A Guide to Buying and Selling at the Same Time

men shaking hands

We know that when buying or selling a property, nothing is set until the exchange of contracts. Until this point, there's no security around the purchase or sale as anything could happen from a party changing their mind or struggling to get a mortgage, to a sale falling through further down the ladder.

If you've experienced a chain break, you know how frustrating it can be. It can result in you losing your dream home through no fault of your own. If you're buying and selling at the same time, it can be even more difficult and risky, so you want to ensure you're as prepared as you can be. This guide is to help you get ready for all stages of buying and selling houses at the same time.

Skip to a section:

  1. Find out how much your home is worth
  2. Figure out your finances
  3. Choose how to sell
  4. Found a property?
  5. Don't let the process grind to a halt
  6. Complete
  7. Moving day
  8. How to ensure a quick sale so you can buy your dream home

Find out how much your home is worth

The first step before buying a new home is to figure out how much your current home is worth before you try and sell. Research into local estate agents and choose 2 or 3 to give you a valuation by looking round your house. It's known that some agents value your house highly to try and win your business, so by getting more than one you reduce the risk of asking too much.

Figure out your finances

Before viewing new homes, you need to know how much you can afford, and how much equity is in your current house.

Upon exchanging contracts, you'll need to pay your deposit. If you exchange on your new house and your current house, you can use the deposit you're paid for your current house towards the new one.

There's also costs such as stamp duty to bear in mind. Often you can merge this with your mortgage borrowing, but if you want to pay it outright it's another cost to prepare to have upfront.

A mortgage adviser will help you in re-mortgaging or porting your mortgage (transferring your mortgage to the new house).

Choose how to sell

If you're going down the traditional route, you'll need to find a decent estate agent. If you're part of a chain, the average sale completion time is 6 months according to Zoopla. If you aren't part of a chain, you could complete in 6-12 weeks once you've found a buyer.

If you've already found the house you'd like to buy, you may want to sell quickly. Why not consider us, The Property Buying Company. We buy properties for cash and can complete in a timescale to suit you - our average is 2-3 weeks but we can buy within 7 days.


Get an offer

Found a property?

It's advised that you have a buyer for your own home before putting in an offer for a new property. Once you've found a property and you've had an offer accepted, carry out a property survey. If this shows any issues, consider the costs for repair, as long as any other aesthetic changes you want to make.

You'll want to find a good conveyencer who won't hold up the process. This can be difficult, but it's worth speaking to people you know and see if anyone has any recommendations. You can get quotes from local conveyencers, as well as online ones, read reviews, and then instruct your choice.

Conveyencers have their own costs to consider, so make the most of it and ask them any questions you're unsure of.

Don't let the process grind to a halt

You can ask both your conveyencer and estate agent (if you have one) to hurry the process along and nudge the other party to take their next steps.


Once you've travelled the arduous journey of setting everything up, you're ready to complete. You'll speak to your conveyencer to set a completion date and can exchange contracts before this. Completion is when funds are transferred and you get the keys to your new house.

Moving day

It's best to start preparing for your move before the day, as it doesn't involve just moving all your possessions to the new house. You also need to consider utility services and broadband.


At the Property Buying Company, we buy any house fast so you can get into your dream home without the fear of a chain break. We can complete in a timescale to suit you, and we don't have any fees - we'll provide you with a solicitor for free (if you choose our solicitor).


Get an offer

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Properties bought by us for cash in
the last 2 years


Of our own money spent buying
property for cash

2-3 weeks

Average time taken from initial offer
to completion