Buying a New Build While Selling Your Home: Essential Tips for a Smooth Transaction

Careful planning is essential when you are buying a newly built home and selling your existing property at the same time. Developers usually expect you to have secured a buyer for your current property before they will accept your offer on a new build. To accurately evaluate property value, you should review recent sale prices rather than relying solely on asking prices.

Developers typically require buyers to exchange contracts within four to six weeks of signing the reservation agreement. Communicating these deadlines promptly and clearly to everyone in your sales chain can prevent unforeseen delays and complications.

Consistent and proactive communication throughout the transaction process is essential. If it seems unlikely that the buyers in your lower chain will meet the developer’s exchange deadline, you should inform the developer immediately. Early communication allows for negotiation and potential deadline extensions, ensuring expectations are effectively managed and reducing the risk of transactions falling through.

Buyers should confirm with the developer whether the completion date will be fixed or if it will occur on a typical 10 working days’ notice. If completion is flexible and determined by notice, it is important to communicate this promptly to the chain below, ensuring that all the parties agree and contracts can be drawn up accordingly and appropriately. If parties in the lower chain are not comfortable with a completion-on-notice arrangement, identifying this early and communicating clearly to the developer helps manage expectations. In some cases, developers might prioritise completing your property earlier if a fixed completion date is necessary.  

When completion is set on notice, construction delays might mean your new home is not completed before your mortgage offer expires. Buyers should, therefore, proactively discuss with their lenders the options for extending the existing mortgage offer and obtaining a new one quickly if necessary. This proactive approach can save significant stress and financial disruption.

Preparation is key for a successful simultaneous sale and purchase of property. Begin the process early by obtaining accurate property valuations, securing a mortgage agreement in principle, and selecting reliable conveyancing solicitors. Strategically, placing your current home on the market before marking offers on new-build homes makes you a more attractive buyer, as sellers prefer those ready to proceed, such as first-time buyers or those who have already secured a sale.

Aligning timelines, finances and legal steps between your sale and purchase transactions is fundamental. Good communication throughout, along with clear and realistic goals, ensures a smooth and successful outcome.