It’s the worst case scenario when you’re buying and selling houses – you’ve found somewhere you love, they, in turn, have a property to move into and then at the last moment your buyer pulls out, leaving you feeling like you’ve had the rug ripped away from underneath you. If this happens to you, the important thing is not to panic. Although it feels like it in the moment, it’s definitely not the end of the world and you might be surprised the learn that there are a few different paths you can take next, so it’s not all doom and gloom. Firstly, what is a house chain ? A property chain involves a series of interconnected home buyers and sellers. For instance, if you want to purchase a house but need to wait for the seller to buy their next home first, you are part of a property chain. Being in a property chain can often lead to longer and more complex moving processes.
We’ve pulled together a few of your options to help you consider your next step. Do take legal or financial advice if you need to to help with your decision making.
Find a New Buyer
One option when your house chain has fallen through is to explain the situation to the people you’re buying from and hope that they are prepared to wait while you sit tight and look for another buyer. The trouble with this option is that any delay at all impacts the whole of the chain, and other people might not be as accommodating, even if you can get the next link in the chain to agree to wait.
Dropping your price could help here to speed things along, but there are still no guarantees. You might find another buyer the very next day or you could find yourself months down the line and still not have a sale agreed. You might decide that this option is simply too stressful and uncertain, in which case what other options do you have?
Use a Cash House Buyer
If you are afraid the house chain might collapse and all you can think to yourself is ‘I want to sell my house fast‘ then you have the option of selling your home to a cash house buyer. This means selling to a company that specialises in buying properties quickly and efficiently for cash. You can request a valuation online and can often get a cash offer back within minutes.
The advantages of this method are that you get cash in your bank quickly and a guaranteed price, meaning you can choose your completion date to suit you and don’t have to miss out on your dream home just because your buyer leaves you in the lurch. If you have a bit of wriggle room in your budget and can be flexible over pricing then this could help you keep the chain intact.
Organise Short-term Finance
If you’re in a position to do so, you could consider some kind of bridging finance in the short term. This effectively means you will own two homes at once as you will be borrowing money to buy your next home before you’ve sold your current one, so you’ll need the financial capacity to service two debts at once. The downside is that short term bridging finance like this can be very expensive, especially when you’ve no guarantees as to how long it might take your home to sell. You could find yourself servicing two debts for longer than you want and spending out a significant amount of money on interest payments.
Pull Out of The Chain
This can feel heartbreaking when you’ve been working towards completion. One minute you had your future all planned out in your new home and the next you’re having to give up your dream and are back to square one. Whilst this option can feel frustrating, sometimes you’ve simply got no choice and for the sake of everyone else in the chain, the most responsible thing to do is to bow out. If this happens, try to stay positive if you can. Yes, it’s frustrating, but it’s not the end of the world. You still have a roof over your head and perhaps it just means the universe is keeping you for something even more perfect!
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Whatever you decide to do next, perspective is key. It might be that it takes longer than you first thought but we promise you’ll get there in the end and be really happy in your new home, wherever it might be!
I got my first house through a house chain it was such a pain, worth it in the end but the stress i went through while getting to own it…. yikes.