Wisdom Shared: Should I sell before I buy?
September 21st, 2007 . by Mike Kelly This is the age old question, similiar to what came first the chicken or the egg! Here are some thoughts for you to consider with the cavaet being you have explored the move-up market and feel confident you’ll be able to FIND a home then here are your options:
1. Sell your home, close the escrow, take your cash, rent and then go out and get the best deal you can. If you are a buyer who has to sell all you’re doing is tying everyone up and creating a lot of frustration. I guarantee you’ll get a better deal WITHOUT making your offer contingent on the sale of your home.
2. Sell your home and ask for a rent-back period of 6 months. You’ll most likely have to pay the new Buyer’s Principle, Interest, Taxes and Insurance (all prorated) but at least you’ll know you’re got cash in hand and no headaches.
3. You could buy another property and have the Seller carry not only a 2nd but 3rd note secured by a deed of trust on the new property which gets paid off when you sell your current home. You could make then “straight” notes, no payments, interest accruing. Conversely, they could secure the 3rd or 2nd on your current home. This would generate “equity” for you and they would be paid off at the time of the sale of your current property.
4. Do #1 above and forget the rest of these! I can get very creative but the Seller on the other end may NOT be that sophisticated AND using the owner carry back scenarios strictly limit the Homes you can make offers on. So bite the bullet, sell first, go rent, become a POWER buyer!
