As I posted in the previous article, the conventional wisdom is not always so wise. I spoke of a situation in which selling in a "Buyer's Market" is the perfect thing to do. That scenario is when you are moving to a home that is more expensive than your current home.
Another situation when the same is true is when one is making a lateral move in the same general geographic location. That is, if the home you will purchase is of approximately the same value as the home in which you currently live and are selling, a "Buyer's Market" is not a bad time to sell. For that matter, a "Seller's Market" is also not a bad time to sell.
One must remember that in all but a few instances, a home seller is not only a home seller. A home seller is a home buyer in waiting. Again, there are cases in which this is not the case (sellers moving to an apartment, sellers moving to assisted living, etc.), however I will address what happens in the vast majority of situations.
As I discussed in the last article, in a "Buyer's Market" such as we are experiencing in Rochester Hills and Oakland Township (as in the entire Metropolitan Detroit area), your home will not command the price that it would have commanded last year. If you purchased your home in the current century, it may not command the price that you originally paid. I know this is a depressing thought. However, it is only a depressing thought if you are thinking in a short-term manner. Remember, the home seller from whom you will be purchasing shortly is in the same situation as you are in currently. If you are making a lateral move (spending about the same amount of money as your sale brought you), the worst case scenario is that what you "lose" on the sale of your home, you "gain" on the purchase of your new home. I say the "worst case" scenario because the situation can and should be much more optimistic.
A seasoned and astute Realtor will take advantage of the market and your situation to assist you in making an incredibly attractive purchase after your home sells. This can be done because once you sell your home, you become a commodity in great demand...you become a ready, willing and able buyer. You become a buyer with no strings (i.e., contingencies) attached. A good Realtor will use this fact to its fullest potential. Just as in a "Seller's Market" in which Realtors have buyers bidding on properties, in a "Buyer's Market" an experienced and effective Realtor will create a situation in which home sellers are bidding on YOU! That's right, home sellers will be standing in line to "purchase" what you are selling. And what you are selling is a clean, hassle-free, easy and quick purchase of their home. Your Realtor should make it very well known to brokers of homes in which you have an interest just how ready, willing and able you are to purchase their home. But because you are such a desirable "product", you are not cheap. It will cost the home seller a little bit extra to "buy" you. If enough patience is exercised on your part as a buyer, you will be very pleased with the quality of deal that you consummate.
As in the previous article's scenario, the success of this strategy relies heavily on one thing...SELL BEFORE YOU BUY!. In negotiations, you always want "the upper hand" or to "hold the cards". Selling before you buy will assure you that you are "holding the cards in your upper hand"!
Now start cleaning the basement, polishing the floors, freshening up the paint, etc. We have a house to sell!
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