What happens if I sell and cannot find anywhere to buy?

What happens on the day

You give vacant possession on the settlement date. Your lawyer receives the money, repays the mortgage and anything else secured against the property, and the balance goes where you have instructed. There is no mechanism that lets you delay because you have not found the next house.

Where you live in the gap

• Renting, on a short fixed term or a periodic tenancy, with storage for whatever will not fit.
• Staying with family, which is cheaper and usually has a shorter fuse than people expect.
• Asking your buyer, before you go unconditional, for a longer settlement or for occupation after settlement by agreement. Both are negotiated into the agreement and drafted by the lawyers. Once you are unconditional you have nothing left to trade.

Two moves cost money twice and disrupt the household twice. Storage, a bond, rent and movers at both ends add up to a real number, and it is worth costing honestly before treating renting as the simple answer.

The money, and the position you are buying from

The proceeds sit in your lawyer's trust account or your own bank account, wherever you direct them. If the money is going to sit for a while, tell your lawyer and your bank, and check what repaying the mortgage means for your lending from here.

Cash in hand is a strong buying position. You have no sale to depend on and you can go unconditional quickly, which is worth something to a seller and can be worth something in the price. It is also a position with a clock on it, because rent is going out and prices can move either way while you wait. Keep your lending approval current, since approvals expire and a new one is assessed on your circumstances at the time you ask.

The way to avoid all of this is to decide the sequence deliberately before the campaign starts, with the settlement date chosen to give you room, rather than arriving here by default.