Selling/Buying a House in Today's Market

[Clark Addison]

This may be a stupid question, but that rarely stops me.

We have lived in our current house for 7 years. It is the second house we have owned. We have bought both of our houses while on a relocation package. For various reasons, we are considering moving, while staying in the area. Until a couple of years ago, houses in my neighborhood usually sold within a month or so of being placed on the market, so I would have looked for a house I liked, and when I found one, I would then put my house on the market, so the sales happened at about the same time. Lately, though, I know of a couple houses in our area that were on the market for up to a year. We definitely do not want to spend any time with two mortgages (and the bank would probably not like that anyway). So, not to sound like a rube, but what do people usually do in this situation? Do they:

Method A
1. Put house on market
2. When house sells, then start looking for new house. Stay in temporary housing if necessary

Method B
1. Find new house
2. When house is found, put old house on market, price it to sell quickly, and hope for the best.

[Mormon Red Death]

This may be a stupid question, but that rarely stops me.

We have lived in our current house for 7 years. It is the second house we have owned. We have bought both of our houses while on a relocation package. For various reasons, we are considering moving, while staying in the area. Until a couple of years ago, houses in my neighborhood usually sold within a month or so of being placed on the market, so I would have looked for a house I liked, and when I found one, I would then put my house on the market, so the sales happened at about the same time. Lately, though, I know of a couple houses in our area that were on the market for up to a year. We definitely do not want to spend any time with two mortgages (and the bank would probably not like that anyway). So, not to sound like a rube, but what do people usually do in this situation? Do they:

Method A
1. Put house on market
2. When house sells, then start looking for new house. Stay in temporary housing if necessary

Method B
1. Find new house
2. When house is found, put old house on market, price it to sell quickly, and hope for the best.

Method A if you can't foot the two mortgages for longer than 6 months. Method B if you can.

[ewth8tr]

This may be a stupid question, but that rarely stops me.

We have lived in our current house for 7 years. It is the second house we have owned. We have bought both of our houses while on a relocation package. For various reasons, we are considering moving, while staying in the area. Until a couple of years ago, houses in my neighborhood usually sold within a month or so of being placed on the market, so I would have looked for a house I liked, and when I found one, I would then put my house on the market, so the sales happened at about the same time. Lately, though, I know of a couple houses in our area that were on the market for up to a year. We definitely do not want to spend any time with two mortgages (and the bank would probably not like that anyway). So, not to sound like a rube, but what do people usually do in this situation? Do they:

Method A
1. Put house on market
2. When house sells, then start looking for new house. Stay in temporary housing if necessary

Method B
1. Find new house
2. When house is found, put old house on market, price it to sell quickly, and hope for the best.

We are in the middle of Method A right now. Our house has been on the market for ~8 months now and we have done all sorts of crazy stuff to try to entice buyers, but the area we live in is killing us.

[beefytee]

This may be a stupid question, but that rarely stops me.

We have lived in our current house for 7 years. It is the second house we have owned. We have bought both of our houses while on a relocation package. For various reasons, we are considering moving, while staying in the area. Until a couple of years ago, houses in my neighborhood usually sold within a month or so of being placed on the market, so I would have looked for a house I liked, and when I found one, I would then put my house on the market, so the sales happened at about the same time. Lately, though, I know of a couple houses in our area that were on the market for up to a year. We definitely do not want to spend any time with two mortgages (and the bank would probably not like that anyway). So, not to sound like a rube, but what do people usually do in this situation? Do they:

Method A
1. Put house on market
2. When house sells, then start looking for new house. Stay in temporary housing if necessary

Method B
1. Find new house
2. When house is found, put old house on market, price it to sell quickly, and hope for the best.

We did Method A. We asked for an extra month to close and look for a new house.

We didn't know if our house would sell, but it sold the first week on the market. It was pretty stressful trying to find a new place as my wife wasn't digging the idea of temporary relocation.

[Coach McGuirk]

Method C - Put house on market, when house is under contract feel free to offer on a new home with it being contingent upon the sale of your home completing. If timed right, no temp housing needed.

[ewth8tr]

We did Method A. We asked for an extra month to close and look for a new house.

We didn't know if our house would sell, but it sold the first week on the market. It was pretty stressful trying to find a new place as my wife wasn't digging the idea of temporary relocation.

I hate you.

[Solon]

Method C - Put house on market, when house is under contract feel free to offer on a new home with it being contingent upon the sale of your home completing. If timed right, no temp housing needed.

We're in the middle of Method A - temporary housing with my parents.

Only the grandchildren win.

We initially planned to do method B, but our place sold waaay faster than anticipated due to the expiring tax credit at the end of April. (sorry ewth8tr)

[Clark Addison]

Method A if you can't foot the two mortgages for longer than 6 months. Method B if you can.

Method A it is. Anyone looking for a beautiful house in Charlotte, can send me a PM.

[marsupial]

Our friends put their house on the market and it sold in about a week. The buyer wanted to close before April 30 so that she could cash in on the first-time home buyer incentive. But my friends needed to stay in the house until the end of May. So they closed early April and have been renting their own house from the buyer until they move out.

[ewth8tr]

Our friends put their house on the market and it sold in about a week. The buyer wanted to close before April 30 so that she could cash in on the first-time home buyer incentive. But my friends needed to stay in the house until the end of May. So they closed early April and have been renting their own house from the buyer until they move out.

That sucks for your friends as I am pretty sure that to qualify for the tax credit, you just had to have a contract in place by the end of april, while closing by the end of may.

[statman]

Method A it is. Anyone looking for a beautiful house in Charlotte, can send me a PM.

What part of Charlotte?

Used to live there - way down south by Carowinds. The summer after we sold, there was some court case on busing that pissed off a whole bunch of people. Home values in the area we had lived in dropped by about 10-15% overnight.

We went back to the 'old neighborhood' a few years ago. In 5 or 6 years, the area went from being a pretty nice place with manicured lawns, fresh paint on all the houses, all the hedges trimmed, etc to a wasteland. People must've left en masse...

[Clark Addison]

What part of Charlotte?

Used to live there - way down south by Carowinds. The summer after we sold, there was some court case on busing that pissed off a whole bunch of people. Home values in the area we had lived in dropped by about 10-15% overnight.

We went back to the 'old neighborhood' a few years ago. In 5 or 6 years, the area went from being a pretty nice place with manicured lawns, fresh paint on all the houses, all the hedges trimmed, etc to a wasteland. People must've left en masse...

One of us is stalking the other. I think we have both lived in Chicago, Utah, and Charlotte, and both worked in credit card.

I live about 18 miles due south of downtown.

[statman]

One of us is stalking the other. I think we have both lived in Chicago, Utah, and Charlotte, and both worked in credit card.

I live about 18 miles due south of downtown.

Is that Still in NC? Rock Hill? Or that planned community between Rock Hill and the state line which name escapes me. Lago.. Luna... Something foreign with a two-part name...

I did TX between Charlotte & IL, and New Haven, CT & Columbia, SC before Charlotte.

New Haven, CT 1988 - 1992
Columbia, SC - 1992-1998,
Charlotte, NC - 1998 - 1999
Ft Worth, TX - 1999 - 2003
Elgin, IL - 2003 - 2006
Lehi, UT 2006 -

BTW - Tega Cay! It's Tega Cay! (Quay?)

[Clark Addison]

Is that Still in NC? Rock Hill? Or that planned community between Rock Hill and the state line which name escapes me. Lago.. Luna... Something foreign with a two-part name...

I did TX between Charlotte & IL, and New Haven, CT & Columbia, SC before Charlotte.

New Haven, CT 1988 - 1992
Columbia, SC - 1992-1998,
Charlotte, NC - 1998 - 1999
Ft Worth, TX - 1999 - 2003
Elgin, IL - 2003 - 2006
Lehi, UT 2006 -

BTW - Tega Cay! It's Tega Cay! (Quay?)

We are east of I77, still in NC, in Union County.

I have never lived in SC or TX, so I guess our parallel lives only go so far.

[statman]

We are east of I77, still in NC, in Union County.

I have never lived in SC or TX, so I guess our parallel lives only go so far.

Ah - the big expensive houses out in the country south of Matthews! Ballentine (?) - that name sticks in my head for some reason...