Selling Your Property

Selling/Relocating Considerations

If you have decided to sell your home there are a number of issues to consider before taking the first step. For example, you will obviously need a new place to live so the first consideration should be; do I sell my home first and rent temporarily while looking for a new home, or do I work out an agreement with a potential buyer that would give me a time frame in which to find a new place?

A home selling plan should take into consideration every conceivable scenario. For example, you may decide to sell the property contingent upon your finding a new residence.

However, what if the buyer offers you an excellent price for your home, but insists on immediate occupancy? In that case, you might want to consider moving into a temporary rental. But consideration should also be given to the additional cost of renting, and the length of time you may have to rent before finding a new home, balanced against the net profit of the sale.

If you firmly insist on your home being sold contingent to your finding a new place, be aware that most buyers are reluctant to agree to such an arrangement, and would want to close in the shortest possible time.

Consideration should also be given to market conditions. In a buyers market, with many available homes, competition between sellers allows a potential buyer to pick an arrangement that favors the buyer, and not the seller’s needs.

If the buyer is amenable, and does not require immediate occupancy, you could close on the home, and then rent your former residence from the new owner for an agreed upon fee, while you look for a new place.

Unless the buyer has purchased the property for rental purposes, you will probably have a specific time frame in which to find a new home before having to either move or negotiate a lease arrangement with the new owner.

Once you have made the decision to sell, find a Realtor to represent you. Then work out a marketing plan with your agent that includes proper “staging” of the home to maximize the property’s attractiveness, studying the competition and overall sales activity in the area in order to arrive at a realistic selling price, and deciding whether you want to sell and move, or sell contingent upon your finding a new residence.

Representation by a real estate agent is a most important consideration. An experienced listing agent who is thoroughly familiar with your neighborhood will network with buyer’s agents, thereby increasing the number of potential buyer’s who will visit your property, and maximizing the chances of selling your home in the shortest possible time.