Anyone with house selling advice for my DSis About This Page:

[RobinKay6573]

She wants to sell her condo and she found one that is perfect....however she needs to sell her old place. She has enough equity that she can own both properties at the same time...although her payments will go WAY up. Since I am the "problem solver" of the family she has called me a couple of times for advice (told me before she told my mom about her plans).

Does anyone in here have experience with buying one house before the other one sells? To me it just sounds like a whole heep of trouble....what if the place does not sell? My girlfriends' parents purchased a new home w/o the other being sold and they lost everything they have saved and all of their life insurance because the origional house didn't sell for 2 years!!

I really don't know what to say to her...I just don't want her to make a huge mistake.

[RogerRabbit]

My boss is in the situation right now, but with two houses! One he is trying to sell for about $450,000, the other is about $350,000. He has decided to put both up for sale and what ever house sells first he'll move into the other one.

He has had the old house up for sale for aobut 6 months or more.

I think if she put it up towards the end of the month she may be fine. It is easy to sell in the Spring. Also, if she waited a little closer to April\May, a lot of people move over the Summer. So that may work to her favor.

If she can afford it for two to three months she should be fine with owning both.

Tell her good luck with the choice.

Michael

[my2girls]

I would never buy a house before my current one is sold. We have 1 home in our subdivision that has been on the market since last summer. The people moved out and the realtor had to buy the property. It's still empty. I'm no expert, but with the way the home market is these days, I would definitely tell your sister to hold off on the purchase until the current home is sold. Homes just aren't selling.

[SarahJ]

The first thing she needs to do is talk with a good real estate professional who can give her advice on what the market is doing in her area and what she can expect to get for her place. A professional can also offer suggestions on how she can carry the old condo while purchasing the new one. Friends of ours just went through this when they bought a house and had to sell their old one. They were about to take out a bridge loan so they could carry the old house for a couple of months, but then they got a full-price cash offer on it and it didn't matter anymore.

If it comes down to it and she can't sell her old place quickly, she could look into renting it out. That way she could pay the mortgage on it without dipping into her own funds. But a good agent is going to do whatever they can to help you sell your place because the sooner they sell it, the sooner they get their commission.

[wheatenwalker]

How quickly are places in her community selling? That should help her make a decision. Tell her I am sending her good luck pixies!

[DrDolphin]

I would recommend she definitely talk to a real estate specialist who works in the CONDO market in Kissimmee.... and see what they have to say about how well condos are selling in the area. If they are not selling well - I would NOT buy the new one until the old one sold....

[simbarel]

When my bro and sil were offered first dibs on my aunt's house, they went to one of the more successful r.e. agents in the area to sell their condo. The agent had them putting A LOT of stuff in storage and put in carpet runners, etc., and the day it was put on the market, a guy in Colorado saw it on the agent's website and made an offer that was $5k MORE than what they were asking! He hadn't even seen it in person. Because of this they were able to close on the new house and close on the condo on the very same day.

The weird thing was that once the guy came in from Colorado and saw the condo, he HATED it! He didn't want to sign, but he did. He told bro and sil the following Monday that he didn't want it, but he saw how happy they were to be getting the new house that he couldn't not sign. Their feelings were a little hurt b/c they loved the condo (it's an old home cut up into condos, I used to live above them) but I noticed that just a year later the Colorado guy was able to resell it for A HUNDRED THOUSAND more than what he paid for it. It sold for $289k, my brother bought it in 1995 for $68k. Unbelievable!

But that was the hot market---however, I think that they really made their best move by going with the really good realtor with the slick website that people kept their eyes on. If we were to move away from the Foss house one day, I'd make sure that this house could sell first, I'm too nervous to do it another way.

[RobinKay6573]

Thanks for all your advice. I did tell her last night that she needed to talk to an unbiased real estate person. She said the condos in her complex are selling pretty quickly (1 to 4 months). There has been alot of work done on her place (all new floors, new drywall in places, new roof...all thanks to 2005 hurricanes). When she purchased the place she got a really good deal so she has a TON of equity...which is great.

Her condo use to be a vacation home (you know rented out for vacations to tourists) but the complex was too far from Disney/Universal/Sea World (about 15 min drive) that they just weren't selling so the units were sold full furnished, with dishes and linens!

for DSis Sandy!!

[MsODancr]

well, I had to laugh when I saw your post, because I KNOW I should have sold my house before I moved, but I just couldn't live near my aweful ex and his girlfriend... so my heart took over, even though my head told me to think first... I really really thought my house would sell by Christmas, as it is supposedly the "hottest" neighborhood in my town. Well, I have now paid nine mortgage payments on my new one that I moved into, and the other house still hasn't sold. I do not regret what I did, but just tell her to be careful and really think it through. I am now totally broke, and am hoping the house sells soon.... it is very scary for me as a single mom to be facing this, when I am usually a very positive person.

Please tell her I said good luck, and to really think about the pros and cons of both.

[snoozin]

I'm one of the "don't buy until you sell" people... I know she's in love with the new condo, and if she can afford to pay the mortgages on both if her current home doesn't sell, then she should go for it. But otherwise, there is always the risk that she could be stuck with both for some time, no matter how good the market is.

[poohmaine]

I have a friend who bought a new house in Texas. She and her soon-to-be ex own a home in Maine. It hasn't sold since October, even though they dropped the price by $40,000, and it is a stunning, beautiful home. She is in money trouble and has had to borrow from her parents.

It is not a good market right now and I would not buy a house before I sell the old one (or at least have the sale in process if not closed.)

[Eeyore Tattoo]

We have bought and sold a lot of houses.
She should de-clutter and pack up personal items to make the house look bigger and less personalized, It helps it sell faster (Our last house sold to the first person that looked at it. )
She should put a offer on the new place with a clause that her house sell first.
Good Luck!
Deb