
So with that in mind we’re now in a conundrum on how to proceed.
The options I can think of are…
1. Put both on the market and link the chains together to sell and complete at the same time. I think this looks like a nightmare and has a high risk that one half of the chain falls over.
2. Sell hers, move them in to mine and then sell mine. This is a pain as my house is not big enough really for all 5 of us and means two moves for them.
3. Sell both, rent somewhere for 6 months or so and then look to buy, simplifies the chain and we can take our time house hunting. Downside is moving twice and renting rather than paying our own mortgage.
4. Sell one and part ex to a new build. Not sure if we want a new build, no developments where we want to move to.
I suppose my question is, what would you do? Interested to hear from anyone who has done something similar.
Thanks.
The market where you are will be different from where I am, also it's a different market segment, so maybe my comments don't apply.
Like all the opinions on here, it's for you to weigh up and make your own decision.
I would be concerned that the market is quite flat right now, but next year could be different.
So you could lose equity by being out of the market for half a year.
You can reduce that risk by moving in together in the one house for say six months.
So I would consider putting both houses on the market and being prepared to complete on selling the smaller one ahead of selling the other in a chain.
You may find it's not hard to get a buyer to wait and complete on the smaller house close to completion day for the other?
Renting is a PITA and doesn't really simplify things much.
But maybe it's worth considering if you get a high enough price for both houses and you are confident the house you want is not going to go up in the next 6 months or a year. That's a judgement on the market that only your and your partner can make, because it's you who will have the consequences, good or bad.
Keeping one house until you buy means your are never out of the market.
To some extent it depends whether your current and future houses are abundant in your area, so whether you have a wide choice buyers and places to buy or not.
Don't forget, you are not committed to sell either until you exchange. You can string the process out or pull the plug on anything up to then.
It's not nice, but them's the rules.
It's all very well thinking it is a 'buyer's market', but if you put yourself under time pressure to buy, you may find it's never a 'stressed buyer's market'.
Like all the opinions on here, it's for you to weigh up and make your own decision.
I would be concerned that the market is quite flat right now, but next year could be different.
So you could lose equity by being out of the market for half a year.
You can reduce that risk by moving in together in the one house for say six months.
So I would consider putting both houses on the market and being prepared to complete on selling the smaller one ahead of selling the other in a chain.
You may find it's not hard to get a buyer to wait and complete on the smaller house close to completion day for the other?
Renting is a PITA and doesn't really simplify things much.
But maybe it's worth considering if you get a high enough price for both houses and you are confident the house you want is not going to go up in the next 6 months or a year. That's a judgement on the market that only your and your partner can make, because it's you who will have the consequences, good or bad.
Keeping one house until you buy means your are never out of the market.
To some extent it depends whether your current and future houses are abundant in your area, so whether you have a wide choice buyers and places to buy or not.
Don't forget, you are not committed to sell either until you exchange. You can string the process out or pull the plug on anything up to then.
It's not nice, but them's the rules.
It's all very well thinking it is a 'buyer's market', but if you put yourself under time pressure to buy, you may find it's never a 'stressed buyer's market'.
How do schools factor in to it? Will any of the kids be moving schools?
Linking the chains will be stressful, but easier if it works out. If you go down this route, be honest about it please, I just had my sale/purchase delayed as someone further up the chain had a liked sale that was only declared when it was a problem.
As a starter, I'd suggest some serious decluttering in both houses, both for getting ready for listing, and making life easier when you move. You can always get both on the market, and start looking for a new house, if you don't find anything easily you can always rent as a fallback.
Linking the chains will be stressful, but easier if it works out. If you go down this route, be honest about it please, I just had my sale/purchase delayed as someone further up the chain had a liked sale that was only declared when it was a problem.
As a starter, I'd suggest some serious decluttering in both houses, both for getting ready for listing, and making life easier when you move. You can always get both on the market, and start looking for a new house, if you don't find anything easily you can always rent as a fallback.
Cyder said:
1. Put both on the market and link the chains together to sell and complete at the same time. I think this looks like a nightmare and has a high risk that one half of the chain falls over.
When my ex and I split last year we did the reverse of this. We put our joint home on the market and sold/completed/moved into our new places on the same day.It wasn't that complicated and we managed it even as the end of a fairly long (5-move) chain. The factors on our side, however, were that my ex bought a new-build and I was buying a probate sale, so we were the top of the chain.
Instead of renting have you got family or friends nearby you can move in with?
A friend of mine did exactly this, only for a couple of months, she and the girls went to her parents and he and the boy went to his.
It worked out incredibly well, as it was very cost effective, they got a break from the hecticness of life and treated it like a holiday, the grandparents loved having the kids around more and as a couple they used the on hand babysitting to have a date night once a week where they went out for a meal and stayed in a hotel.
She said it was all the fun of a holiday and an affair rolled into one. He wasn't so keen to repeat the experience as his father used him to help finish all the projects the father ran out of steam on / lacked the skills for.
A friend of mine did exactly this, only for a couple of months, she and the girls went to her parents and he and the boy went to his.
It worked out incredibly well, as it was very cost effective, they got a break from the hecticness of life and treated it like a holiday, the grandparents loved having the kids around more and as a couple they used the on hand babysitting to have a date night once a week where they went out for a meal and stayed in a hotel.
She said it was all the fun of a holiday and an affair rolled into one. He wasn't so keen to repeat the experience as his father used him to help finish all the projects the father ran out of steam on / lacked the skills for.
I say this every time these threads come up: someone wanting to rent whilst they find a house to buy is a really unattractive tenant for a traditional rental (even more so if you want somewhere large, of which there are generally fewer around).
You might have some luck if you're prepared to pay significantly over the odds in recognition of the hassle, extra voids etc, that the LL will incur but otherwise holiday rental places are a better bet.
You might have some luck if you're prepared to pay significantly over the odds in recognition of the hassle, extra voids etc, that the LL will incur but otherwise holiday rental places are a better bet.
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