Selling A House (Dallas, Plano, Flower Mound: days on market, for sale, real estate)

[getmeoutofhere]

Never done it before.

If I need to move this summer, when should I put it on the market? It's not feasible to leave before the beginning of June, but I don't want to miss out on the tax credit either.

Any ideas?

[Dallas native]

Find a Realtor who is very familiar with your area and who will give you an idea of the average days on market for houses in your 'hood. Put your house in tip-top condition, price it right and get it on the market. Regarding the tax credit, in order for your buyers to qualify they will have to be in contract no later than April 30th and they must close no later than June 30th. That applies to you too if you are buying a new home somewhere. If you are able to leave by the beginning of June, then you should probably put your house on the market fairly soon because that's only about 3.5 months away. If you get a buyer early in the process, perhaps you will be able to negotiate a sale & leaseback or a delayed closing.

[loves2read]

the word of mouth is that many people with children who need to move want to know where they are going before school is out--
they start looking after Christmas around Feb or March and try to close before end of school...spring months are usually busy from that perspective...
summer is less busy but after August/September for families things usually slow down...

[88txaggie]

We sold our Plano house last spring - cleaned for 6 weeks, listed mid Feb, contract in April, closed May 30. We were very, very lucky and I did a LOT of work to get the house ready.

[burrogs]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere

Never done it before.

If I need to move this summer, when should I put it on the market? It's not feasible to leave before the beginning of June, but I don't want to miss out on the tax credit either.

Any ideas?

The tax credit is likely a moot point for your situation since both the house you are selling and the house you are buying will be equally overpriced (by the amount of the credit). In fact you may be better off selling while the credit is in place, then buying when the credit has expired.

[PlanoGirl]

I think there are a lot of factors to how quickly your house sells...we put our Plano house on the market this past Oct. Within 48 hours we had 3 offers, one of them (the one we went with) was full-price, and didn't ask for any help with closing costs! With the market being what it is..we were totally not expecting that. I think our success was mostly due to 2 things: 1) We priced well. Our realtor took us to visit 3 other comp houses in our neighborhood so we could make an accurate assessment of what our competition was. We even decided last minute to list it up 5K higher than we originally planned, since we weren't in a hurry to move...haha! so much for that! 2) We worked REALLY REALLY hard the 6-8 weeks before getting the house as show-ready as possible...we de-cluttered, took some things to storage, re-painted some area, did some bathroom fixture updates, re-stained our deck, etc, etc, etc...a lot we did ourselves...some we hired out...probably put about 2K into it (plus LOADS of sweat & tears). I watched lots of HGTV to get staging ideas...and also made sure the online pics were good quailty, highlighting all the best features of the house.
Anyway, that was our experience. Even with all the prep work, we were still fully expecting for it to take at least 30 days (and probably closer to 60) to sell...so I am sure we had some luck on our side too!

[Ryan Kirkpatrick]

I believe you are talking about the move up credit of $6,500 in your case since you already own your home in plano. To qualify you will have had to have lived in that home for atleast 5 years.

Who knows if they will extend the tax credit again, but homes are not priced $6,500 above market value. I can appreciate the market value of the home tax credit priced in a lot like a dividend is priced into a stock price, but real estate is much less liquid and I don't subscribe to the idea of home prices having $6,500 of tax incentive or $8,000 priced in. If a home is priced too high it just doesn't sell even in the Dallas area which is looked at as one of the most stable environments in the country.

I think you would be missing out on potential buyers to not have your house on the market before the beginning of April and priced right for a quick sale. Who knows what the government is going to do regarding the tax credit after April 30th, but my concern is that once this credit is expired for good, this will create a kind of short sale environment going forward atleast in the short term since many buyers that would have put off buying did purchase because of the financial tax incentive. But then again, who knows if they extend it once again? I'm marketing my home before the tax credit expires if that tells you anything.

Generally, placing it on the market in the Spring time is the most popular- everything else being equal. Curb appeal is a big key for purcashers and this is the best opportunity for your home to shine.

[getmeoutofhere]

Originally Posted by burrogs

The tax credit is likely a moot point for your situation since both the house you are selling and the house you are buying will be equally overpriced (by the amount of the credit). In fact you may be better off selling while the credit is in place, then buying when the credit has expired.

What?

That makes no sense.

And I am not buying a new house. I mean I don't want to miss out on the credit for people buying my house, it's my understanding that has been beneficial for sales.

[getmeoutofhere]

Also, anyone have any realtor recommendations for Lantana / Flower Mound area?

[Ryan Kirkpatrick]

I follow you-I was trying to say that there is a move up credit ($6,500) that you can take advantage of if you are purchasing another home, but it sounds like you are not.

Yes-I encourage you to place your home on the market before the tax credit expiration date.

I'm sorry I don't know anyone who knows that territory very well.

Good luck!