A house chain

xstitcher | 09:06 Tue 09th Aug 2011 | How it Works

9 Answers

I understand how this works when you are buying or selling but not being a Brit I don't understand why it exists. I had a friend in bits in an email yesterday because the chain fell through.

Is it an old tradition or what??

Sky+Box

gate post splitting/cracking

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factor-fiction

Because it is normally necessary to sell yours and buy another at the same time for reasons of (a) finance and (b) having somewhere to live

bednobs

as factor says, if you want to move house and you already have a house, it becomes necessary for you to buy a house and sell your house at the same time (if you were to buy a new house before you'd sold the current one, you'd be paying for 2 houses - if you sold the current one before you'd bought a new one, you'd have no-where to live)
So, you find a house you want to buy and the people who live there already have found somewhere they want to buy, and that place they want to buy, the people living there have found somewhere they want to buy. 4people in a chain already.
it is possible to move without a chain, but only if you are lucky and, for example you are a first time buyer buying the house of someone who is not buying somewhere else

xstitcher

Question Author

I understand that but is it not possible to borrow the money for the down payment and just go and buy a house that is for sale. I think this method you have is very difficult for we "foreigners" to understand.

bednobs

yes, but the people whose house is for sale need to also move somewhere else usually, therefore even if things were that simple there are 3 people in that chain. You, the people whose house you want to buy, and the people whose house they want to buy. Unless the house you want to buy is empty or a new build, it's virtually impossible to avoid a chain

dzug2

Unless everyone can afford to finance two houses at once then chains in one form or another must exist. The precise form might vary according to the laws in different countries but it's logically impossible for them not to exixt

And no you cannot borrow money for the down payment on a house

What is the system where you come from?

factor-fiction

It's a shame this thread has become disjointed because the Origial poster wasn't happy with the responses on here and has created a separate thread. I can't be bothered retyping what I said on the other thread onto here.