We are buying our second house

Willow

Well all in all buying a house can be pretty stressfull. It seems first time buyers as we were have it much easier than anyone buying a second,3 -4-5..home.

We need more space, plus there are items of which we would like:
our own back yard (in our current garden home it is shared)
garage
finished basement (ht room )
bigger all together (we are going from 1200sqft to just under 1800sqft)
4pc master ensuite with roman tub.
well we found the model we want.

We are both nervous about putting our house up for sale and possibly not selling in time for the new one. I know tons of people do it every day around the world but this is our first time selling and buying.
Maybe if you could provide some insight as to how it went (good or bad) I (we) would appreciate that.
The realtor is coming by on Wednesday to get the ball rolling on selling our house. In the area which we wish to buy ( a suburb of our great city) this realtor controls 60% of the market (great for us buying) But we are concerned on how fast we can sell ours so we are not stuck with 2 mortgage payments.

Thanks

venomclan

Just go slow, and make sure you sell the old house before you buy the new one. You do not want to be caught in the middle with payments, not to mention lower equity power with the house unsold. I got into that situation last year and won't do it again.

A friend of mine who moves about every 3 years, sells his house first, then rents for a short period of time until he finds what he is looking for. Then he can buy with no problems.

If you have the time (no job transfers, etc..) sell first before you even look. You do not want to fall in love with a house, get googly eyed and make a financial obligation that will test your nerves and wallet. Good luck.
Venom

Willow

See for some reason we started looking before and were going to take the chance, but now after some thinking, we are putting our current home on the market this week, in our area we will be one of two lower end units for sale ( not bad in terms of competition) we will just have to stretch out the closing date to be sure we find the one we want.

MrNightly

I own two houses... the first is rented and the second we live in. We tried to sell it first, but it just didn't work out. So I put it up for rent and we got several bites rather quickly. Ended up with a distant relative renting it, fixing up the little odds and ends and all in all paying for my mortgage on it. Works out great!

As vernon said, don't get greedy. Very good idea about selling first, then looking. In all honesty, you can find whatever you want in 30 days or less really... if you aren't terribly picky about fixing a thing here or there. Congrats on the step up!

It's only the beginning!!!

schwarcw

Good luck with your sale and purchase. How is the real estate market in your area? That would concern me more than the financial logistics. You can always make the money work if you can sell fast. The downside of that is prices could be strong. I know it can be nerve racking, but it will be worth it in the end. Good luck!

disneyjoe7

Knowing where you wish to live is the Hard part, now go for it. We my wife and I sold are first home to buy another 4 years ago, placed home for sale what we where thinking for 45-60 days. Went looking for next home, first home sold in 4 days. We didn't have and new house yet. In the end worked out but ended renting my old house for 4 days before moving to new.

So if you know where you like to be, then you have the Hard part down. Sell the old look forward never back.

daboyz

Price your current house properly and it will sell. A lot of people get way too happy about what they think their house is worth and that is why it doesn't sell quickly. The agent having 60% of the market can be good or bad. They are very popular and know a lot of people but more than likely another agent will bring in the buyer. Also, they may be too busy to give you much time, they list and wait for someone else to bring the buyer. Ask questions, it also may not hurt to interview a couple more successful realtors and compare what they say, especially list price and average days on market for your area.

Make sure your home is ready. No clutter,everything works properly, and CLEAN! Keep it this way all the time, you never know when you'll get a showing.

If you do the first couple things, the rest will take care of themselves. Are you able to bridge if needed? Even if you can't I would go ahead and start looking. It's a negotiation, put in contingency of selling your house, if it don't sell by the date you're not out anything. It just wasn't meant to be, and that's OK. There will be another one. But I bet if you price right you'll be fine.

Lastly, it is very stressful, keep your head on straight and try not to fight with the other half. Remember to keep your eye on the ball, this is to make your lives better! Wishing you the greatest of luck and enjoy the search.

Regards, Dave.

hearingimpared

Congrats on your decision Willow. My first and second homes were back in 1980 & 1983. We made a very bad decision in that we made settlement on our second home before selling the first.

The problem is bad enough having to pay two mortgages but it is inevitable that a buyer for the first home WILL find out your predicament and with a swift realtor can quickly low ball you. Make sure that if you do find a new home before selling the old home you have the contract drawn up to read that settlement on the new home is contigent on sale of the old home. This will protect you from the above stated situation and most sellers unless they are in a real hurry will go for that kind of contract.

Good luck my friend and just keep one thing in mind. . . when the dust settles and you look around, you and your wife will be in your new home and all the stress, aggrevation, exhaustion, and worry will fade away in one heartbeat when you are sitting in your easy chair listening to music in the new castle.

Rivrrat

I know tons of people do it every day around the world but this is our first time selling and buying.

Yeah they do, including me, twice, and it's still a stressful situation. Price it reasonably, and hopefully you'll do ok.

Sami

Like MrNightly, I have two homes, one leased and one as primary residence. I would suggest you look what the leasing market in your area is like before you make a decision to sell. Having someone else pay your mortgage is good but it also comes with the risk of the house being empty. In the long run you should build up equity on it so selling it later would be easier and also renting because now you will have more money coming in comparison to your mortgage payments.

It all depends on the market. Look for data about houses on the lease market, what they go for and how long it takes to lease them. It's a little work but well worth it IMO.

Early B.

Don't worry about having two mortgages. If it happens for a month or two, so be it. If you want a new house, just go buy one. Focus on the goal (i.e., getting a new house), not on the problems you MAY encounter in the process of achieving your goal.

Willow

thanks for all the input. We are going to look at another house tomorrow night a real beauty ! from the pics. We are also planning on having our house up for sale by the end of this week or early next week.

I told my wife if worse comes to worse we could always take money out of our saving to pay the mortgage on this current house as we don't pay much and the interest rate we have on our current place will never be beat 4.29%. So if need be we could pay mortgage for a while if it came down to it. (not the best scenario but..)

phoneisbusy

When we sold (apt) and bought (house) from our realtor, we asked if there she'd be willing to give a kickback for handling both transactions. In our case, we got a thousand dollars back.

Another friend got a new 32" lcd tv as a house warming gift.

Perhaps it's worth asking?

Good luck with the house hunting.

Dave

Sami

Willow wrote:

interest rate we have on our current place will never be beat 4.29%.

In that case I REALLY suggest looking into leasing instead of selling. That's easy 2% income right there. Would your house fetch more in rent than your mortgage payment is? I get $1650 from my lease and mortgage is $1450 including P&I, insurance and real estate taxes. Add in expenses for repairs etc. and you're getting close to even it out but then there is increase in equity and tax refunds (I got $10k in deductions for last year)...

Willow

Realtor came over, house will be officaly on the market next Wed.
Boy am I ever tired. yesterday, I painted and did some touch ups, today, steam cleaned the carpets and pretty much re-grouted the tiles in the bathroom. I'm sore as hell. I told my wife I will never again do tiles in the bathroom unless it's only a couple. I'll should sleep like a baby tonight and be sore tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, we have the professional photagrapher who is coming over to take still pics and do a virtual tour of our house (part of the package w/ the realtor). They said make it look "home-y(sp)". so tomorrow before photo guy gets here I will go out and buy some flowers and crap to make it look cute ( not that it is not right now just a bit more appealing).

I better find the damn house we want after all this work.

daboyz

Oh, the joys of it all! You're doing the right thing, just think of the ka-ching noise you'll hear when the offers roll in.

hearingimpared

Willow wrote:

I better find the damn house we want after all this work.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAaaa you doing the right thing and it will pay off!!! Keep a stiff upper lip.:)

tonyb

daboyz wrote:

Oh, the joys of it all! You're doing the right thing, just think of the ka-ching noise you'll hear when the offers roll in.

That noise last 2 seconds.....cause the wife will wake you up to everything
the new house needs.

disneyjoe7

Keep it little hearted and have fun, you're doing the right thing.

markmarc

Willow:
Having just sold our third home I have gone thru the ups and downs, hits and misses. Here are some things we have learned:
1. In this market you can easily negotiate for a 5% total commision rate.
2. make sure your agent fills out every section of the MLS completely, especially room dimensions.
3. View other homes in your selling range, so you understand the competition.
4. Get rid of as much clutter as humanly possible. A few pieces of furniture lend warmth, a lot shrinks the room size.
5. Clean the carpets, nothing worse than a buyer walking into a home with an odor.
6. Offer to help neighbors clean up their yard if junky. That sounds selfish, but nobody wants to buy a place that looks onto a junk yard or weeds.
7.Hose down the house, touch up any exterior paint. People don't want to see work or dirt.
8. Darkness is your enemy, make sure all rooms are well lit.
9. Paint over bright or unique colors with more neutral ones.
10. Clean grunge from around door handles, light switches, window latches.
11. Replace furnace filters and clean heating ducts, bathroom ceiling vents.
12. Offer a 1 year home warranty, it costs about $400.
13. Keep extra outdoor flyers on hand to refill empty box.
14. Never leave even one dirty dish out.
15. Plan on vacuuming every day.

disneyjoe7

markmarc wrote:

Willow:
9. Paint over bright or unique colors with more neutral ones.

What do you consider unique colors?


Other then that great list, and I like to add one. Dry sinks after use no-one likes to see water around sinks, helps give that clean look.

Willow

1. In this market you can easily negotiate for a 5% total commision rate.**Done we already did this, if we happen to find the buyer it's be negotiated @4%**
2. make sure your agent fills out every section of the MLS completely, especially room dimensions. **Done I have the builders original floor plan**
3. View other homes in your selling range, so you understand the competition. **Done only one other home in our area like ours for sale**
4. Get rid of as much clutter as humanly possible. A few pieces of furniture lend warmth, a lot shrinks the room size. **Done finished that 2nite**
5. Clean the carpets, nothing worse than a buyer walking into a home with an odor.**done bought the Bissel heated carpet cleaner today and cleaned them, all the floors are only 1.5yrs old but they look more new than new**
6. Offer to help neighbors clean up their yard if junky. That sounds selfish, but nobody wants to buy a place that looks onto a junk yard or weeds. **can't everything is frozen and burried in snow**
7.Hose down the house, touch up any exterior paint. People don't want to see work or dirt. **see answer to #6 however I am washing the windows that I can reach inside and out 2morrow**
8. Darkness is your enemy, make sure all rooms are well lit. ** done all lights will be left on and all blinds opened**
9. Paint over bright or unique colors with more neutral ones.**did touchups yesterday even window sills looks great**
10. Clean grunge from around door handles, light switches, window latches. **done as well when I painted I cleaned but we are also very clean people**
11. Replace furnace filters and clean heating ducts, bathroom ceiling vents. **electric heating but I will clean the bathroom vents**
12. Offer a 1 year home warranty, it costs about $400.**I'll talk to the realtor about this**
13. Keep extra outdoor flyers on hand to refill empty box. **once we get our stack will do**
14. Never leave even one dirty dish out. **all will go in dishwasher and willwash them everyday**
15. Plan on vacuuming every day.** will do**

thanks for the details...Now let's get this thing sold !!

Willow

Dry sinks after use no-one likes to see water around sinks, helps give that clean look.**will do**

thanks

Willow

tonyb wrote:

That noise last 2 seconds.....cause the wife will wake you up to everything
the new house needs.

that's fine cause we'll have the cash to do it and the new house we are buying is only max 4yrs old. We know the model and the area it's just waiting for one to come up.

schwarcw

disneyjoe7 wrote:

What do you consider unique colors?

No purples, glitter pinks, dark burgandy, **** brown, avacado, cantelope, fuscia, banana yellow, etc. You may like it, but chances are most people won't. White, very lite, tasteful pastels are most acceptable. Especially to wives.

hearingimpared

There is some really good tips here. I think one of the most important is to take the appearance of work to be done out of the mix. While we were house hunting I brought a calculator to estimate how much money, including paint, it was going to cost us to move in and get comfortable right away. We even looked at worn spots or very clean spots in carpeting to see if the seller was covering anything up.

JimBRICK

hurry up and get that house stuff done so you can buy my fxi5's

Willow

Ok it's done photographer came over took pics and 2 rooms virtual tour (and panorama). Feels like I have been working so hard the last couple days.

we do have a friend who wants to buy our place we are waiting to hear if she has all the financing in place..

Can't wait. I told my wife this morning, " you realize that we will be sitting in our new backyard BBQing this summer..and you will be taking baths in the roman tub in our ensuite soon enough" She said I guess yeah..I think it's starting to sink in that we will be moving within 3 months..(damn Friggin' packing )

hearingimpared

Willow wrote:

Ok it's done photographer came over took pics and 2 rooms virtual tour (and panorama). Feels like I have been working so hard the last couple days.

we do have a friend who wants to buy our place we are waiting to hear if she has all the financing in place..

Can't wait. I told my wife this morning, " you realize that we will be sitting in our new backyard BBQing this summer..and you will be taking baths in the roman tub in our ensuite soon enough" She said I guess yeah..I think it's starting to sink in that we will be moving within 3 months..(damn Friggin' packing )

ROTFLMAO!!!;)

Willow

JimBRICK wrote:

hurry up and get that house stuff done so you can buy my fxi5's

You know, I wouldn't refuse a house warming gift !;)

Willow

It's offically on the market today and we received a call from our realtor informing us of a showing tonight 530-630.

And we have not yet found our new place, no worries we will soon I'm sure.