Selling and buying at the same time: keeping both moving
Upsizing usually means managing two transactions at once, your sale and your onward purchase, and keeping both moving together is often the most stressful part of the whole process. A little planning makes it considerably more manageable.
Get your own position sorted first
Before you start viewing seriously, make sure your own sale is genuinely progressing, ideally with a buyer in place, or very close to it. A seller further up a chain will always view your offer more favourably if your own position is solid rather than speculative.
Choose a solicitor who can move at pace
Since you are managing two legal processes at once, it is worth choosing a solicitor with genuine capacity to handle both promptly, rather than one who is already stretched thin. Ask directly how many other transactions they are currently juggling.
Be flexible on completion dates where you can
The more flexible you can be about timing, the easier it is to align your sale and purchase into a single, coordinated chain. A fixed, non-negotiable date on either side makes the whole chain considerably harder to manage.
Consider your options if the timing does not quite align
If your purchase is ready before your sale, or vice versa, it is worth discussing your options with your associate and solicitor early, whether that means a short-term rental as a bridge, or simply being patient and letting the chain catch up.
Keep communication flowing in both directions
It is worth asking your associate to keep both your sale and your onward purchase updated together, so you get a single, coherent picture rather than two separate streams of information that you have to piece together yourself.
We manage this actively on your behalf
Our sales progression team keeps in regular contact with everyone in the chain, on both your sale and, where we are able to, your onward purchase, so you are not the only one trying to keep two transactions moving in step.
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