Selling a home to fund an overseas purchase: plan the gap

Your client accepts an offer on their home and asks you to reserve an apartment abroad. The proposed purchase looks affordable on paper. The difficulty is timing: the money belongs to one transaction while the payment request belongs to another. The two schedules may have different conditions and different people controlling them.

An overseas introduction can still be useful. It needs a brief that explains the dependency instead of presenting the client as a cash buyer. This guide proposes a planning worksheet. It does not describe a universal conveyancing process or promise that a seller will extend a deadline.

Put the available amount beside the expected amount

Ask the client to distinguish money they can use now from money they expect after selling. Their accepted asking price is not automatically the sum available for another property. They may need to repay borrowing, meet transaction costs or retain a household reserve. The appropriate adviser should confirm the net amount and any restrictions.

Record estimates as estimates. A useful entry might read: "Purchase allowance depends on completion of the current home sale; buyer's adviser has not yet confirmed the net proceeds." That is more informative than entering the entire sale price into the overseas purchase budget.

Do not collect bank statements during an introductory conversation merely to make the worksheet look complete. Start with the client's stated position. Ask the responsible professionals what evidence becomes necessary at the relevant stage and how it should be transmitted.

Draw the two schedules on one page

Use a row for every event rather than one optimistic completion date.

Use the same date format throughout. If the overseas proposal says "on handover", ask what that means in that contract. Physical access, contractual completion and registration of a right should not be treated as interchangeable without confirmation.

Test what happens if one date moves

Choose a delay scenario with the client and their advisers. This is a planning assumption, not a forecast. Ask which payment would become impossible first, which agreement governs the consequences and who could authorise a change.

Do not solve the gap by assuming that a short rental period will generate the next instalment. Future rental receipts are uncertain and may arrive after expenses or deductions. Any bridging finance also needs professional assessment. An agent should not casually recommend borrowing because the reservation appears attractive.

Sometimes the workable next step is a consultation and a shortlist, with no reservation yet. That still advances the enquiry: the local team learns what the buyer wants and which payment structure the buyer can actually consider.

Tell the overseas team what they need to know

With the client's permission, share the dependency, a working budget range, the expected decision window and the next confirmation date. Avoid forwarding the entire local conveyancing file. The receiving team needs enough context to avoid proposing an impossible schedule, not unrelated personal material.

Ask the team to label any offer's validity period. If the local sale moves, request a new confirmation of price, availability and payment terms. A previous screenshot is not a current quotation.

Keep the local sale and the introduction distinct

Agree who continues to handle the local sale, who answers overseas questions and how progress is recorded. Check the existing agency agreement before promising that an overseas introduction has no effect on other obligations. Separate your professional responsibilities from the receiving team's responsibilities in the client's explanation.

The IBG agent workflow explains the introduction route. Read the commission page before treating a proposed fee as agreed. A free account lets an agent explore the process; it does not establish a commission entitlement or confirm that a dependent purchase can proceed.

Finish with an agreed checkpoint

End the conversation by identifying the next fact needed. For example, the client may first need their conveyancer's estimate of usable funds. Record who will obtain it and when the buyer wants to review the overseas options again.

The result should be a realistic sequence that everyone can explain. If an essential date remains unknown, leave it visibly unknown. Removing that uncertainty from the worksheet would not remove it from the transaction.

Sources and scope

IBG Property editorial workflow recommendations. The worksheet is not legal, lending or tax advice and does not set a developer's payment terms. See the partner process and editorial methodology.