So you’re ready to move on to a bigger home or different location. You’re house is great it’s just not for you anymore. You’re ready to sell… but you have nowhere to go! Been there done that. I’m Brenda with Keefe Real Estate. This is a problem for many families that I have working with lately – A LOT! It’s a struggle and let me tell you, THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!
Last summer my husband and I realized that I was going to “Katie-Kaboom” if we didn’t move out of the 900 sq foot bachelorette pad I bought 11 years prior. We had 2 small children and 2 huge dogs, no garage, no basement, and barely two bedrooms. We needed to move and FAST! Problem was, we had nowhere to go and we were also picky about where we wanted our next home to be. We bit the bullet and listed our home with many unknowns. SCARY! Here’s what happened next:
- Bachlorette Pad sold
- Borrowed a friends lake house for 3 weeks
- Rented an acquaintances house for 2 ½ months (by the week, not cheap)
- Found our DREAM HOME and it wasn’t even listed (no competition, I know a great Realtor)
We are living in complete happiness in our new home and the fear of the unknown and few months of stress we had to go through were SOOOOOO worth it!!!!
If you’re still reading, it’s likely you’re in a similar situation. Here’s what you need to do in this Seller’s Market:
- List your freaking house!!!!
If you’re trying to put an offer on a house in a seller’s market in hopes of writing the offer with a home sale contingency, you will more than likely lose that house! Sorry but these are facts. I constantly run into buyers with homes to sell that tell me “their home will sell fast”. Say you get an accepted offer in the first week (yay!), you still most likely will have to go through Inspection, Appraisal, and Financing Contingencies which could take 30-45 days! Add on the week it took to get your house “show ready” and the couple days it took to get pictures and paperwork complete. 2 months have gone by since you saw you’re dream home listed on Zillow and it’s long gone!
- Get a Pre-Approval
Get a pre-approval letter from a lender you trust. If you’re not sure who to use, your realtor has already developed relationships with great lenders. Ask your realtor who to use!
- Find an agent that is perfect for you.
You need to be able to communicate with your Realtor. If he or she is going to find your dream home, you need to have a ton of communication. They need to know exactly what you want, where you want to be, how much you’re willing to spend, school district, etc…
- Be Open to Change.
I’m not saying it’s impossible for your dream home to magically fall into your lap and magically close on the same day as the home you need to sell. I’m sure it could happen. But if it doesn’t, you might have to find a rental for a couple months, you might have to live in a hotel for a couple weeks. Don’t worry …
IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT!!!!
