Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
eh, depends on the market. My house was under contract in 16 days, and that was slow for the market. It had the "fatal" flaw of being on a busy street, which was reflected in the price but was a limiting factor - if I had faced the quieter part of the complex, it would have been under contract in a few days for at least 5-10% more. They weren't the most fun 16 days of my life, but it was fine, and it would have been fine even if had taken a bit longer.
But in a slow market, maybe I would have chosen differently. Well, more likely I wouldn't have been selling - the only reason I did was because I could take my equity to move to a different neighborhood but we didn't have to move by any means.
We deliberately bought less house 2 weeks ago to avoid trying to live in a house while selling it (no need to break out the violins; we still bought a good amount of house). We do have 3 kids (older ones) and 3 cats. We also work from home. It just wasn't worth the aggravation.
Besides, now our (handsome and debonair) listing agent will get to hold open house (parties) if he wants. No strangers rifling through our valuables.
__________________
When in doubt, check it out: FAQ
I tried this but then everyone complained the house was vacant.
Who complained? The people touring it? People touring like it vacant (leave a few things for light staging). They don't want to see your family photos or muddy shoes. Your family? Let them live there during showings.
Exactly!
And, when people say, "They are up against it. They are carrying two houses," they need to recognize that for a great many sellers that is an indication of strength, not of weakness.
I would have to be pretty desperate to live in a house I was selling.
Uh, no. I don't think so. Neither strength nor desperation has anything to do with it. Not everyone can carry two mortgages at once. I have no shame to say that we couldn't pay $6k+ in mortgage payments and didn't want to deal with bridge loans or deplete our savings. No thanks.
You CAN live in a home and sell it. Many people do it. I've already done it. Twice. With and without kids. It isn't the easiest thing in the world and can be tiring, but we've pulled it off 8 months ago. We did the diligence prior to putting the home up for sale, prepping it correctly, and thereby cutting down on the need for endless showings, open houses, etc etc. In fact, we never had an open house. Some people showed up at the house the moment it went live and throughout the weekend and a few of them put in offers on Monday. Sure, we had to spend extended time outside of the house during the weekend. Sure, we had to adapt to living in a model home for 45 days but it ended up not being that bad at all. Prior to even putting the home up for sale, we rented TWO 10 x 30 storage units to hold our crap (and this was after selling and donating items) so that our home didn't look lived in at all. With the furniture and the toys decreased, it was actually not hard at all maintaining the squeaky clean look. The adjustments I had to make was getting up earlier in the morning (by 15 minutes) to make sure everything remained pristine and that all things were out of view. Everyone ate at the kitchen island so as not to disturb the formal place settings. Before we left for work, blinds went up.
Yes, even with two kids, including a toddler, our kitchen looked like this from listing to closing. It's hard but doable.
Then the buyers....or should I call them the fake buyers. I already wrote a thread about them but most of them have a house to sell that isn't even on the market yet. GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU LOOKY LOO
OK. I stopped reading right after that sentence.
I am a serious buyer but there is no way in hell I am putting my own (mortgage-free) house on the market until I find a house that I like better than this one. I am a very well-qualified buyer and don't have to sell this one first in order to buy another, though I will probably still want to take out a mortgage (putting at least 30% down, most likely).
The only time I'm a looky-loo is when there is a home in my own neighborhood that has an Open House and I want to check it out to compare it to mine.
Uh, no. I don't think so. Neither strength nor desperation has anything to do with it. Not everyone can carry two mortgages at once. I have no shame to say that we couldn't pay $6k+ in mortgage payments and didn't want to deal with bridge loans or deplete our savings. No thanks.
You CAN live in a home and sell it. Many people do it. I've already done it. Twice. With and without kids. It isn't the easiest thing in the world and can be tiring, but we've pulled it off 8 months ago.
I lost a listing because the price range I recommended was $100,000 less than what the sellers wanted. They chose another agent who was willing to list it for $ 125,000 higher than the market would bear. 1.5 year and dozens of teeny- tiny price adjustments later it sold for $150,000 less than the original ask and $25,000 less than they could have rec'd had it been right priced from the start. The market tends to punish sellers who price out of the box in flattish/ declining markets.
Not to mention all the additional payments on a loan for a home they no longer evev wanted.
Sellings sucks. OP has my sympathies. We sold our house this past summer and showings are hard. It's one thing to just go looking at an open house but to make an appointment with a realtor and go look at a house that you have no intention of buying or you just can't afford is just rude. We had two lookers who later told their realtor and their realtor told mine that the price was too high. Apparently WAY out of their range, not that it was overpriced. My realtor said she calls them "low ballers". They think it's still 2008 and people are desperate to sell. So they will think nothing of looking at a house listed for $350k when they are only approved for or willing to only spend $250k. Waste of everyone's time.
Anyway we tried in very early spring, the first week of March and got crickets. We took it down in two weeks and waited until everything got very green and pretty. We lived in the country and there was a world of difference between early spring and late spring. We re listed at the end of May and got an offer in two weeks.
The offer was originally a contingent offer where they had to sell their house. We took the offer because 1)you can still show your house and take other offers if you have a contingency. We had a 24 hour kickout clause
2) it's very attractive to other buyers knowing that there is an offer on a house. It makes your house seem more desirable.
Kind of like the person with a boyfriend/girlfriend vs someone who can't get a date if that makes sense.
Realtors will tell their buyers, "This house has a contract on it."
And in the end after we accepted their contingent offer, the buyers came back and said they were just buying the house. I guess someone in the family gave them the money or whatever. They weren't going to have to sell their house first in order to buy mine. So don't turn away those contingent offers!
best of luck!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
