Should we sell our home before we buy a new one to downsize to?

My husband and I are an older couple looking to downsize. From what we hear from friends, it can take quite a while to sell a home and since it has been 29 years since we purchased our current family home, we are bit unsure what the process looks like now. If it does take a while to sell, does it make more sense to try to sell before we find something or buy and then sell? What can we do to make sure there aren’t unnecessary delays in the process?
This is a frequently asked question for estate agents and the message to you is a definite: sell first. I fully realise such an approach can feel like a step into the unknown with the obvious dilemma being: “But if we sell now, we may have nowhere to go.” At the outset I’m assuming you are debt-free and will pay for the new house from the sale proceeds of your current home.
To put it in context, when speaking to interested buyers who need to sell first in order to buy, we use the phrase “you’re living in your cash”. In other words, without bridging finance (long-since gone) you can’t pay for the house at this time. I see some agents will not even allow a viewing unless the funds are in place and, while we don’t adopt that draconian approach, you certainly must be able to complete at the time of bidding, which essentially rules you out of bidding on most properties. Exceptions of course apply, depending on your location or a specific circumstance, but the general rule is the same.
In an ideal world, you should sell now and find alternative accommodation while you wait for your new opportunity to crop up. This means that when the new house comes up you are ready to act at short notice. There are several risks: if the market races ahead after you’ve sold you may not be able to afford the location or property type of choice or your job or health status may change. In the current market securing alternative short-term accommodation may well present difficulties. But unless you have the cash to hand you’re in that catch-22 situation.
Just to note The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) together with the Law Society of Ireland recently published a useful consumer guide entitled Speed up your Property Sale. The guide is aimed at helping anyone considering the sale of their home to identify and avoid potential delays in the process.
Selling or buying is not always straightforward. Some of the process has become digitised but unfortunately much remains paper-based and slow. I have been involved in the property industry for over 25 years and every year there’s a new process or requirement on either the buyer or seller side. I also find a significant variation in the experience of buyers and sellers, but the best approach is to get the ‘to-do’ list from your agent and solicitor and work through it.
And lastly, notwithstanding the risk, the prospects available once you’ve sold first far outweigh the effort and potential missed opportunities of trying to co-ordinate a sale and purchase together. Buyers need to be motivated and ready to act fast in the current market and selling now is a demonstration of that motivation.
Ed Carey is a residential estate agent and a member of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland
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