6 months and counting...or so. House selling and buying.

[LisaKinVA]

Counting down to our anticipated return. Nothing is certain until the Orders are cut.

 

Our current tenants have asked to extend their lease. We agreed, but only if we could list the house for sale mid- late spring. They are interested in buying, depending upon the price.

 

Which is where the issue lies.

 

The base price for a new house, same basic floor plan, same basic square footage starts roughly $100,000 less than the current market value of our home. Why?

 

It's the long list of things not included in t he base price. Everything from outdoor water faucets (one is included), to garage door openers, ceiling fan wiring/fans, and more. That's before you get to the building upgrades (full front porch, nice elevation, extended sunroom), and the long list of finish upgrades (too many to list). The major builder in our area recently built and sold one house similar ours in the last 12 month. It went for about $545,000. Currently, house prices are going up about 5% a year in our area. So, new 2016 price would be about $560k or more.

 

If the tenants compare Apples to apples, as far as the builders go, we will have no problem agreeing upon a price. At $495-$515, we still look great (even maximizing builder options an upgrades, we still offer more for the money). We need a solid offer. Similar sized, age homes in our area (but still lacking many major upgrades) are selling for $480k average. Current listings range from $485-$515, with one low ball outlier.

 

We are praying so hard for a quick, easy sale. Having the tenants buy our house would be HUGE! Because we could close as soon as our orders are cut. Giving us as much as 2 months lead time before moving back to get things in order!

 

We are trying to structure the sale to be as favorable as possible to both parties. We are planning to offer to pay for inspections, a warranty, and 100% closing costs. There shouldn't be any repairs, really, but we are prepared to offer an allowance to fix some cosmetic settling issues with the crown molding. Waiting for a response is so hard!

 

Meanwhile, there are two homes in Norfolk I've been eyeing. They are both fixer uppers. Huge potential. I've requested more information from the listing agent, but she won't send me more photos, or answer questions about Occupancy Permit issues that need to be resolved. We could buy either property right away.

 

Praying they stay available!

 

As a side note of the 43 properties in the Tidewater area I marked, 8 sold over the summer, and 14 others were taken off the market. This gives me so much hope! These are not great flip homes, due to the size and design. But they would be perfect for us.

 

Meanwhile, we're well ahead of the pack out timeline. And pushing forward should make for a very smooth move back.

 

Pray for our house!

[UCF612]

Hope it all works out easily for you! Buying, selling, moving are all so stressful!

[Cottonwood]

Id start with an inspection to show up any concerns that might devalue the house in any way. Then, to set a price, I'd get an appraisal done. That way the fair market value is set by a pro who uses comparable things like similar sales and homes in the neighborhood and your homes features to set the price. Neither party has to struggle or guess if the price is fair that way. Then go from there..

[LisaKinVA]

Id start with an inspection to show up any concerns that might devalue the house in any way. Then, to set a price, I'd get an appraisal done. That way the fair market value is set by a pro who uses comparable things like similar sales and homes in the neighborhood and your homes features to set the price. Neither party has to struggle or guess if the price is fair that way. Then go from there..

 

Comps are in progress...but we won't do a formal appraisal until we have an offer.  Any appraisal we do at this point won't tell us any more than the comps will.  Plus, appraisers use comps ;)  We've had 3 appraisals done on the house in 5 years (once before we started building, once when we were finished building, once when we refinanced a year ago.  

 

PLUS, appraisers work differently when a house is being SOLD.  A little secret...appraisers tend to look for comps that come closer to the agreed upon price, than during a refi.  They also work harder to make sure they have the details correct.  Our second appraiser placed our house on the wrong side of the highway in a mixed-use/semi-industrial zoning area, and used comps from that area as well.  Our comps were off by about 50k  The company was from out of state and had no idea where our house was. 

 

The house has been inspected 4 times in the last 2 years (one before each lease, and 2 informal ones at 6 months into each lease).  The house is 4 years old. Another inspection won't show anything that hasn't already been fixed along the way.  The settling issues are expansion spaces between the ceiling and the crown molding.  The septic is under a maintenance contract and is inspected twice a year.  The heat/air unit are inspected and maintained twice a year.  The fireplaces were just cleaned last month.  There are no leaks in pipes or windows, no roofing issues, no foundation issues, nothing warped, separating, or otherwise damaged (well, if any of the finishes are damaged, that's on the tenants).  At this point, it would be kind of pointless to order another inspection.  We'll have to do one prior to the sale -- but I'm pretty certain everything is up to code, and inspected/repaired that we can possibly see right now.  Our tenants are *very* prompt at reporting *any* issue (even ones we're pretty sure THEY caused).