You have three main options:

• Buy and sell at the same time: most people see this as being the ideal situation – no renting or bridging loan needed – but not always easy to achieve. Can also be very stressful!
• Sell first: you will be in a stronger negotiating position when you come to buy, since you will be chain free and be clearer about what price you can offer. However, you might end up having to rent while you look for another place to buy and also have to face a double move and maybe storage charges. Remember that prices may also go up in the meantime (although they might also go down). If you really don’t want to rent, then you can make it clear that you will only accept an offer on the condition that you find a suitable place to buy. This would involve careful negotiation, but you could agree to take your home off the market and promise not to sell to anyone else.
• Buy first: this can put you under pressure to sell your home quickly to avoid the expense of having two homes at once and a bridging loan to pay. In addition it can also leave you more vulnerable to gazumping.

• Money up front: finding the initial deposit to buy a home may be an issue. Although you can in some circumstances put as little as 5-15% down as a deposit, currently the average deposit in the UK for people moving home is approximately 30% (and around 20% for first time buyers)*. This may not sound like a lot of money when talking in percentages but look – 30% of a £250,000 home is £75,000 (20% would be £50,000). Remember, the larger your deposit, the better the mortgage deal you can usually get. You may also need to pay legal and valuation fees 
• On-going costs: remember that as soon as you become the owner of a property it is your responsibility to keep up the mortgage repayments, utility bills, house maintenance, repairs and any unforeseen expenses or increases, such as any increase in your mortgage payments. Should you fall ill or lose your job, and therefore lose your income, could you keep up with the mortgage repayments and avoid the risk of losing your home if you can’t?
  *Council of Mortgage Lenders (August 2011)

This is commonly called a joint mortgage and can make the buying process easier, as buying with a partner, family member or friend can actually ease the financial pressure. But remember that relationships can change and circumstances alter so if you are considering one of these options, you might want to seek legal advice before deciding which type of ownership is right for you. Your options for ownership are:

• Beneficial Joint Tenants*: this means the property is jointly owned; you don’t own a specific share in the property and if you die the property goes to the other owner.
• Tenants in Common*: again this means you jointly own the property, but you own a specific share of the value, which you can give away or sell, or leave to someone else if you die. This is usually the most appropriate option if you are buying with friends.

However whichever one of these you choose, you are both liable for the whole mortgage debt and any payments owed. So, if one of you were to abscond the remaining one would still have to pay the full mortgage.

* The Scottish equivalent is called ‘joint tenants’.

Hopefully the value of your new home will increase over time, which will result in increased ‘equity’. For example let’s say you have paid £50,000 deposit on a home valued at £250,000, and you have a mortgage of £200,000. You later have your house revalued and it is now worth £350,000, your equity in this case would be £150,000 (new value of the home minus original cost of the home + initial deposit = equity). This is great news!

However, there are no guarantees that property prices will remain stable or increase after you have bought your home. Sometimes house prices can fall dramatically. You could be caught in negative equity where your home is worth less than you bought it for or the amount you borrowed.