How to sell and buy a property at the same time
The prospect of buying and selling property at the same time can be daunting. It can involve property chains, complicated contracts and seemingly endless waiting. However, there are some steps to take to make the process of selling your property and moving into a new Redrow home as simple as possible.
Obviously, in the best-case scenario, your current home would be snapped up the instant you put it up for sale by an incredibly patient buyer who would wait for you to find and buy your next home. However, the more realistic situation is that you find yourself needing to sell your house and buy your new property from Redrow at the same time.
This will mean you are buying within a property chain, but this doesn't necessarily mean long delays to the buying process, particularly since our properties are chain-free. At Redrow we offer a number of schemes and programmes to help make the process as smooth as possible for our potential homeowners.
So, read on for the steps to take to make buying and selling simultaneously less of a headache…
Guides & FAQs | Guides | Selling | How to sell and buy a property at the same time
What to know when buying with Redrow
- All Redrow homes are chain-free.
- Our Help to Sell scheme aims to get your existing property sold within six weeks.
- You can reserve your Redrow home once you have a buyer confirmed for your existing property .
Sort out your finances
You'll need to know how much you can afford to spend on your next house and work out your affordability. So, it may be worth speaking to a mortgage broker if you're considering a new mortgage, and you'll also need to look at your valuation to understand how much equity you have in your property.
Redrow’s panel of preferred, independent specialists can help with everything from figuring out affordability to applying for a mortgage. These specialists are not employed by Redrow, but have experience working with our processes so they can offer you the best advice.
When it comes to buying your new home, you'll need to pay a deposit when you exchange contracts. However, you may be able to use money from the deposit the potential buyers of your home pay you when they complete. Remember though that if your new home costs more than your current one, you may need to top up this amount.
Of course, there are always other costs involved in moving home to consider. It's a good idea to sit down and work out all the costs you'll need to budget for before you put your own home on the market - use our buying and selling checklist below to keep track.
You'll need to factor in Stamp Duty or Land Transaction Tax in Wales. You'll be paying Stamp Duty on a portion of the value of the house you're buying unless certain exemptions apply.
You'll possibly also have to budget for an estate agent, conveyancing and solicitors' fees, plus other expenses and charges you'll pick up during the process.
Get an Energy Performance Certificate
When you're selling a home, you'll need to make sure you've got a valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC). This is a document that assesses and certifies your property's energy efficiency. This is rated on a scale from A to G and can have an impact on house prices.
Depending on when your home last had an EPC survey done, you may already have a valid certificate since they last for ten years. However, if you need to commission a new one, you'll need to do so before putting the property on the market.
Get your paperwork together
Selling and buying property can be a complicated business, but it's made much less stressful when you've got everything you need handy and ready to go. Your solicitor will ask for various documents, and providing them quickly will be vital for making sure the process goes as smoothly as possible. If you’re using one of Redrow’s preferred solicitors, they’ll be familiar with our procedures, making this process as simple as possible.
For example, when you apply for your mortgage you'll need valid ID, proof of income and address documentation. As a seller, you'll also need to have relevant information about the property - from boiler service records to survey information.
Get your house ready for sale
Obviously, you want your home to fetch the best price possible when you put it on the market. Your estate agent or Help to Sell team will likely have lots of tips to help, which might include:
- Thoroughly cleaning the whole home.
- Decluttering, tidying and potentially moving some items to storage.
- Redecorating in neutral colours (this helps make rooms look bigger).
- Landscaping or tidying the garden.
- Focussing on kerb appeal - making sure the front of the house, from windows to the roof tiles, are all in good condition.
Your estate agent will handle getting the house up for sale on the market, and your solicitor will be on hand to help with the legal paperwork.
Choose your dream home
Once you've got your house ready to sell, it's time to start thinking properly about your dream Redrow property. You may already have a specific Redrow home in mind, or might be planning on reserving a new home or buying off plan in development that's being built.
Agree a sale and put your offer in
Once you've found the right buyer for your home you can really start focusing on the move. Depending on the circumstances, you may accept their offer before reserving your chosen Redrow home.
How to make buying and selling property even easier with Redrow
At Redrow, we offer a number of schemes and programmes to help make purchasing one of our award-winning homes even easier. Get in touch with a team member at your chosen development, or find out more about the schemes below:
Help to Sell
This easy mover scheme is designed to help you sell your existing property for a smooth move into a new Redrow home. After you apply, we'll help with the appraisal of your property and pair you with a chosen expert to get your home on the market and sold as quickly as possible - the aim is within 6 weeks.
Prime Position
Prime Position gives you first refusal on your dream Redrow home at your chosen development before it's released for general sale.
To the best of Redrow’s knowledge, everything in this guide is true at the time of writing. All descriptions, images and plans are illustrations, examples and/or approximations only and some processes listed may differ when buying a Redrow home, please speak with the sales team at your chosen development for more details. Redrow does not accept any liability or responsibility contractual or otherwise for any reliance on the information contained within the guide.