Dreading the whole thing

I think the problem is that it is the horror stories that stay with us and we forget all the ones that go smoothly. Having bought 7 houses and sold 6 over my lieftime, plus helped DC with their buying and selling. The vast majority of these events have gone smoothly and with only minor hiccups.

Having sold two and bought one house in the last two years, one went exceptionally smoothly and the other two had only minor glitches,

crazyH

Allsorts - to answer your question about moving to rental accommodation, my sister-in-law did exactly that . She sold up , moved to a rental apartment and stayed there.
She says the stress of owning a house and all that goes with it has completely disappeared. If there’s any problem, she just calls the landlord and it is dealt with. No doubt, the rent she pays is dead money, but she is happy.

I tried to persuade my dad to do this but he refused - he would only buy property. So now I’m starting the process of sorting out probate , IHT and selling a flat, whereas when my friend’s mum died before Christmas they had six weeks to clear out the rented flat, return the keys and that was that.

Allsorts, do try to look at the positives of home moving. So many bad stories. You will also find that virtually all those that did finally make their moves are so very happy with the result.
In your eighties, you really need to make the move as smooth as possible. What are your reasons for doing it now? Is it down-sizing, or are you wishing to move to a different area?

Be flexible in what you need. You mention outdoor space - a good sized balcony in a flat/apartment along with a communal garden could be the best answer, rathe rather than your own garden which you will probably need to have to employ a gardener. Car space? How long do you genuinely belief you are going to continue driving safely? Probably better looking for somewhere close to bus stops and stations.

I moved from what I had thought was to be my forever house (into which I had moved from the family house when I was in my early 60's. By my late 70's I knew I needed to do away with stairs, gardens and lots of housework, and finally moved into my wonderful flat. This was a move 150 miles away from where I had always lived. Turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. Yes, there were problems and tears during that sale/purchase period, but quickly forgotten once I had happily settled in.

So, make out your lists of what you are looking for - first list what you definitely MUST have, second list - what would be nice to have, and third list - what is not at all important.

And - do not forget things like nearby shops, doctors, ease to get to hospitals, dentist, park, theatres, cinemas, etc. etc.

Do let us know how you get on - expect some 'bumps' on the way and allow lots of time. In the meanwhile, start your decluttering, and do ensure that you have all the paperwork on your present home in good order.

Your experiences of house selling and buying another are truly
dreadful. I have entered my eighties now and have arranged to have mine put on the market next week with a local estate agent. I am seriously thinking i cannot go through all that you have. Ever since I arranged it I have been looking for a suitable home, pretending I had sold, could not find one although I lowered my expectations. I have to have outside space and car parking etc. Am I just wasting my time and that of the nice estate agent, I don't know.

fancyflowers

Buying and selling a house in France is far more straightforward than it is here. When you make an offer, you have to pay 10% of the price, and if you pull out, you forfeit your deposit. If the seller pulls out, they have to pay you the deposit amount.

Not many French sales fall through. The UK system is far too weak.

It is utterly deceptive to say that other systems are easier than ours. They are all the same. At a certain point the deal is done. On offer and acceptance in some countries and on signing the contract in others, but the havering with buyers, or possible buyers, sellers and possible sellers goes on in every system and is eually debilating in every system.

When we bought our house in France, the owner of one house we very much wanted to buy played games with us for months, before finally deciding to take his house off the market. This cost us money in journeys to France, meetings with professionals and resolving of various problems that arose, before he finally decided against the sale. All the things you go through in the English system. The fact that if we had gone ahead the deal would have been done when we made the offer would have been neither here nor there.

Our French neighbour sold his house, the comprimis was signed and then the purchasers played silly games with him for over a year before the sale finally completed. In the UK he could have told them to get lost. But with the French system he couldn't, he just had to rely on his lawyer contacting their lawyer, who wasn't responding.

You choose your system, but the problems remain the same in each system, they just happen at different places in the process.

Buying and selling a house in France is far more straightforward than it is here. When you make an offer, you have to pay 10% of the price, and if you pull out, you forfeit your deposit. If the seller pulls out, they have to pay you the deposit amount.

Not many French sales fall through. The UK system is far too weak.

In France the seller does have to provide a sellers pack, but it does not contain a condition survey.

It contains formal forms for the state of the domestic services (wiring, gas sytem, septic tank, if installed) also radon, termites, EPC, the French have all the problems with these that happen in the UK. Each survey has to be done by a properly ualified person, none of this 'cannot report, advise specialist survey for electricity, gas systems etc'. that you get in the average condition report in the UK, and none of the special clauses that effectively say, if there is anything wrong with the house that the surveyor did not pick up, that is your responsibility not the surveyors.

But, as I said, the French do ot demand the condition survey, that we hang our whole sale system on. That is up to the buyer.

I think there was actually a short time (early 2000s?) when the property seller had to provide a 'seller's pack'. I do remember estate agents saying it would never catch on and it put a lot of sellers off listing their home.

After much persistence I had my parents (well mum) sell up an old Georgian house, which didn’t have a downstairs loo for my dad who was suffering from Alzheimer’s
Bungalows were few & far between, overpriced, most needed up dating.
Then the bidding wars started, what a blinking nightmare, Vendors would pull out causing no end of anxiety.
I personally think the vendor should pay for the survey & just hand to the estate agent for the buyer to view.

There's a great deal of misinformation about the Scottish property system on this thread.

Buying and selling a home - mygov.scot share.google/cFc1SfTzEE5j0qmvg

Anyone can see a Home Report, you don't even have to view the house let alone buy it.
Home Reports don't set the sales price they set the valuation at the time the surveyor wrote the report, in a buoyant market properties can sell far in excess of valuation (and in a stagnant market far less than valuation).
Sellers cannot claim usual legal fees back from buyers, or vice versa
Until missives are signed either party can renege.
Home Reports are riddled with legal disclaimers, they are valuation surveys, in no way structural surveys.

“Didn't last long, think about 4/5 years and then back to the "offers over" system and ut seems it estate agents who probably in cahoots with the surveyors sets tge price. If you make an offer and it's accepted, the seller is entitled to claim for any expenses they may have incurred preparing for the sale eg legal fees. No system is fault free. I'd sell, rent, then buy.”

As I said earlier, we are actually selling a house in Scotland. Our Home Report was carried out by an independent RICS surveyor, who valued the house higher than the estate agent ( solicitor). So both bound by their professional standards.
However, no mention of being able to claim for our expenses from the buyer has been mentioned. Seems strange as we didn’t pay for the seller’s expenses when we bought the property.

The Scottish system was set up to supposedly stop the "offers over" bidding system. The surveyor carrig out the inspection for the House Report was supposed to set the price and that was it. Didn't last long, think about 4/5 years and then back to the "offers over" system and ut seems it estate agents who probably in cahoots with the surveyors sets tge price. If you make an offer and it's accepted, the seller is entitled to claim for any expenses they may have incurred preparing for the sale eg legal fees. No system is fault free. I'd sell, rent, then buy.

M0nica

Gran22boys

My advice is only sell to someone who is not in a chain. In other words, someone with cash who is currently renting. As for you yourself renting, it is possible but fraught with difficulties. You’d need references and you’d have to pay for furniture storage.

Easier said than done. OK if you are selling a starter home, but once you are selling further up the market, the probability of finding a first time buyer with £500,000 to spend gets remote.

And before the 'how many people can afford to spend £500,000 brigade, we are all living in tents.' brigade start up, I would point out that in Oxfordshire, where we used to live, the average house price is over £450,000. Although in our village there was a nice flat development that usually sold for under £200,000. In Cambridgeshire, where we now live it it is over £350,000.

There is no brigade.

Worst thing that I have done was sell my house & moved to rented property. No safety no security as I soon realised! Constant threat of yet another move over my head permanently. Now in Social housing which many people hate but is not likely to be sold from under me & as
long as I dont wreck the place hopefully will not be kicked out!

Barbadosbelle

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The Seller should be the one responsible for an uptodate Full Professional Survey when selling their property.

Signed authenticated copies should be part of their property details and given to all interested buyers along with said property details.

This would speed up the purchase and help avoid unnecessary expenses and possibly gazumping.
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But this is assuming the seller has a competent surveyor. If the house you are buying was built before 1939 then most surveyors are not competent to survey them. Neither estate agents nor the average home owner know this.

There was a major change in building methods and materials in the early 20th century, and most surveyors, and builders for that matter, do not understand how older houses 'work'

Most of you will know oft he disastrous home insulation scheme recently introduced by the government, which has had to be pulled because so many houses that were dry and warm before the extra insulation, if expensive to heat, are now damp houses with rampant mould and stillexpensive to heat.

We were given a summary of the survey a previous potential buyer of the house we live in now had and it is laughable. It picked up none of the main problems with the house and the recommendations for how to improve the insulation on the house would probably have made it uninhabitable.

This is not because the surveyor was incompent, just that he wasn't competent to survey a house built more than a hundred years ago.

I would never ever make an offer on a house based on the seller's survey I would want a survey done by a surveyor whose competence i had checked.

I've bought and sold quite a lot, I've had some fall through and also withdrawn from a purchase after an unsatisfactory survey. It's expensive and slow, can be very stressful. Getting together a chain can take months and it can still collapse. I tend to believe it's going to happen after the actual Exchange of Contracts, until then you can't be sure. It usually gives you a month to arrange everything before Completion. EPCs are not worth the paper they're written on imho but you have to get one, the agent may arrange it or you can directly. Good luck, it's ok if you get a good solicitor, not necessarily the one the estate agent suggests but one who comes recommended.

I wonder if the new rules about renting will make life tougher for people who want to rent for just a short while.

Barbadosbelle

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The Seller should be the one responsible for an uptodate Full Professional Survey when selling their property.

Signed authenticated copies should be part of their property details and given to all interested buyers along with said property details.

This would speed up the purchase and help avoid unnecessary expenses and possibly gazumping.
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Absolutely.

Riversidegirl Yes, bridging loans are very expensive, even if you can get one and you know when they will end. We knew one old couple living in a valuable home who ended up losing a lot of money when they bought a flat and sold their house. The house took the best part of 18 months to sell and the interest rate was ruinously high. In the end they did have a lovely large flat but had no capital left from their house

Luckygirl3

Honestly it's hell!

I did all this 6 years ago during covid while OH was at the end of his life. I have lost count of how many times the sales fell through.

I would only go through it again if it was absolutely necessary - as it was for me as I needed the downsizing money to pay for my OH's care. If you are able to stay put, then I would do that.

It is slightly irritating when people parrott the glib assertion about old people taking up big houses that families need - many would be happy to move if it was not so stressful at a time of life when it is harder than ever to cope with.

We often thought that a bridging loan would help "old" people to get moved. But of course it was impossible to get one. Even though our new place was only one third of the price we were selling at!

.

The Seller should be the one responsible for an uptodate Full Professional Survey when selling their property.

Signed authenticated copies should be part of their property details and given to all interested buyers along with said property details.

This would speed up the purchase and help avoid unnecessary expenses and possibly gazumping.
.

We sold our bungalow twice - in April 22 and April 24. Both times the sales fell through in the October of the same years because the chain was so long in both cases and eventually they snapped when someone near the top of the chain got fed up of waiting. We learned a new phrase during these failures to sell "Non-proceedable". It was quoted to us by our solicitor who said that once your buyer pulled out/fell out of the chain your offer on the house you were buying had to be withdrawn because you were non-proceedable! It was to speed up the house selling process! What rot! We spent/lost nearly £10,000 on solicitors fees and surveys etc as the sales process continued and the chains got longer because estate agents wouldn't let you view a property until you had got an offer on yours. Now Labour has has tanked the economy and introduced anxiety and uncertainty I can't see the housing market recovering for a long time

Downsized last Summer. Apart from all the decluttering, emotional rollercoaster and admin it was relatively painless.
We sold to first time buyers and the couple we bought from were moving to a new build so a short chain.
Both estate agents involved were local family firms and communication was really good.
7 months on we are so glad we made the move when we did. We have upgraded the bungalow and that’s almost finished.
The outdoor space is amazing so looking forward to the Summer.
Overall, our move went really smoothly.

The thought of ending up in temp accom. is what really puts me off trying to move although I really should move from this rural location into a town. I've had to move into temp premises inbetween house moves before but I had my DH with me so we put up with it together, just don't think I could face it on my own. We ended up in rented home for 18 mths before finding our latest home, a very long time without all your possessions or clothes for changing seasons.

Allsorts I would probably do what you suggest, i.e. try to get your own sale exchanged and stay elsewhere whilst you buy if this is possible. This was what we intended to do, though in fact we found somewhere quickly and only needed to stay somewhere for a short time. Buying when you have actually sold is so much simpler and makes you a much more attractive purchaser.

Not really following your original question, but as M0nica suggests EPCs are utterly pointless and are done by people with minimal training. They charge upwards of £50 which is really money for old rope - several estate agents have told me in the past that they have never had a potential buyer ask to see the report.
We have a small rental flat with a low score which means that once our current tenant leaves we will have to raise the score to be allowed to let it again.
The EPC assessor suggested that to raise it we put in a system to collect the heat from the used shower water, which would mean completely ripping apart the bathroom and spending many thousands of pounds. The only thing that we could use this heat for would be to heat more water - but since the flat is small and really only suitable for one person this would simply produce a tank of tepid water which would go cold before a shower was needed again.
Another alternative could be double glazing, but the flat is in a listed building and the council would not permit this.