Q. I am in the process of buying my first property and things seem to progressing relatively well. However I am in a bit of a dilemma with the property that I am currently renting, when do you think I should serve notice to my landlord? A friend of mine did this recently and the then chain broke down and he lost the property he was purchasing, in the meantime his landlord agreed a new tenancy on the flat he was renting so he still had to vacate. I really don’t want to end up in a position like that. What do you advise?
A. To get the timing right on this scenario is always so difficult as obviously you don’t want to be left either homeless or paying both rent and mortgage especially as you embark on your largest financial commitment that your ever likely to commit to. My personal advise to buyers in this dilemma is not to serve notice until exchange of contracts has taken place, as its only at this point the sale becomes legally binding, most sellers will try and accommodate a longer completion date if they are aware that you need to serve notice on your rental property. Going down this route ensures the security of at least knowing you have a roof over your head, and as you already know from your friend’s experience, things do, and often will go wrong on the rocky path of the property world.