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We moved in 2007 from one condo to another without much of an issue. I was able to use the money in the first house to put towards the second. I was hoping to do that when we sell within the next year. Albeit there won't be as much as we put in, but still was hoping to avoid the renting in the middle. Has anyone done this recently? Since we want to downsize quite a bit I might even be able to get a bank to give me a mortgage while still owning this house, but of course I would rather sell at the same time as I buy.
Can anyone share with me any recent experiences of what you did? Look for house after yours is under contract? Look before contract? Bridge Loan? Own 2 houses for some time!? Rent in between?
can you afford both at the same time for a while, as well as being able to afford it on paper? otherwise you will have to either make a contingent offer or sell and find a place to rent while you buy the 2nd home.
afford on paper, but trying to save money as i want to go back to school. also how will i find a place to rent for just a few months? also have school age children (only in K though) so want to move over winter break or over summer. i'm in hoboken want to move to middlesex or union county, off chance of rutherford. (family of 4)
I looked before, because I didn't want to move twice. Since I already had a home equity line of credit open on the old house, I used that to cover the down payment on the new house. Fortunately the old house sold about a month after I bought the new and I didn't have to pay much double mortgage + HELOC interest.
It's certainly the most flexible way to do it, and depending on how it works out coud be cheaper than renting in between. But if the old house doesn't sell quickly you will have no liquid assets for a while, which won't be fun.
afford on paper, but trying to save money as i want to go back to school. also how will i find a place to rent for just a few months? also have school age children (only in K though) so want to move over winter break or over summer. i'm in hoboken want to move to middlesex or union county, off chance of rutherford. (family of 4)
I don't know what the most ideal way to do it is, but I wouldn't think that an offer with contingency to sell your existing home is one that would be picked first.
if you could afford them both then you are probably in the best position to buy and sell. We are moving and we'll leave enough "stuff" in the old home to make it look neat, clean and uncluttered but lived in. I would get the first home into selling shape if there is work to be done, so that you can put it up for sale as soon as you find a new home. You're right, renting for a few months is not ideal, but I know some people live in extended stay hotels for several months.
I think it depends on your income and debt ratio. Now the ratip tend to be around 33-36%. We moved up from a condo to a house in 2009. We owned 2 houses since new home needs to be remodeled. We do not have issue to get mortgage as our income is high enough and we still have 30% equity on the condo. After we moved to new home, we put condo on market for a month with many interests but no offer. We were told that prepared for 6 months wait to sell so that we decided to rent out. It was rented within 2 weeks and rent can cover mortgage, tax and maintenance fee.
In today's market I wouldn't want to buy without selling your existing property first, unless you're prepared to possibly carry 2 mortgages for a long time.
I would recommend looking around in the area you want to buy in first - go to lots of open houses and/or work with a realtor. You'll then have an idea of inventory, price points, what you like, etc.
You could then list your current property and once it sells, you'll at least have a good idea of what you want to buy. In a worst case scenario, if you don't find a new place by the time you have to be out of your current home, you could do a short term rental.
Thanks for the ideas, we are going in circles unfortunately. we got the place repainted but we have already messed it up quite a bit with 2 5 year olds, plan was to put it up early summer, but now I don't know as they have started school if we should wait until the spring. It sounds like house to house is a possibility. My concern with wanting to sell/buy now is that we reduce our income by like 60% in the spring, so I was considering whether I should do this now before we are in that situation. Also some rentals want 36 times monthly rent as income at $3000+/month we would be better to get in now as we might not have the income but should have some liquid reserves.
Thanks nybbler! Did you put your home on the market before you started looking seriously?
No, it was pretty much at the same time.
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