This week I thought I would address a question which I am regularly asked – ‘do I need to sell my home before I buy a new one?’ I find people fall in to two camps with 50% of buyers coming to me to find their next property having already sold their home and 50% who have decided not to put their house on the market until they find their next one. So which is the right way to do it?
You may be concerned about the risk of selling your home and then not finding a new one quickly after. What do you do then? Move in to rented accommodation? Move in with family members? Yes it’s certainly something to consider. However, in today’s market here’s why you really need to sell your home before you even think about buying your next one.
Today’s market is on the whole fairly competitive, particularly if your property is worth £350,000 or less. Properties in this price range are getting snapped up almost overnight with queues of buyers fighting to get a look in and so it’s fairly common for a property of this type to receive several offers of the full asking price. Sellers then have the luxury of choosing the purchaser in the best position who can move the quickest, which means that if your home isn’t yet on the market you probably won’t stand a chance of getting an offer accepted. Having your home sold puts you in the best possible position and means that in a competitive property market, you’ll have a better chance of securing the home you fall in love with.
If your home is already sold you are also far less likely to get gazumped. 2014 has seen the return of widespread gazumping, particularly in the Bishop’s Stortford area where properties are highly sought after. If you’re in a position to move quickly and have money in the bank then you’re at far less risk of someone swooping in at the last minute and outbidding you.
There’s nothing more heart-breaking than to see home-owners who find the right property, get their offer accepted, then put their home on the market and then it doesn’t sell for months and months to later lose their perfect property. Everyone has high hopes when their home goes up for sale and no one imagines their property won’t sell but it can happen. You’ll be in a far more confident position to negotiate the sale on your home when you’re not under the immense pressure to sell it quickly.
Once you’ve sold your home you’ll know exactly what you have to spend on your next property. This means again less disappointment if you find your dream home for yours to then sell for a lot less than you were hoping.
Yes there is some risk if you decide to sell your home first, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. It’s good to have a plan in place for dealing with a situation where your home sells and you don’t find your next one quickly. The ideal is of course to move in to rented accommodation or stay with family or friends while you search for your next property.