Chickens, Eggs & Chains

When to Sell, When to Buy?

At this time of spring chickens and Easter eggs, when it comes to moving house the perennial question is: ‘do I sell my current home or find the next one first’?

The fear of some sellers who have yet to have another property in mind is that they will sell their present property before they are ready and come under pressure to buy another one that is not ideal or end up doing a double move by going into temporary accommodation.

The flip side is that if a buyer finds and falls in love with their dream home but is not in a position to proceed, their interest will not be taken seriously and are likely to lose out to a better placed rival.

There is no perfect right or wrong answer and personal circumstances such as work, finances, health or family matters may determine when to start marketing. An agent is always delighted when a vendor client says they are prepared to rent as it helps speed the sale process along. It also means that the seller can take their time searching and puts them in a stronger buying position but this is not always a practical proposition.

Having made the decision to move, what most people do is to commence a property search and marketing campaign at the same time in the hope of dovetailing the two.

Property Chains

Life becomes more complicated when one’s own buyer is dependent on selling a property or the vendor of the house one wants needs to buy one themselves leading to a ‘chain’ situation. The shorter this is, the better as the fewer number of related sales in it reduces the risk of everything collapsing.

With chains of related sales or purchases, it is vital that honest and regular communication is spread up and down its length via the agents so that everyone involved has a true idea as to how things are progressing and expectations can be managed accordingly. In most cases, both exchange of contracts and completion of the sale have to fit in with everyone else so all parties may need to compromise on timing.

The Spring Housing Market

Despite the economic uncertainty caused by domestic and World events in recent months, the local property market has remained remarkably resilient. Indeed, we at Rural View have just had a particularly successful winter, usually a dormant period in the property year.

There are good numbers of people looking for homes at the moment but there are not many actually available. This is being exacerbated by some prospective vendors holding back on putting their houses on the market for fear of not finding another one leading to a self-perpetuating chicken & egg conundrum. To reverse this trend, we need a few brave sellers to take the plunge as it would encourage others to do the same. Happy Easter!