CNN/Money recently interviewed me for an article on selling your current home to buy a new one, and they took me completely out of context. (Someone really should fire Les Christie.) They did inspire me, however, to write some tips that homeowners can use when considering selling their current home as the means to purchase a new one, or moving up, as some call it.
It's a good idea for folks who do have to sell to buy to start looking right after they have listed their home, or even before listing their home. It typically takes anywhere from three months to six months for a home to sell in the current market, or perhaps even a year if it's a $1 million or more. If someone has looked for a new home during the time their current home is on the market, once their home is under contract for purchase it makes it easier for them to find one they like more easily in an area they like, that way they don't have to rush in a panic.
Here are some tried and true tips you can use for when you need to sell your current home to buy a new one:
(1) Start looking in areas where you may want to buy your next home before putting your current home on the market. This will help you to get to know several areas and help you decide whether or not you would like to actually live there.
(2) Talk with your Realtor about your goals and see if they're realistic. After all, you may not be able to get what you need from selling your current home to buy your next home, and you need to know that before putting your current home on the market.
Article comments
1 - Mabelle Sese - Realtor
Home Sales Tips from a Real Estate Agent -
It is a reality. The housing boom is cooling off with more homes on the market now and interest rates on the rise. Ellee Pai Hong of NBC5 reported that buyers now tend to be choosy, and that means sellers have to step it up.
Sellers may sell their home but with mixed success. But realistically, they know that the market is turning. Mary Etter set her price at just below $400,000. She sold her home in two months, but said she has two contingencies on the contract.
Previously, most sellers wouldn't take an offer if there were a contingency attached. Realtor Nancy Gardner said sellers used to have the power to turn down such offers, but not anymore. Gardner said that sellers need to market their properties and offer incentives to get them to sell.
According to Gardner, in a buyer's market, that percentage could even go up to 4 percent. Gardner also suggested using the Internet to market a home. Sellers can set up a virtual tour site that will increase the home's drawing power. Also, sellers should do some research and know their competition.
Mabelle Sese
Miami Real Estate
2 - Mr. Real Estate
Yeah, but you're talking about Miami, and everyone knows that Miami and Ft. Lauderdale are quickly becoming the foreclosure capitals of Florida. Miami and Ft. Lauderdale investors moved here a long time ago.
3 - Mr. Real Estate
Here are some tips for selling your home in any market:
(1) Price it right - Any overpriced listing is going to sit in a normal or slow market.
(2) Hire a Realtor - Unless you have the time, expertise and resources to aggressively market your home or condo, sticking a FSBO sign in the yard or window, or putting ads in the paper aren't going to sell it.
(3) Stage it - Clutter and non-neutral colors don't bring the best offers, and sometimes they won't bring any offers. You can hire a stager for $300 to $400, or you can hire a Realtor who stages, or who uses a stager. Your home/condo is competing with condo conversions and pre-construction homes and condos that are like-new; the best thing you can do is make your home or condo be at least as nearly as good as the competition.
For more real estate insight, visit my blog
4 - David Leeman
Really outstanding post! Well the article covers overall aspects of selling and buying a home with a better deal of profit.
Before reaching to a final decision it is important to make sure that you know a few facts about the current market so that you can make the best possible decision. Make sure you know exactly what is on your credit and how much you will be able to offer for a down payment before you consider purchasing a home in the current market. Anyone heard of World Wide Referrals. They will help you to get a more profitable deal for your house. They do all the work! No more interviewing real estate agents to determine who can get the job done. As it is uses information from its global network of nearly 700 premier real estate firms with 5,000 offices and 150,000 sales associates in 35 countries around the world.