Can I make my sale conditional on finding a house?

How it would work

The clause would make your sale conditional on you entering into an agreement to purchase another property by a set date. Until that happens, the buyer is committed and you are not. Your lawyer drafts it, including the date, what counts as satisfying the condition, and what happens if it is not met.

Vague versions cause trouble. A condition that says the vendor must find something suitable, with no date and no test of what suitable means, is the kind of wording that ends in an argument about whether you genuinely tried.

Why buyers resist it

A buyer with a finance condition or a builder's report is taking on risks they can investigate and control. This one they cannot do anything about. They may have given notice on a rental, sold their own house, or booked movers around a settlement date that could now disappear.

A buyer who does accept it will usually want something for it: a short date, a lower price, or the right to cancel if something else comes up. It also cannot be done at auction, where the sale is unconditional on the fall of the hammer, so the method of sale decides the question before you get to it.

What usually works better

• A long settlement date agreed up front, which buys you the same time without giving the buyer a way out.
• A settlement date with a right to extend once by an agreed period, drafted by your lawyer.
• Going unconditional on your sale and using that certainty to move fast on the purchase.
• Arranging finance for a short overlap in advance, so the condition is not needed at all.

Which of these suits depends on how tight your finances are, how particular you are about the next house, and what your buyer needs from the date. Whichever you use, the wording is written by your lawyer before it goes into an offer. Copying a clause off the internet into an agreement is how people end up bound to something they did not intend.