Wait for sale to secure new house?

Has anybody ever tried to secure the purchase of a new house before selling their existing house?

The house we really want to purchase has dropped in asking price considerably but up until now we have been holding off until we sell our own house before making an offer.
Now there is another interested party (not phantom bidder) who is not in a chain.
What options do we have?
My broker is currently enquiring with the lenders about the possibility of securing the mortgage for the new house while renting our existing house for a period but this is not an ideal situation for us as I really don't want the hassle of being a landlord.

Is it feasible to approach the vendor and make a commitment to purchase at an agreed price subject to the sale of our own, which we have just reduced also?

Any ideas???

that doesn't give you any advantage over the other bidder who is in a chain. You'll have to up the offer by the looks of it. Get your property on the market anyway!

moneygrower said:

that doesn't give you any advantage over the other bidder who is in a chain. You'll have to up the offer by the looks of it. Get your property on the market anyway!

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Just to clarify....
There are currently no offers on the property but there are 2 interested parties. The other party are not in a chain.
Our own property has been on the market for approx 2 months and has just been reduced

Yes wait until you have sold before you purchase. This dream house will come along again and it may even be cheaper.

Has anybody ever done the following or have any opinions on this course of action....

Approach the vendor and make an offer but with the caveat that you must sell your current house before completing the deal.
Would a refundable deposit be paid as a declaration of intent?
Would the house be taken off the market?
Would solicitors get involved at this stage / would contracts be drawn up?

Obviously nothing would be legally binding and I suppose either party could walk away......

Why would the vendor agree to your request if he knows there is a bidder behind you who can complete immediately?
There doesn't seem to be anything in it for the seller from where I am standing.

NorfBank said:

Why would the vendor agree to your request if he knows there is a bidder behind you who can complete immediately?
There doesn't seem to be anything in it for the seller from where I am standing.

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Imagine for arguments sake that the second interested party didn't exist.....
Would the above scenario be plausible in that case?

how do you know there are interested parties if there are no bids? How interested could they be if they don't put a bid in?

moneygrower said:

how do you know there are interested parties if there are no bids? How interested could they be if they don't put a bid in?

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Lets just say that I know there is a second interested party and if we dont put in an offer soon then they will

JMR said:

Has anybody ever done the following or have any opinions on this course of action....

Approach the vendor and make an offer but with the caveat that you must sell your current house before completing the deal.
Would a refundable deposit be paid as a declaration of intent?
Would the house be taken off the market?
Would solicitors get involved at this stage / would contracts be drawn up?

Obviously nothing would be legally binding and I suppose either party could walk away......

Click to expand...

I'd say in this market this is highly unlikely to appeal to the seller unless they are really desperate for a buyer and you offer over the odds. A refundable deposit is paid by any bidder whose offer is accepted so you offering the seller nothing extra.

JMR said:

Would the above scenario be plausible in that case?

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It would be plausible, but only because it's a non binding agreement which the seller would drop in an instant should another buyer come along. In which case, there is very little benefit in it for either party.

In relation to a few of the queries...
Would the house be taken off the market?
I seriously doubt it! Down to the vendor of course, but I can't see any reason why they would agree to it.

Would solicitors get involved?
Due to the risks of the deal not going through (which are fairly high as totally dependant on you selling in a poor market), this would be a potential waste of effort/money. I personally wouldn't go down this route, but again it's down to the vendor in question.

Agree with moneygrower, in this market I'm sure the seller is very wary of potential buyers pulling out at the last minute so they are not going to take it off the market unless they have a concrete offer that is ready to complete.

It is as simple as this:

Can you sign Binding Contracts and complete within a reasonable time frame? If yes, they will accept. If no, they won't.

No amount of padding/dressing up will change it - if you can't complete, you should not sign contracts and no-one should accept your non binding offer.

If you cannot sell your own and you cannot raise the funds, then you have to forget about it. End of story.

mf