EMS83 Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Disclaimer: I know we're nuts and probably annoying to work with. My only defense is I warned the realtor in advance. So, we need more space. We are at about 235 sq.ft. per person, and we have 6 indoor pets (4 are thankfully little, but require habitats). No garage, basement, attic, shed, bat cave, you get the idea. I have a 200 sq.ft. storage unit I'm using in place of a garage. What we want: 2+ acres, 4+ bedrooms, no city limits, preferably at least one form of outdoor storage, fenced yard. Unfortunately, all of that rarely exists in our area within our budget. So the whole thing is like grabbing popcorn, if that makes sense. The catch(es): our house is not ready to list. It needs painting and staging at minimum. A few fixes here and there. I have a list. But DH doesn't want to do any of that unless we're ready to buy something. I don't really want to list it unless we're ready to buy, but I'm fine painting and staging and fixing (although I don't want to live in a staged home for 6 months, either). Plus, if one of our popcorns falls through, we have a house on the market and are not interested in settling for whatever's available. AND we're not averse to buying land and building. Do we: Just list it, sell it, and rent while we house hunt (or build)? List it when we find something we want to put an offer on, hope it all works out, then take it off the market if it doesn't? Stay here forever (I mean it's a perfect place to age)? Something I haven't thought of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashfern Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Can you afford to build while staying in your house? I'd prefer that to renting someplace but that's me. Given your limitations with what you want/need being limited, I think that you would be better finding a replacement first and then listing. What would you do if the house gets an offer but you haven't found your ideal house? If you reject a bunch of offers you will get a reputation and may find selling your current house to be very difficult. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 How hot is the housing market where you live? To me it would be important to have an idea of how long it takes a house like yours to sell in your area. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 I would do the painting first at a minimum. Even if you don't end up selling that won't hurt and is something that most of us have to do at some point anyway. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 We had to list knowing that we might not find something right away. We ended up getting lucky and doing both at the same time (selling and buying) but wow it was stressful and exhausting. Houses were not selling quick at the time. So we were afraid if we found what we wanted but our house didn't sell, we would lose what we wanted. I didn't want to deal with that. That is why we listed and chose the other option of maybe having to rent for awhile. I will say there is NO reason not to go ahead and do your fix up work regardless of when you list it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 I will say there is NO reason not to go ahead and do your fix up work regardless of when you list it. I would disagree with this and wait until just before you are ready to put the house on the market to do things such as painting. We had a house we were going to list and painted--then the air conditioner leaked and the ceiling had to be repaired and repainted. The next week the microwave went out--in replacing the microwave, wall got scratched and we had to get it repainted. These things could happen anytime, but after my experience I would provide for the shortest period of time to have these kind of problems (and for the painting to look as fresh and clean as possible) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 If rentals are available in your area and in your price range for month-to-month, I would put the house up for sale. If rentals are not going to work for you, then wait to put your house on the market until you find what you want. Make your offer contingent on your house selling (or whatever the right terminology is there) and list your old house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS83 Posted November 3, 2017 Author Share Posted November 3, 2017 The market is...wonky here. Some things sell within a few weeks, some things sit for months, a few for years. This is not a busy season, really. And this one we're interested in that started this will really need an inspection, which means putting in an offer (and it being accepted), which means listing... Actually what really started this was a ridiculously good deal; I bet someone's in the process of flipping it. It lasted less than a week. Building? Is that even advisable? I hate the aesthetic of new homes and the floor plan of older homes, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I find trying to line up the timing of real estate transactions stressful. Have you talked to your broker about contingency contracts and if they are common in your area? We were able to buy a house contingent upon selling our existing home within so many weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS83 Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 The realtor seems to take this as a given. The lender wasn't so sure, though. I could well be confused. I'm thisclose to demanding a double move. Sticky widgets there being a) we have 2 large breed dogs, chickens, finches, a fish, and a hamster (yowzers!), b) lease terms (usually a year; we can't float rent + mortgage or we wouldn't be having this conversation), and c) I don't know if my family could live without all their "stuff" in storage for that long. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storygirl Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 It's a hard decision. We are in a similar position, in that we are seeking some specific features in our next home, and we are not finding them available in the area we want to live. So do we list our home anyway? Do we rent? Do we build? We can't even find a plot of land we like. One thing I will say about planning a contingent offer: your current home should either be on on the market or ready to go on the market immediately once you place the offer. Making a contingent offer, but then saying that your home won't even be on the market for a month (or whatever), while you get it ready..... that kind of offer is not likely to go over well with the seller. So if you want to make an offer based on your home selling, your home needs to be on the market at the time of the offer or immediately after (as in, the same week you make the offer). So in my opinion, you should be working to get your home cleaned, organized, and sorted, with extraneous possessions packed and stored away, so that you can list it as soon as you are ready to make an offer on another home. Unless you want to sell first and rent until a home you like becomes available. But I agree that a rental may be hard to find with so many pets and people to factor in. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aura Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I can't really imagine making an offer without your current house at least being already on the market (or putting it on the same day as the offer.) My question: If you were really ready to buy, would you want to wait a month or two while the other person tries to get their house on the market? and then wait for it to sell? or would you go with a lower offer without that contingency? FWIW, my story: We did the work and got our place fixed up, staged and ready to sell. It looks great. Everyone that saw it, really liked it, but for whatever reason, it just wouldn't sell. Not a single offer. Not even hardly anyone looking at it! Not even after we dropped the price significantly. We found a place that we liked, but did not think it fair to to put an offer contingent on the sale of our place when we had practically no interest in our home. We racked up bills getting the house ready to go on market, and now they're due. We had planned to pay them off with the sale of the house. So we're refinancing instead and staying put for a little while. Not really a big deal for us. But I'm a little disappointed that we aren't able to get the house that I really liked. If you fix up the place first, how will you pay for that? What if you don't sell? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Disclaimer: I know we're nuts and probably annoying to work with. My only defense is I warned the realtor in advance. So, we need more space. We are at about 235 sq.ft. per person, and we have 6 indoor pets (4 are thankfully little, but require habitats). No garage, basement, attic, shed, bat cave, you get the idea. I have a 200 sq.ft. storage unit I'm using in place of a garage. What we want: 2+ acres, 4+ bedrooms, no city limits, preferably at least one form of outdoor storage, fenced yard. Unfortunately, all of that rarely exists in our area within our budget. So the whole thing is like grabbing popcorn, if that makes sense. The catch(es): our house is not ready to list. It needs painting and staging at minimum. A few fixes here and there. I have a list. But DH doesn't want to do any of that unless we're ready to buy something. I don't really want to list it unless we're ready to buy, but I'm fine painting and staging and fixing (although I don't want to live in a staged home for 6 months, either). Plus, if one of our popcorns falls through, we have a house on the market and are not interested in settling for whatever's available. AND we're not averse to buying land and building. Do we: Just list it, sell it, and rent while we house hunt (or build)? List it when we find something we want to put an offer on, hope it all works out, then take it off the market if it doesn't? Stay here forever (I mean it's a perfect place to age)? Something I haven't thought of? You have stay forever as one of your options so I assume you don't hate the house/property/area but need more space/storage? Can you add on to your existing house? At least a garage or shed of some sort? We have about 180 square feet per person, not as many pets but no attic, basement, closets, and only a detached garage that is bug and critter prone. We are hoping to do an addition next year that will add a 3-season room and an attached garage/utility room. Without having to run new plumbing or electricity, we're hoping to keep costs down. We do have almost an acre of land and a fenced yard for the dog. We considered moving but we wouldn't be able to find anything bigger that we could afford in our current area, we'd have to go at least 30 minutes farther out, probably more like an hour. We are currently 5 miles from dh's work, our church, our friends, family. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS83 Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 I hadn't considered the possibility of not selling, honestly. Houses do go in my neighborhood, it's just the general market that's kind of inconsistent. But...I guess be sad and live staged longer? That would be more psychologically stressful than financially--having to maybe be ready every day to vacate for a showing? Meh. My home is my hole I crawl into, lol. Painting and staging won't cost us too much. I expected to write a check. This house isn't worth bathroom or kitchen renovations or anything like that. I'd actually be fine adding on, but DH has vetoed it. We have 1/2 acre fenced, quiet cul-de-sac, we've planted apple trees and blackberry bushes. Distance is good from the places we go to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squiddles Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 (edited) In our experience it was far more affordable to build than buy what we need. We sold our home in a neighborhood last year for 300,000 and will be building a bigger home on 5 acres for a final mortgage of 235,000. All houses (crappy, small, even manufactured homes) on five acres here are 400,000-600,000. So though the process is SO HARD, building is so worth it. But only if you have somewhere to live in the meantime. ETA: when we got our house ready to sell i decided to move the heck out first. It was so hard to clean and stage and paint with kids and animals running around. We would take turns going in the evenings and it was actually kind of nice to have some alone time and paint Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited November 4, 2017 by Squiddles 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I would paint and fix up before listing. I know people do that and decide they don't need to move. It's nice to have the house looking good. And if there's a chance you aren't going to find anything that meets your needs, it will be good for you to enjoy your home at it's best. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 In my local market, houses move SLOOOOOOOWLY, if at all. The house diagonal(ish) from me recently sold, empty and staged, though still in need of some work, after years on the market. The listing history with the last realtor only goes back 2.5 years, but it's been for sale for I can't remember how many years. And, of course, for much less than I wish it had, for my own value's sake. My dream house - literally almost perfection - is on the market right now. 5 bed, 3 bath, 2 kitchens, almost 4 acres, location, location, location, and they've dropped the price twice in 4 months to ridiculously dirt cheap for what it is. On the flip side, rentals are a plenty. So, here, selling first is pretty much a necessity. It's one thing to contemplate carrying two mortgages and taxes for a few months. Realistically, we have to look at years. Of course, that still means living "staged" long term while trying to sell! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMS83 Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 So what we are going to do is have realtors look at the house, tell us what should be done in order to list as well as what they think we could get for it. Then we will do those things (apart from painting and staging; I'm sincerely thinking of offering a painting allowance). Meanwhile we will figure out what the financial side of things are. Then we'll decide whether we're buying or building...or whatever, after however long it takes to do all the other stuff. All very logical, yes? Thanks to DH. :) Now I just wish he'd mentioned all of that before he said I could "do everything except put an offer in" on this house I showed him Thursday and just toured yesterday. /sigh. Hopefully the realtors and loan officer will be responsive after all of this. I don't get the feeling they're very interested in working with people who just want to know the lay of the land... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 So what we are going to do is have realtors look at the house, tell us what should be done in order to list as well as what they think we could get for it. Then we will do those things (apart from painting and staging; I'm sincerely thinking of offering a painting allowance). Meanwhile we will figure out what the financial side of things are. Then we'll decide whether we're buying or building...or whatever, after however long it takes to do all the other stuff. All very logical, yes? Thanks to DH. :) Now I just wish he'd mentioned all of that before he said I could "do everything except put an offer in" on this house I showed him Thursday and just toured yesterday. /sigh. Hopefully the realtors and loan officer will be responsive after all of this. I don't get the feeling they're very interested in working with people who just want to know the lay of the land... I hate to say this because I know you don't want to do it, but... do the painting. Fresh paint makes such a difference when someone walks through a house for the first time. It's hard to imagine how much difference it makes until you repaint a room or two and then realize how much better and brighter they look than the rooms with the old paint. Painting and decluttering can do more for first impressions than many other (far more expensive) things you can do, and even if you hire painters, the price isn't bad compared with most other improvements. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I hate to say this because I know you don't want to do it, but... do the painting. Fresh paint makes such a difference when someone walks through a house for the first time. It's hard to imagine how much difference it makes until you repaint a room or two and then realize how much better and brighter they look than the rooms with the old paint. Painting and decluttering can do more for first impressions than many other (far more expensive) things you can do, and even if you hire painters, the price isn't bad compared with most other improvements. Agreed. Also, a lot of people nowadays don't want to deal with painting a house. But I would wait to paint until right before listing. 1. Do all the research you mentioned. That seems a feasible plan. 2. Declutter while you are doing the above. Start with small jobs. For instance, maybe tomorrow you clear out one kitchen drawer. It seems less overwhelming if you just focus on one small part at a time instead of thinking about all the zillions of areas that need to be decluttered. 3. Do any low cost minor repairs fairly quickly, too, especially ones that are visible. It helps the house look better maintained, it benefits your house whether you sell it or not, and it takes a few things off that would have shown up on the house inspection as negatives. 4. Have a trustworthy friend walk through your house and give HONEST feedback. Don't get sensitive. Whether you agree with them or not, you need fresh eyes. I think it helps to have someone OTHER than a realtor walk through with you and really share what they think regarding how your house presents for selling. Seriously listen to their feedback. Mull it over a bit before deciding if it is valid. 5. Consider paying for a house inspection. The potential buyer will pay for their own but I have found it worked better for me and DH if we had our own done first. Why? First, it gave us time to get a lot of minor repairs out of the way so they didn't show up in the buyer's inspection later. Also, so we would know well in advance if there were more serious issues that could derail the sale at the last minute or even damage the infrastructure of the house if it continued to be ignored. That also gave us time to either do the repair ahead of time or mention it right up front and adjust the price accordingly. I have seen a lot of real estate sales fall through at the last minute because of unexpected pricey repairs that showed up in the buyer's inspection. Also, I have seen buyers really low ball their offer because of unexpected issues that showed up in the buyer's inspection and the seller had to capitulate because they were desperate to sell. Unless it is a rapid turn around sellers market, I really find getting my own inspection early in the process nets much better results. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashfern Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I agree with the painting, first impressions and whatnot. We're most likely going to put our house on the market next spring. We desperately need to paint the exterior and interior. We're hoping to be able to move out before listing so we can paint inside and replace the carpet. My kids are still at the spill everything and write on the walls phase. :cursing: Plus, the carpet is original to the house. It's in good condition but a little faded and who wants berber carpet these days? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Is your current house kind to your budget? Can you age in place there happily? How old are your kids? I swear my kids grew overnight. I blinked and now my baby is 17. We’ve always had just a little more house than we needed. It’s not excessive; under 2000 sq ft excluding the basement. We just never grew into it as much as we thought we might. When my daughter launches we’ll haveceven more space and I’m already using the LR as a dance studio. We definitely would have been happy and fine for the long haul in less space. So what if it’s crowded twice a year when we have overnight company. The kids hit an age where running through the LR is no longer a thing and their toys just get tinier. Then there’s college and you’re grateful for an old, lower priced mortgage. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 (edited) I'd pick the option to 'stay here forever' since it's the perfect place to age. I'd work on getting more clever about an addition or shed in the back. Get nice plastic bins to store things in. Go to Ikea and get ideas for furniture that works for storage. Moving is a HUGE pain and often a bit of a financial blow--will you be starting over with a 30 year mortgage that is more than what you're paying now? Save the money you'd spend on closing and movers or moving trucks and get a shed or an addition. If the house wouldn't be good for retirement, then maybe moving would be worth it. But since it's the perfect place to age, stay there and work with it. My opinion only, of course. Edited November 5, 2017 by Garga 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I'd pick the option to 'stay here forever' since it's the perfect place to age. I'd work on getting more clever about an addition or shed in the back. Get nice plastic bins to store things in. Go to Ikea and get ideas for furniture that works for storage. Moving is a HUGE pain and often a bit of a financial blow--will you be starting over with a 30 year mortgage that is more than what you're paying now? Save the money you'd spend on closing and movers or moving trucks and get a shed or an addition. If the house wouldn't be good for retirement, then maybe moving would be worth it. But since it's the perfect place to age, stay there and work with it. My opinion only, of course. I agree. I'm in the same boat; have decided not only to stay, but to refinance so that this place will be paid off in fifteen years! If you are over forty, take the long view. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I would paint and fix up before listing. I know people do that and decide they don't need to move. It's nice to have the house looking good. And if there's a chance you aren't going to find anything that meets your needs, it will be good for you to enjoy your home at it's best. And I agree with this. Fixing up our house to qualify for refinance made us realize we like it enough to stay. We had put up with too many issues that weren't major, because it was "just us." But when we made the house good enough for other people, we were more willing to make the financially savvy choice and stay put. (The original goal of the refinance was just to lower the mortgage payment during kids' college years.) So be the people who deserve a decluttered, repaired, and freshly painted house, for your own selves, and then decide whether you want moving costs and a brand new mortgage, or whether you ARE home. If you still want to move, the necessary work will be done and you can start coordinating the selling and buying rituals. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacus2 Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 If your house is a good location for you and a good house for aging I would tend toward stay there forever. You have relatively few years of overcrowding left. Moving is a lot of trouble. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 And I agree with this. Fixing up our house to qualify for refinance made us realize we like it enough to stay. We had put up with too many issues that weren't major, because it was "just us." But when we made the house good enough for other people, we were more willing to make the financially savvy choice and stay put. (The original goal of the refinance was just to lower the mortgage payment during kids' college years.) So be the people who deserve a decluttered, repaired, and freshly painted house, for your own selves, and then decide whether you want moving costs and a brand new mortgage, or whether you ARE home. If you still want to move, the necessary work will be done and you can start coordinating the selling and buying rituals. Yup. This has happened a couple of times for me. We'd get the house looking really nice just to sell it to someone else. I vowed that this time I would keep the house "sell-ready" so that I was living in a pretty house all the time. My resolution fell through a bit, but it's a good goal--to have a nice house for yourself and not gussy it up just for someone else. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Could you rent it out for a while and move nearby? That way you'd have it for retirement still. But I'm with other people -- if the house is good for retirement, I'd put the money into making it more useful for you right now. Fence it, add an addition, build some outdoor storage, rent a nearby storage unit, whatever. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacus2 Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 My parents have a house that was really crowded for the four kids (1100 square feet). Their house is perfect for them now and as they age. It's all one level with a manageable yard. My in-laws have a house that was perfect for their family with 4 boys, 4 bedrooms, several acres of property. But it isn't good now, the master bedroom and bath are up a steep set of stairs and the laundry is in the basement. They are having difficulty maintaining the acreage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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