Selling Your House . . .Is It Really That Scary?

[Wish Upon A Star]

I am still up in the air if I'm selling my home to build or selling my home to buy a different home . . .

I received a phone call on Saturday from an agent friend of mine who said she had someone interested in buying my house even though it wasn't on the market yet . . .That put me in a complete panic.

I like my home we've been there 12 years, but I am looking for a change . . .I'd like different things . . .different neighborhood . . .my tastes have changed. It all sounds so materialistic . . .but I can't help it.

The thing that makes me upset is that I know I'll have a buyer for my house pretty quickly, but I have no where to go . . .nothing that I saw strikes my fancy and I don't want to feel pressured into buying something I'm not 100% sure on . . .

Is selling your home this hard?? As this agent noted to me . . ."ya know Deb, we've been going back and forth on this since 1999"

 

[Octoberbride03]

I don't think selling a house is that scary. My parents put theirs up for sale just b4 my wedding and it sold in less than a week even though it took over a week longer to agree on a settlement date with the buyers. And that was because my parents didn't have anyplace to go either they were in the middle of having plans drawn up for their new home. So they had to find a place really quick while their house was being built. Moving out was actually harder than selling the place.

So my only advice would be to find a place to move into 1st. Whether you're gonna build or buy something that's already built, make that decision 1st and then put the house on the market. And if you decide to build you can get a home equity loan that'll pay off your current house and you can start building the next 1. Any profit on your current house can be used to pay off or pay down the loan. My parents didn't know that until the house was sold already.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[Desnik]

It really all depends on the people involved. I have bought 3 homes(one we built) and sold 2 homes within the past 2 years!!! Now that's scary!!
It could be a great experience if your buyers aren't a pain in the ***!!!
If you sell your house you can put in the contract "subject to sellers finding suitable housing within XX amount of days." Some people might shy away from the deal with this stipulation, others it won't make a difference to. It is easier when your buyers don't have to sell anything.(you don't have to worry about someone backing out of their deal)
Most of the time sellers prefer potential buyers to already have their house sold, or not have to sell anything like I mentioned above. I think you are ahead of the game already having someone interested. Homes come on the market everyday and the spring is coming and that is the "hottest" time for real estate.

I actually have to disagree with what Octoberbride03 said(no offense )
Sell your place first with a stipulation in your contract. If you take out a home equity loan you'll be paying for 1 more closing than you would want to. That can be a couple grand depending on the bank. You have to pay closing costs on your sale and your purchase, you don't want to add to that another closing cost! It's throwing that money away. Without a stipulation in your contract about what I mentioned above, you could be stranded with no place to go. Even if you found something first. Things happen, deals fall through, estimated date of a new home being ready almost always isn't what your told. You basically have to cover yourself for all situations and put everything in writing!

Let me know if you have any other questions, I like talking about this stuff!!

 

[Mr.BsMom]

I don't think it's scary... but it is overwhelming! If your house really will sell that quickly, you could always work into the deal that you want to rent-back for a month or so. Essentially, you sell the house to the buyers (you go through the closing), but then rent it back from them for a period of time. This will give you a bit of extra time in your house while you look for another one. This has to be negotiated in the deal up front, but it's something to consider.

Good luck!