Buying/Selling a home (real estate, condo, mortgage)

[NJPJFan]

We currently have a condo in South Brunswick and are looking to move.

The problem is I can't seem to get anyone to tell me what we can afford or get qualified for until our house is on the market. I don't want to put our condo on the market without knowing what we can afford and if we can get approved.

Is this pretty much standard practice? It seems as though the second I say that our condo isn't on the market yet, everyone clams up and says they can't do anything until it is.

[Ninasimonejr]

That doesn't make sense to me at all. A lender can prequalify you within a day or two and give you a ballpark figure for a loan. As for what you can afford, you have to figure that out yourself.

We are looking to buy and sell simultaneously too. Here's our process so far:

1. We got prequalified by a lender with a number for a loan.

2. We started looking to see what the market is like on both the buying and the selling end.

3. A local realtor came to see our house and told us how much she felt we could list it for.

4. Then we talked to lawyers and people on this forum about how to buy and sell at the same time in order to avoid paying two mortgages. (We haven't hired a lawyer yet but asking about this was a good way to interview prospective lawyers.) Basic verdict: get contingency clauses in your contracts and don't buy a new home until you have a buyer for your old one... and have a plan B.

5. All this was before putting the house on the market, which we are getting ready to do now.

You might want to check out the City-Data real estate forum.

[manderly6]

Originally Posted by Ninasimonejr

That doesn't make sense to me at all. A lender can prequalify you within a day or two and give you a ballpark figure for a loan. As for what you can afford, you have to figure that out yourself.


You might want to check out the City-Data real estate forum.

Yeah, this doesn't really make any sense to me either. Any mortgage company should be more than happy to deal with you before your house is on the market.

There is also a mortgage forum that might be helpful

[Sergio M]

You really need to know how much of the proceeds is equity to begin the pre-approval process. You will need a number that is attainable for your home, then make all the deductions, include transfer fees and taxes. Then you will have the net equity.