Should I find a property before I sell?

You've decided that you want to move house.

Should you start looking for a new property before or after you've agreed on a sale of your current one?

If you sell your current property and then begin searching for your new home, what do you do if you can't find anything to buy?

And if you find the home of your dreams, but your current home doesn't sell quickly enough, and someone else buys it before you do, what then?

Finding the property first

You've done a bit of internet browsing and found the perfect property.

You go to a viewing and fall head over heels in love. It's everything you've ever wanted, and you know you'll be happy here for years and years.

You've already visualised the interior design and found the ideal position for your furniture. Everyone has chosen their bedrooms and is thinking about the many wonderful summer afternoons and family Sunday lunches you'll have here.

This is the one.

But you need to sell your current house.

And you'll need to be quick.

There have been a lot of viewings on the property, and you're worried that someone else will make an offer.

You're racing against other potential buyers for this one particular house.

You don't want to move if you don't get this property.

What are your options?

●     Sell your property at a reduced price to get it sold quickly,

●     Make a crazy high offer on the other property, and hope no other buyers go that high,

●     Accept the first offer you get on your property because you have no choice; you don't have time to hang around.

It all sounds quite frantic, doesn't it? A very stressful experience.

Selling your property first

You could try to sell your property first.

Get it on the market and see what happens.

No rush, no stress.

Perhaps you'll browse some property websites casually, but you might not even view any of them yet - what's the point? You can't buy them right now anyway.

You'd be happy with any property; you are not picky.

So you put your home on the market and then see what's available once you have accepted an offer.

By doing this:

          -You can hold out for the top price,

          -Negotiate hard with your buyers,

          -And have a simple, stress-free selling experience

This all sounds great, but there are drawbacks to this option too.

What if there are no properties for you to buy? And you have a buyer keen as mustard, trying to rush you along. They are trying to set completion dates, and you don't even have anywhere to move to?

If you can't find a suitable property, perhaps you'll have to move into a rented property? This could mean a change of location or maybe even putting your belongings into storage?

The Solution?

As with most things in life, it comes down to balance.

Have a few properties in mind, but don't fixate on one.

Keep a shortlist, and revisit those properties once you have an acceptable offer.

This way, you're prepared but won't be disappointed if the 'one' house you want to buy sells before you do.

The key here is flexibility.

Financing without selling

Perhaps you could consider creative ways to finance the purchase without selling your home? If you can fund the purchase without the equity in your current property, you can have your cake and eat it!

Buying the property you want immediately and then selling your current property once you've moved.

You might be able to raise funding from other sources, such as bridging finance, to fund the purchase of this second property.

A seller may be more likely to negotiate with you on the price of a property if you can move without selling because you aren't in a chain. Therefore there's a lower risk of the sale falling through.

You buy the property you want at a competitive price and can sell your current property later, once you have already moved out.

This would also mean that you don't have to worry about viewing appointments, and you can leave it all to the estate agents.

If you have the available funds, or the ability to raise funds, this is likely to be the most stress-free option.

The only additional expense with this option would be any interest accrued on additional loans or lost interest you've missed out on because you've liquidated your savings.

But, if you can negotiate that amount off of the property, you're buying, using this strategy will not cost you any more money.

It's win, win!

In truth, there is no right or wrong answer.

You have to do what you feel most comfortable with.

If you want to start your search for a property to buy, why not register your details with our Heads Up alert system by clicking here, which will notify you of new properties launched to the market before they go on the property portals!

And if you need a valuation of your current property, click here link to find out in less than 60 seconds what your home could be worth.