Buying And Selling A House At The Same Time


One of the biggest challenges related to selling and buying a home simultaneously is dealing with property chains, which pose two significant risks: being extremely long or breaking down entirely.

Property chains account for many delayed completions and even result in withdrawn sales for a significant number of properties too. One way to avoid this is by selling your home before beginning your sales hunt. Not only does this speed up the process, but it makes you a more attractive prospective buyer once you are entirely chain-free.

In this article we share more details about property chains, our advice to avoid being stuck in one and the benefits of selling your home as fast as possible to benefit you further down the line.

Property chain key takeaways

  • Property chains account for a large amount of delayed house completions and can sometimes even result in sales falling through – it’s certainly something to be aware of and even though it’s something difficult for you to control, it’s worth trying to prevent being stuck in a long chain as much as possible.
  • Overall, estate agents are 19% busier compared to 2023, therefore delays and long property chains are to be expected when buying and selling a home traditionally (via high street estate agent).
  • Selling a home for cash makes you a more attractive buyer as you are chain-free and able to buy (and move into) a home almost instantly.

What is a property chain?

The best way to describe a property chain is when several house purchases are linked together. For example, say you’re selling your home to a first-time buyer and you’re looking to purchase a vacant property, so this chain is only involving two parties. However, this is the ideal, best-case scenario. Some chains can be over 10 properties long! In these cases, every sale is dependent on the competition of the other parties which is why it becomes a long, frustrating process.

The main difficulty of being stuck in a property chain is the unknown. As your sale is likely to depend on other parties, it’s hard to plan around timescales simply because you are relying on updates from multiple people (solicitors, estate agents, other homeowners).

The average timescale of your traditional estate agency sale is around 150 days (4-5 months) but this can easily increase due to long property chains. One way to avoid this is by selling your home with a cash-buying property company. Good Move aims to sell your home in just 14 days giving you peace of mind that you won’t hold up a chain and risk losing your dream home.

Helping people move chain-free

At Good Move, we specialise in quick yet thorough property sales. People choose to sell their home with us for numerous reasons – divorce, inheritance, retirement. The second most common reason for our customers using Good Move is due to them buying another home, and because of this, they want to do so with either no onward chain or at least a much shorter one.

20% of Good Move customers in 2024 so far have been those wanting to buy a new home and have happened to do so chain-free thanks to our expertise and quality service.

The main benefits of selling your home with Good Move before buying another home include:

  • Speeding up the overall sales process
  • Your home is guaranteed to sell – for cash!
  • You are a more attractive prospective buyer (no onward chain)
  • An efficient process from start to finish: cash offer within 24 hours of your enquiry and an aim to sell your home within just 14 working days

How can I keep my property chain moving?

If you would prefer to sell your home traditionally with an estate agent, you’re likely to find yourself in a chain. But that isn’t always a terrible thing because there are things that you can be in control of to ensure you’re speeding up the overall sale of your property.

Keep on top of your paperwork

Lots of documents are likely to be sent back and forth during the sale of your property. Surveys, fixture and fittings forms, contracts. By keeping on top of this and getting them returned to the relevant parties swiftly it will ensure everything is moving smoothly and efficiently.

Chase estate agents and/or solicitors often

It can be hard to keep track of what is happening throughout the sale/buying process, especially because estate agents and solicitors are busier than ever, with a 19% annual rise in estate agency sale inquiries. If you feel like progress has become stagnant, pick up the phone to see if they have any updates for you that could speed things up a little.

Make note of any phone calls

If you do make those phone calls, always follow it up in writing. Things can quite easily get lost in translation, causing delays and disruptions, but if you have a written reference to refer to it could prevent any back and forth and generally just speed things up a little.

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Secure a cash offer against your home and take the first step towards selling your home with Good Move. Wave goodbye to any seller fees as everything is included in the price we send to you, and as the UK’s most regulated quick house sale company, you have total peace of mind knowing we are a company you can trust.

Our qualified and experienced surveying team are here to support you and will start the process by providing you with a free cash offer within just 24 hours from when you enter your details on our website.

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Real Estate