What happens when you're in the situation where you need to sell your current house before you're able to buy a new house? This happens quite often, and so here are some of the tips I give to my clients when they need to sell their Hudson Valley home.
One of the first things that my clients ask me is if they should put their house on the market first or if they should start looking at houses first, find one they like and then worry about selling. My advice on this is always the same, if you need to sell to buy a new home, always list your house first, and then find the house second.
There are a few key factors to this reasoning, the main one being: when you find a house that you like and make an offer on, you're not only have to get the sellers to accept the offer that you're making, but also the contingency that you need to sell. That will be much easier if you already have a buyer identified or if your house is already listed. If you have not listed your house, and don't have a buyer identified, it will severely weaken your offer.
Imagine you're a home seller, and you have two offers in front of you. The first offer is for $5,000 under your asking price, and there's a contingency to sell, but they already have a buyer under contract. The second offer is for full asking, but there's a contingency to sell and they have not yet listed their house. The risk is far greater with the second offer even if they are slightly higher because they have not yet started the steps to list their house. The first offer is slightly lower, however they have a fully executed contract with the buyer and the likelihood that they will close on time is greater. In this situation, a Realtor would likely advise taking the first offer.
Another reason to list your house first is that you are more likely to find a buyer who is willing to give you the time to find a new home, than you are to find a seller who will let you find a buyer first. The buyer has to fall in love with your home and if they do they may be willing to wait. Seller just wants to find a buyer who is ready, willing, and able to purchase their house. If someone with an offer that has no sale contingency comes along, they are in a stronger position to move.
If you need to sell your home before buying a new one, make sure you list with a reputable and strong listing agent so you can identify a buyer quickly. That will increase the strength of any offer you make if you have to include a sale contingency.
And if you are looking for a top listing agent in the Hudson Valley to sell your home, well, I know a good one ;).
.
Thanks for listening,
