List home and then move, or move and then put house on the market?

[ksr5377]

DH and I are tossing this back and forth.  We would like to move at the end of June, but would be capable of moving at the end of May.  We do not need to sell our home in order to move.   Our realtor is pushing for us to list by mid-April, because she (and every other realtor we talked to) said that we'll be more likely to get a somewhat higher price for our home.  We have 4 small children (1-9) and homeschool.  As we have begun to do some things in preparation of listing, it's becoming more and more apparent that keeping our home straightened while living here will be a miracle.  I knew it would be a challenge, but we actually tried this past week.  Total failure.  If we list in April, my thought was that I would take the kids and go visit the grandparents for the first week or so that it's on the market.  But now I'm beginning to doubt we'll be able to get it ready for the market with everyone here.  However, we have also heard that furnished homes sell better.  Is it worth the *possible* higher price to try to live through this sale? Looking for some BTDT advice.

[Tsuga]

I will just say that as homebuyers, we were pushing the limit to buy in winter when we knew prices would be lower. We have looked and looked and at least in our area, which is a seller's market and which has extremely low inventory, this was our chance to buy within budget.

 

So from the pricing experience, I would say that we paid about 10% less in February than what we saw listing from April - October. The highest prices were in June. We looked at five year trends, because we are squeezed tight on our budget to buy.

 

We are also showing this rental for our landlord--or rather, with four kids, we gave her the day of the week to bring people over. Now, it's a rental, so if it's not clean, it's not clean. People know we live here. However we did mention that if she needed it clean, we'd be happy to let her hire a cleaning lady at any time during the work day in an emergency. She said dirty was fine, LOL.

 

Can you ask your agent if her office can fold a cleaning service one day a week for the next two months into the fee so that you can get the highest price, and then plan a day out each week? Like, "I hear you--we could both get a lot more. But I just can't do it with the kids. Would you be willing to take on the cleaning fee and we'll tidy up, then you can have the cleaner come and have the showings once per week until we find some serious buyers?"

 

If you really both stand to make tens of thousands more (which you might, depending on the home value), then a cleaning service to help her buyer out could be the least of her worries.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Tsuga

[Spryte]

We moved, then listed. I could not do it, between homeschooling and pets and DH working at home. We were under contract in 13 days, closed in 25. I think we'd have gotten a bit more staying put, but have zero regrets. So grateful for how we did it.

 

How badly do you need the extra cash? :)

[Spryte]

Also, consider moving out and staging it lightly.

[prairiewindmomma]

I have a cautionary tale. We sold our house this past year.  A very similar house (same floor plan, same builder) went onto the market during the same week as us.  Our house sold--it had a three car versus their two car garage, and we had hardwoods compared to their new carpet. Their house had a new roof.  Both had updated kitchens, paint, light fixtures----very similar properties in many regards...  Their house JUST sold (7 months later)...and it sold for 30K less than we sold ours.  Nothing in our neighborhood sold after July 1.

 

Only move out if you can handle carrying two rents for a substantial bit of time.  We couldn't so I packed up 70% of what we owned and lived lightly in the house. We stored all of our packed boxes in one room in the basement, so it wasn't an obstacle. Each kid kept a small backpack with toys, and all of the beds and bathrooms were kept as if a showing was happening that day.  We were on the market for four months--march-june. 

[Pawz4me]

If at all possible financially I would move and then list.  And that is, in fact, what we will be doing in the next couple of months.  We have lived in a house we were trying to sell when the boys were younger, and I'm glad I'll never have to do that again.  This time it's just me, DH, DS17 and the pets, but we still have chosen to not put ourselves through that again.  But as Prariewindmomma said, you really do have to feel comfortable with the possibility of carrying two houses for a good while.

[Bambam]

We've moved and then put the house on the market after moving. We were close enough that we could go back and check on the house and clean the toilets, vacuum, and make sure the lawn guy was keeping up with everything as well as water the lawn (south Texas, summer, you must water the lawn!). Just curious, what do you guys do when you move so far that isn't practical? Does the real estate agent deal with that for you?

[JenneinCA]

We moved out and then listed. It sold empty in less than a week in December in metro Phoenix. I don't know if we could have made more money any other way. The reality was we only had one month of paying both rent and the mortgage and that was important.

[Bluegoat]

I would move and then list, even if I knew for sure I would lose money.  I still have nightmares of loading a toddler, a baby, and three dogs into a car to drive around aimlessly for an hour when we were selling our rural property.  I would probably find some furniture to keep in, likely some of my own and some borrowed.  But even empty, it would be better - there is no way I could achieve the level of decluttering that would make my agent refrain from nagging.

[Sara in AZ]

We moved out and then listed. It sold empty in less than a week in December in metro Phoenix. I don't know if we could have made more money any other way. The reality was we only had one month of paying both rent and the mortgage and that was important.

This is us exactly, only it was the first week of February our empty house sold in a week in metro Phoenix. There is no way we could have lived in it, cleaned it out, and fixed it up with four kids while homeschooling. No way.

[LivingHope]

Our next house closes the end of March. We'll move in April, and then we'll list the house in May.

 

...Because...um, I just painted a room, and it already has the toddler's crayon marks...and it takes us more than 15 minutes lately to be company ready.

Edited February 17, 2016 by LivingHope

[Barb_]

I experienced my only miscarriage at 13 weeks back in 1997 brought on I suspect by the incredible stress of trying to homeschool and raise three children (7, 3, 1) by myself (dh had moved ahead) while keeping the house show-worthy. I can't overstate how difficult that was.

[Tsuga]

Barb, I am so sorry for your loss. Even if I said it before--a possibly stress-related miscarriage must have been very difficult.

 

A question:

 

How often do you have to show the house?

 

All the houses we looked at had open houses and then were mostly closed. Most of them weren't even vacuumed. I get that we are not high-flying buyers or anything but this was not exactly the ghetto either.

 

Do you have people coming and going at all hours then?

 

 

[sbgrace]

I do think you lose money listing later in the summer in many markets. Hitting that early part of the market will probably help financially and maybe on moving the house quicker as well depending on the market.

 

I felt it was going to be too stressful to show and live in our house. So we moved as soon as we could get the new house ready and then put our old home on the market. We left some furniture, but not enough to make anyone think it was actually lived in. We ended up listing a lot later than we hoped, early fall, and that probably hurt us financially more than selling empty did. We sold in December. I still felt it was worth it not to live in the house while trying to sell.

Edited February 17, 2016 by sbgrace

[medawyn]

We just did this. We moved, staged, then listed. I will say that DH started his new job in early Dec, so we would have been listing right before Christmas. My realtor gave me a window in which this would be "ok", but I just couldn't face keeping the house show-ready with two toddlers, two cats, and no DH. It gave also gave us time to get the house ready.

 

Now, we are in a hot market, so our house was under contract five days after we listed it, and we had multiple (good) offers. That made a difference when we went into this plan.

 

Still, if at all possible, I would definitely vote save yourself the headache and move first.

[Storygirl]

It is a very difficult decision. I'd ask your realtor for advice about what works best in your area; our realtor had definite opinions, based on our market.

 

I have lived in our home while selling it twice, with four young children. Both times it took nine months for our home to sell, and it was extremely difficult to keep things ready for showings at all times. In our area, people could and did call for same-day showings, even if the homeowner requested 24 hours notice. My worst day was when we got the call for a same-day showing on the morning of December 23, when we had some holiday things planned to do at home.

 

It can be done. You would need to make keeping the house clean your first priority and let other things slide.

 

If you move out, I would not remove all of your furniture, unless your realtor tells you that they think that would be okay. Instead, leave some things there to stage it. Also, if you move first, make sure that you can really afford to own two houses for an extended period of time, in case it takes months for your home to sell.

 

I do agree to list in the spring. One of the reasons it took our house longer to sell is that we listed it in July, and by then the heavy buying season had ended in our area.

 

My husband had to take a week off of work to help me get our home ready to put on the market. It's hard to have the time needed to get things ready when you have to take care of the children's needs as well. If your husband can't help, you might consider hiring a babysitter. Or can the children go stay with their grandparents for a week while you stay home and work on the house?

 

I was extremely good at having my house look like a model home, because that was the norm for houses on the market in my area. But that is not my normal state of living, and I couldn't do it while also keeping up completely with the homeschooling, cooking, and other normal duties. It was highly stressful, and it took a toll on me.

 

So, you can do it if it is necessary. It is extremely hard, but possible.

[maize]

I am determined to never list a home while I am living in it. Too much pressure and stress for the whole family.

 

I would do the move first.

[Alicia64]

We moved, then listed. No way could I deal with six year old twins and their LEGO piles everywhere.

 

Plus DH is cluttery.

 

We moved.

 

If you can stage any part of the house, I hear it really helps the sale.

 

Alley

[OneStepAtATime]

If you are in a really hot market, and you don't overprice your house, you should be fine moving then listing.  It would definitely be easier that way and that is the way I prefer to do it.  Having done it both ways, it really is HARD to keep a house viewing ready while living in it.  If you are not in a hot market, or the market suddenly tanks, you could have your house on the market a looooong time.  As others have mentioned, you need to be able to handle the financial drain of two properties. 

 

Cautionary Tales: My cousin lived in a hot market.  She and her husband were going to list then move but decided to wait 4 months, move, then list.  They moved to another state.  The market tanked while they were getting the house ready and finishing the move.  Their house sat on the market over a year before they gave up and rented it out. It took 3 years to sell the house and they sold at a loss.  They didn't cover their mortgage because the house devalued by nearly $100,000 in that 3 year time period.  There were a glut of houses on the market as people tried to get out from under the plummeting housing prices, which of course dropped the prices further.

 

A dear friend of mine and her husband were moving out of town.  They decided to wait until they had moved to list their house.  They had two offers the first weekend it was listed but they were busy trying to finish moving and didn't respond right away.  They also felt that with two solid offers right away there were bound to be more.  One offer was withdrawn and they turned down the other offer because they were asking for some repairs.  They had listed towards the end of June.  The house sat.  There were lots of people looking but no further offers.  They refused to drop the price.  The house sat for 2 years.  

 

These are worst case scenarios, obviously, and not the norm.  I share them, though, because you can never really predict how things will go.  If you choose to move, then list, make sure your house is priced competitively.  I have found that pricing slightly above market so you have "wiggle room" to negotiate on price is frequently not as effective as listing slightly below market so that you increase the chance of multiple offers.  Gives you as the seller a better chance of getting an offer you can live with and reduces the chances that the house will sit.  Most houses get the most traffic when they first go on the market.  You definitely want your best foot forward at that time (which is a big reason why moving then listing after the house is clean and hopefully just slightly staged can be a great idea).

 

You might try a kind of hybrid of the two.  Can you rent a storage unit in March that only charges month to month, no contract?  You could start clearing out, sorting, and packing stuff you know you won't need right now and move those things (clearly labeled) into storage.  Move any furniture you don't need right away, too.  That will declutter the house and make it easier to see what else needs to be dealt with.  If you get a lot packed and into storage by April then maybe you could go ahead and plan on giving the house a really solid cleaning then plan on listing in May.  Do one open house where you go all out, plan on a two week period of keeping the house as spotless as possible (hire a maid to come twice a week?) to increase showing options, then limit showings after that to 24 hours notice.  If you get a quick, solid offer in that first couple of weeks you don't have to worry about dealing with so much.  If you are still really not ready by April, at least you got a lot packed and moving will be easier.

[QueenCat]

A question:

 

How often do you have to show the house?

 

All the houses we looked at had open houses and then were mostly closed. Most of them weren't even vacuumed. I get that we are not high-flying buyers or anything but this was not exactly the ghetto either.

 

Do you have people coming and going at all hours then?

 

You show it as often as requested......... Around here, you generally get at least 1-2 hours notice. I've learned that we can be out in 45 minutes if needed. No, not all hours of the day. Our last sale (pretty recent), the agent said to always be ready by 9am and that it's rare for anyone after about 7pm. We never had anyone before 10am or after 6pm. Open houses don't really bring in buyers, they bring in neighbors and people getting a general feel for the area. Rarely specific buyers for your home. But both of those are still good as they often tell others who might be interested in your house.

[SebastianCat]

We lived in our home that we sold back in 2009 while it was on the market.   My kids were 6 & 4 at the time (and I only have 2 of them, so I understand that's completely different than having a large family).   What helped us tremendously was packing up fully HALF of our stuff before listing.    We went through every room, every closet, every cabinet - and half of it either got pitched or got boxed up temporarily.   Even half of our clothes and half of the kids' toys.

 

It was really, really difficult to get so much packed that far in advance, but the plus was that by the time we finally bought our house (after renting for 6 months, but that's another story), it was like Christmas morning when the kids found the toys they hadn't seen in that long.    We also saw that we had a lot of stuff that we held on to but didn't really use or need.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I would pack up or purge half of your stuff between now and April.  You won't miss it; I promise.  Price the house to sell, then stage it and go on vacation the day you put it on the market.  Leave for at least one week, but plan to be gone two.  With any luck, it will sell in the frenzy of first listing.  If it doesn't, and you need to come back, you'll find it much easier to keep clean because you'll only have half as much stuff.  By then, you'll be able to spend a lot more time outside, so that should help.  

 

 

ETA: SebastianCat: You posted while I was writing.  Great minds think alike!  :)

Edited February 17, 2016 by Suzanne in ABQ

[kroe1]

Move first is my vote. I can't even keep my house clean with a dog, 1 teenager, 1 husband, and two old people.

[Tree Frog]

I haven't read all the responses, but we've listed all our houses while we were still living in them. Only one didn't sell before we moved. We have 3 kids and sold our first house when our second child was 2. I think it's very doable, but requires organization. We did several things that helped such as decluttering by moving nearly everything in our closets/cabinets that we didn't use on a regular basis to a storage unit. Sometimes we also moved furniture and toys. The goal was twofold: make it easier to keep it picked up because there wouldn't be as much junk around and make the house appear bigger than it was. It allowed us time to sort what we wanted to keep/give away/moves. We also had a routine we followed each bedtime and morning. Each child had his/her own regular chores and, when there would be a showing, they had additional chores. We kept clean, neatly folded towels under the sink in each bathroom. One of the kid's chores was to neatly fold the used towels, place them under the sink, and put the clean towels on the towel rack. The youngest's job was to find all the little toys on the floor and put them away. We usually cleaned up before bed, so there wasn't too much to pick up, but it was always a good idea to double check. The oldest always vacuumed or swept. Sometimes cleaned off dirty dishes were placed in the clean dishwasher so they weren't sitting on the sink.

 

My mom came out the first time when my dh and I were house hunting in the city we were moving to. She staged the house with the kids' help and taught them why and what they needed to do when we had a showing. That training continued through several different moves and I was very thankful for it! When the kids knew we would be moving, they always asked or decided among themselves what they would do to help. We moved every 2-3 years (military) and we needed to be able to sell quickly. All but one of our houses sold very quickly. The house that sold the fastest was with the first showing in April, but we weren't leaving the area until July. Fortunately, we were able to close on the house, but rent it back from the new owners for a couple of months.

 

It's hard to decide what to do! We didn't want to risk carrying 2 mortgages or possibly being a long distance landlord, so it was an easy decision for us. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, Joker!

[Seasider]

I would pack up or purge half of your stuff between now and April. You won't miss it; I promise. Price the house to sell, then stage it and go on vacation the day you put it on the market. Leave for at least one week, but plan to be gone two. With any luck, it will sell in the frenzy of first listing. If it doesn't, and you need to come back, you'll find it much easier to keep clean because you'll only have half as much stuff. By then, you'll be able to spend a lot more time outside, so that should help.

 

 

ETA: SebastianCat: You posted while I was writing. Great minds think alike! :)

This is a good plan!

 

I have had to be the stay-at-home seller, with little kids, several times. Just thinking back on the effort it took makes me shudder. I always wanted to move first, then list, but DH was always adamant that we close on the sale before closing on the purchase. He is very financially responsible. But, he would probably not have lasted a week if he'd been the one to have to stay home and keep the place show ready - his company always moved him to the new job immediately, so he wasn't around for a number of short notice showings (which you really have to be open to - your house won't sell if you're unwilling to show it whenever the call comes).

 

(Typing this out, I have to resist the temptation to remind dh he owes me big time for all that hassle...)

 

Anyway, OP, you will find the most peace in one of two circumstances:

 

1 - not struggling to show while living in current house

 

2 - not stressing over how to afford two homes if the first takes a long time to sell

 

Reduce it to these two options, and the choice is easier. The whole process isn't necessarily easier, but being settled about why you're doing what you're doing sure helps.

[ksr5377]

Anyway, OP, you will find the most peace in one of two circumstances:

 

1 - not struggling to show while living in current house

 

2 - not stressing over how to afford two homes if the first takes a long time to sell

 

Reduce it to these two options, and the choice is easier. The whole process isn't necessarily easier, but being settled about why you're doing what you're doing sure helps.

 

All of these comments have been helpful in one way or another, but this is amazing.  There are so many little details flying around in my head constantly since we made the decision to move. It's so helpful to just narrow the decision down to these two things.  

 

After talking more to DH it seemed like we were leaning towards waiting to list until after we move, and then he informed me that he would like to get top dollar.  I was somewhat taken aback.  So then we had to have a conversations where I made it clear to him that in order to get top dollar, we need to list earlier and still be here.  Apparently he hasn't been putting the two things together all this time?!?! :huh:  I love him to pieces, but he's usually pretty low-stress about things, and in this situation his lack of urgency on anything may become my biggest cause of stress. He keeps saying "No matter what we do there's no guarantee, there's not point in getting anxious about any of it."  I realize it's true, we could do everything we're told to do and follow all the rules of the game and the house could still sit.....but that seems less likely than if we don't follow the rules, right?

 

Suzanne's plan seems doable.....I can't imagine packing half of our stuff, but I know we have the storage for it here and that it would make keeping things clean that much easier.  Instead of picking up Playmobil AND Legos AND Barbies AND Calico Critters, maybe we could just keep on out. :)   I would also be able to leave with the kids for a week or two to visit my parents right when we list, which my parents would love.  I would be tired and it wouldn't be all fun, but it would be more fun than dealing with the house for those two weeks.  

 

Financially, covering the two homes wouldn't be a huge concern.  The biggest issue is that I would like to use some of the cash we'll get from this house to do some upgrades to the home we're buying.  We weren't planning on doing them before we moved in, but probably within the first 6 months.  If this house sits, that will be postponed.  I could see this being a minor irritant that turns into a major one though, with us eventually just not wanting to deal with it anymore.

[Excelsior! Academy]

I would pack up or purge half of your stuff between now and April.  You won't miss it; I promise.  Price the house to sell, then stage it and go on vacation the day you put it on the market.  Leave for at least one week, but plan to be gone two.  With any luck, it will sell in the frenzy of first listing.  If it doesn't, and you need to come back, you'll find it much easier to keep clean because you'll only have half as much stuff.  By then, you'll be able to spend a lot more time outside, so that should help.  

 

 

ETA: SebastianCat: You posted while I was writing.  Great minds think alike!   :)

 

I had an answer until I saw the above post.  This is excellent advice!!

 

A few years ago we moved out before listing and sold quickly.  Our move was made solely to upgrade house sizes.  Having 9 kids under 14 (5 were 5 and under) in a 1500 sq. ft. house with only 3 bedrooms it would've been impossible to keep the house show ready on a consistent basis.

 

In our current (larger) house we might be able to with Suzanne's plan.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Excelsior! Academy