Three Ways To Break The Housing Chain When Buying A Property

Buying a house is a lengthy process and many people are surprised by just how long it takes.

Often, sellers and buyers have to deal with the chain, which really slows things down. The chain refers to all of the other sales and purchases that affect the sale of your home. For example, you’ve found a property that you want to move into but you can’t finalise things until the seller can move into their new home. When there are multiple parties in a chain, it slows things down considerably and if somebody pulls out of a sale or purchase, the whole thing comes tumbling down and you miss out on your perfect property. Finding ways to break the housing chain can make the process more predictable because you are less reliant on other parties. These are some of the best ways to break the housing chain.

Sell Before You Buy 

This might seem like a risky move, but selling before you buy can actually give you a lot more control over the process and reduce the chances of you losing out on your dream home. Sellers like to deal with people that already have the cash in the bank to put down a deposit and get the ball rolling. It’s also a bonus if you don’t have to wait for the sale of your existing home to go through before you can move in. If you sell your home and rent serviced accommodation that comes fully furnished, you can then start looking for suitable properties to buy. Once you’ve found somewhere, you are ready to go straight away, which means your offer is more likely to be accepted and the process will be much quicker. 

You can speed things along even more if you make sure that you meet all of your responsibilities after the sale. Clean the place and deal with any repairs, then close all of your energy accounts etc. The quicker you do these things, the quicker the sale can go through. 

Get A Bridging Loan

If you are relying on the money from selling your current home to put a deposit down on a new one, this can leave you in a tough situation. You may have found the perfect house, but if you don’t act quickly, you might miss out. If the sale of your current home is dragging on, you should consider getting a bridging loan. This is a short term loan you can use to pay the deposit and get the ball rolling. Once you have sold your current home, you can then pay back the money. 

Extend The Mortgage On Your Current Home

Instead of getting a bridging loan, you could extend the mortgage on your current home and use that money to pay the deposit. Once you have done this, you have a few options. You could wait until you move into a new home and then rent the current property out. This gives you a great investment for the future and the rent covers the mortgage. Alternatively, you can continue as planned and sell your home after you move into the new one. 

Breaking the housing chain is a great way to remove a lot of the uncertainty from the house buying process and speed the process along.