You maybe in a quandary about selling your house, and asking the question “do I have to sell my house before making an offer for another?” If you are in this position, I firstly recommend you consider my course 5-Step House Sale & Move, but then to read this article too.
It’s best to sell your house before making an offer for another, as although you can make an offer on a house before selling yours, most sellers will only consider an offer from cash buyers, chain-free buyers or those who have already accepted an offer on their existing property.
Despite the property market slowing down due to interest rate hikes, and cost of living increases, there is still competition when it comes to buying property. This is especially true in areas where there are few properties on the market or where houses are still selling quickly.
This means you need to be in the best position before making an offer, which in order of preference from a vendor’s (the seller) perspective is as follows:
Chain-free cash buyer with no mortgage requirement.
Chain free mortgage cash buyer, which means a mortgage is required.
Buyer who has a property to sell, but has accepted an offer from a buyer.
Buyer who has a property to sell, but has yet to accept an offer on their house.
Buyer who has a property to sell, but has yet to put their property on the market.
It is very unlikely that any seller will accept an offer from a buyer who has a property to sell, but has yet to put their property on the market. Sellers want to be able to sell their property as quickly as possible, and if they accept an offer from someone who hasn’t even put their house on the market will be the slowest to progress.
Sellers prefer chain-free buyers, as the sale is less likely to fall through, and the sale should progress much faster with less stress and uncertainty in the process.
You can buy another house before you’ve sold yours in the UK, which means you either change your house into a buy-to-let investment or use a bridging loan to buy the other house. Changing your house into an investment means you become a landlord, and bridging loans are expensive and risky.
You like to have a look at my 5-Step House Sale & Move Course, as this helps homeowners looking for other strategies to move home, but doing it the smart way.
What are the rules for making an offer on a house?
The rules for making an offer on a house are mostly governed by the sellers of a house, which include whether they will accept an offer from a buyer if they are a chain-free buyer or not and what level of discount they are prepared to accept below asking price.
Can you buy a house while waiting for yours to sell?
You can buy a house while waiting for yours to sell, as long as the sellers are happy to accept an offer when you haven’t yet accepted an offer on your house. But sellers are unlikely to accept an offer until after you’ve accept an offer and sold your house subject to contract.
At what point can you put an offer on a house?
The point at which you can you put an offer on a house depends on the vendor, as most sellers will not accept an offer until you’ve accepted and offer to sell your house first. Once you’ve sold your house, or if you decide not to sell your house, is when you can put an offer to the sellers.
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Article written by Russell Bowyer who has been investing in property since purchasing his first commercial property in the 1990's for his own Chartered Accountancy business. But his first property investment project was to turn an old dilapidated restaurant into a large 5-bed home, which he purchased for £117,500 and sold for £450,000 (to see an "after" photo of the house before it was sold see here: About). Russell owns a number of investment properties, which includes houses, flats and HMO's. More recently he has turned his creative side to investing in property using lease options. His largest lease option deal to date was to acquire 12 properties worth over £2 million for just £12, which means he paid just £1 to acquire each property!
