Is it risky or beneficial to rent between buying and selling a property?

[Emmie]

My boyfriend and I are relocating because of work and need to move very quickly. Our flat has been on the market for 2 weeks and we have another 2 weeks to sell, or my boyfriend's job offer will be withdrawn.

We are considering renting whilst waiting for our place to sell (it's too far to commute from where we live now).

The estate agents estimated 3-6 weeks to sell from the date we put it on the market. We are quite confident it should sell within the next month (but then isn't everybody confident about their own property?!)

If we rent, we will be paying a mortgage and the rent until our place sells. We could do this by using our overdraft and paying it back with the profit from our sale.

On the upside, it means we'll be chain-free when we come to buy and that we get to move, which we desperately want (and need) to do. On the downside, what if our current flat does not sell for 6 months?

Thanks to anyone with an opinion! :-)

[Sniffer D]

I think you should rent. There are no guarantees but hopefully you will be able to sell your old flat soon. If you have trouble shifting your old flat, how about renting it out for a while? At least then, you'll be getting an income from it and covering the mortgage or at least a good proportion of it.

If you and your boyfriend decide to settle where his new job is, you'll have somewhere to live while you look for a new place.