My Family and I Upgraded- You can too... with a little help and a strong stomach!

Normally this time of year many of us are thinking about upgrading a few personal items we own.  Some upgrade their cellphones, some upgrade their computers or even the car they drive. 

My family and I recently upgraded from our humble 1400 Square foot home in Queens, NY to our new 3100 Square foot home in Nassau County.  While this may not seem abnormal for most but the kicker here is we bought this new home for 50k less than what we sold our previous home for in what is now known as a down market! Although this may seem as though it is quite a feat, but in reality can be done.  I've done it for other families and I've done it for my own.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, "it's an upgrade market".

While not every family will be able to complete this type of transaction how I've done it- as all markets are different, and each families circumstances contrasting.

Like most young families we outgrew our starter home within five years... we were now the parents of two beautiful girls and needed more space for the kids and for entertaining.

My wife was hesitant like most to put our home on the market during this time when home prices were at an all time low- being a buyers market an all, even-though I've always told her all markets are relative not as cut and dry as the news portrays it.  After showing my wife (my toughest buyer and seller to date) the comps and how much we would expect on the sale of our home, and the market price of the types of homes we were interested in- in the school districts we wanted to be within for our girls.  Our home it the market running at market price.

As I marketed my home for sale, my wife (did I mention she was my toughest seller/buyer to date) kept me busy with school and crime statistics for the areas we were interested in.  We viewed and made several offers on quite a handful of Short Sales and Foreclosed Properties- after all I am a Short Sale and Foreclosure Specialized Agent.

We had a gap of about six months between sale and purchase- and this is where the strong stomach comes in.  I'm not going to get into specifics but it is quite difficult to orchestrate a sale and a purchase within close proximity when the purchase is a Short Sale.  Buyers don't normally want to wait six months to buy a home they made an offer on six months prior.  A lot of things can happen within that time, the buyer can find a different property or the buyer may not qualify for the loan when it comes time to close are just two of the pleura of things that can happen.  Luckily I am well versed in contract negotiations and was able to schedule the sale and purchase as close together as possible- three months apart!  Fortunately for my family we were able to stay with relatives during this time. Like I've said before- you'll need a strong stomach!

As many times as I've told this story in recent days, I am frequently asked "why did you wait that long?"  Well truth be told, the property was our "Dream Home" which we did'nt think we would be able to afford for another 5 to 10 years, it was located in the town we wanted to live in, our girls would go to the school we wanted them to attend and it wasn't too far from public transportation and other amenities. 

The best part of purchasing our "Dream Home" now was we were able to purchase it at lower price, borrow the money from the bank at a much lower interest rate than our previous loan home loan and have set our family up in a property that will undoubtedly appreciate in value over the next few years.

I can't stress it enough that this type of transaction isn't for everyone and not everyone will be able to accomplish it, it's all dependent on your local market and your current living and financial arrangements. Don't forget the Pepto!

If you currently live within the boroughs of New York, Nassau or Suffolk Counties and are interested in upgrading or downgrading in today's market feel free to contact me at (718) 909-0233 to schedule a one on one to find out what all of your options are.

 

BISENDRA MELARAM, REALTOR® | 718-909-0233 | Your families agent for life.