I would certainly sell before even looking for somewhere else to buy - did that last year, fell in love with a bungalow and was let down on the sale of my present house twice for different reasons.
Might try again in the Spring...you need nerves of steel! The process in England and Wales should certainly be made more straightforward.
Yes J52- our recent experiences certainly make us determined to sell first, then go and find a house with cash in hand (for real - not like so many pretending to be) - but things in life sometimes happen without perfect planning. Our previous house was bought in a day over a cup of coffee, and sold immediately without a hitch.
Not selling our beloved house and garden I'd worked so hard to put together- was (almost) worth every penny (well... a bit more actually).
When we bought our house in Scotland we had written into the contract that we would only proceed if we sold our house in England. The buyer of our English house was a solicitor's clerk and thought she knew the Scottish system and at the last minute wanted money off our selling price thinking that we had to proceed. We had great delight in putting her right. She paid the original price!
Here if you can find a buyer you snap their hand off, it is very much a buyer's market at the moment. Might be different in south Scotland.
Yup, it happens, and we and DD have both had the problem at various times.
J52, you make the Scottish system sound very like the English. Express an interest (make an offer), do all the paper work 'missives' take place (exchange of contracts), both of which are legally binding.
However friends in the Scottish system complain about the expense of constantly doing all the paperwork again and again and never managing to secure the house as another person also doing all the paperwork pipped them to the post. I have heard horror stories of people spending £000s on up to 11 properties before they suceeded in buying one. No system of house purchase is perfect.
This happens all too frequently in the system that England (maybe Wales?) has. In Scotland the seller gets the independent survey done before the house is marketed. Offers are formal 'notes of interest' put to the Solicitor handling the sale and prospective buyers are informed of other offers. (Not the price, of course). Once a price has been agreed with a purchaser then the 'missives' take place, that is the searches etc. once they are completed, usually quite quickly, there is no going back and no gazumping. Everyone knows where they stand.
When buying in England we have always sold before buying, putting our belongings in storage and renting/ holidaying/ borrowing somewhere.
Off!
We have just bought a bungalow which is lovely and very saleable. We could not understand why it had been empty for 9 months - it turned out that the lady who owned it had a buyer who was taking an age to complete and at the last moment he wanted £20,000 of the agreed price! Luckily for us she told him to get on his bike and ride into the sunset and she put it back on the market, where it was snapped up by us (and wanted by several others) - luckily the agent advised her to favour our offer as we had cash buyers (DD and SIL) to buy ours and could complete speedily.
I am sorry to hear that you have had such a difficult time trueblue - it is an iniquitous system. I have a friend who is locked into a similar mess at the moment and she is getting quite depressed and stressed. Good luck with the move!
I really feel for you- the English system of buying and selling is totally **!
We had a horrendous experience when we were selling our East Midlands home. A so called (!!!) cash buyer turned up the day it was put on the market and said he had been waiting for 20+ years for it to come on the market as it was his dream house. Also agreed to buy some of the furniture (at bargain price) - and our agent asked him to prove he had the money to proceed- which he did.
He said he had sold his land to a builder- but it turned out he had not and there were problems with pollution of soil. anyhow- he kept making promises, kept coming to shake our hand and re-assure us that all was well. We went to sign our part of the contract and we had a phone call from his solicitor- he was ready to proceed- but wanted 25% off the price !!!! He knew we had bought here already and that I was desperate to be there for Christmas with my very elderly parents. The b*****
We told him to 'go away' (if you know what I mean) - but it was November so slow market. We found another buyer immediately, a lovely young family who wanted to open a nursery and loved the garden- perfect. But they just couldn't seel their own home - sale falling through at last minute 3 x! So we just had to give up on them.
In the end, we sold with 23% off in the Spring- but quickly and without hassle- again for a nursery. Fortunately we bought here when the £ was much higher (now down 55%!) and we got a 25% reduction of the purchase of our flat in UK as 'compensation'.
Such frustrating times and so nerve racking- courage x
happened to a friend - he told prospective buyers to take a hike. It is a horrible last minute ploy and you need nerves of steel to stand up to these guys. Good luck.
We're in the process of buying and house 60 miles away & selling ours.
One day after receiving our survey (which was not good) and having just made a special journey to visit our prospective house, the agent rings to say a cash buyer in rented accommodation had made an offer £25,000 higher and were ready to go. We already had our house on the market and had lots of interest, so reluctantly we increased our offer by £30,000. By doing that, we have even less money to do the essential damp proofing .
We quickly found youngish cash buyers for our house who offered the asking price and said would proceed quickly. However, it took 2 weeks before they dealt with compliance with their solicitors and seemed to be moving at a snails pace.
To add insult to injury, eventually this buyer receives his survey and was told there were potentially £270,000 of works to be done! Our agent said you could build a house at that price. We said no way would he get an reduction as our house was in near perfect order- no damp etc & just needed remedial works like painting & new kitchen. His builder came round yesterday and told him this morning there were approx £50,000 of non essential works.
Last week another prospective buyer for our house, who has been waiting on the sidelines, popped a letter into our door to say if the first buyer dropped out they were desperate to get our house. We told them to 'get their ducks in line' and we would proceed with them if the first buyer dropped out.
After being told by our agent that we will not reduce by a penny, as we had put house on the market well under market price, and just before exchange which is supposed to happen tomorrow, first buyer has asked for a £25,000 reduction. He hasn't told his wife yet - who according to the agent is desperate for our house.
Our agent says i 30 years in the business, he has never known anything like it. We have bought and sold many properties, and neither have we.
Ironically, this couple have just won THE business award in our city and yet the husband seems to have becoem morally bankrupt in the process.
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