The Road to Settlement is Different for Every Buyer
Today, February 13th, was when I got to register my first buyer side sale for 2018. Believe it or not, our house hunt started late in the summer of 2017. The buyer also happened to be a home seller of mine. When I took her listing in Haymarket, I let her know that her unique home was going to require a very particular buyer. That meant it could take time and she shouldn't push any interested buyer away with a home of choice contingency. Also, what she was looking for may not be available when she no longer had a home sale contingency. Sure enough, the homes we saw once we got her listing under contract were not all that pleasing.
Like many buyers that also happen to be sellers, my buyer found she had to activate her temporary housing plan. Every home buyer that needs to sell their existing home in Northern Virginia to buy needs a temporary housing plan. For starters, it is hard to get sellers to accept home sale contingencies. Very hard. Practically the only way to entice sellers to take a home sale contingency is by paying more to entice those sellers to wait for your existing home to sell. Who wants to pay more? And if you are under contract to purchase with a home sale contingency, you are also more likely to get raked over the coals in negotiations on the selling side. Why? Because you HAVE to sell to buy.
The best reason to have a temporary housing plan is that you don't want to be rushed to find the home of your dreams. Buying a home is not like picking out a swimsuit you are going to wear for one summer season. And think about how much you can stress out about that? It is a decision that is going to affect you for years to come. Why rush yourself to buy, when temporary housing allows you to take your time?
The buyer's existing home sold in early October. As I said, we had been searching in her desired locale of Orange, VA since late summer. We got close in December, finding a home that almost fit, but not quite. Then, in mid-January, the New Year brought a listing to the market that my buyer was eager to snatch up. Took me some time to find the listing as it was listed in a more southerly MLS, of which I am not a member. Once I figured out the problem, I found the listing and made an appointment to see it. We wrote an offer that same day.
The biggest hurdle to settlement was literally a trash can in the middle of the road on our way to the title company this afternoon. Never had to get out and move a physical obstacle from the road on the way to get a deal wrapped up, but I am a full service agent. Trash can in the road? No problem!
My buyer's home in Orange had listed for $154,500. Today, my buyer made it hers for $147,000. She also got a home warranty compliments of the seller and some modest closing cost help to undo a renovation no-no.
When you are ready to sell your existing home and buy another, give me a call and let's talk strategy. Selling your home to buy another is not as simple as marketing the old and finding the new. It takes some well thought out planning, and well thought out back up plans.
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