A series of linked chain of metal, typically flexible and curved in compression but linear and rigid in tension and load-bearing: the chain that anchors a ship to the dock, the chain that holds the gold necklace around your neck. The word is also used figuratively to refer to a link or bond, especially a mechanical restriction of the liberty of a human or animal: to be chained to a desk job; to be in chains of debt. The Unicode character set includes the U+1F517 LINK SYMBOL, which may show chain links, or denote a hyperlink.

Exploring Chains: From Classic to Cuban and Beyond

When you’re buying a home, the success of your purchase is often dependent on other buyers and sellers being in a position to buy or sell their homes at the same time. This is called the property chain. A longer chain will usually mean more potential issues that could stall the process, but there are steps you can take to help speed things up, such as being responsive, having all documents ready and choosing efficient professionals.

Alternatively, you can sell your home before buying your next one, making you a ‘chain-free buyer’, and this can make you more attractive to sellers as you won’t be dependent on the other parties in the chain completing their transactions. However, this option isn’t without its risks, as we explore in our article, What are the pros and cons of being chain-free?.