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2 of 5 Secrets to Buying the Best House for Your Money

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Atlanta Partners

2. Sell Your Property First, Then Buy the House

If you have a house to sell, sell it before selecting a house to buy! Contingency sales aren't nearly as strong as one that comes in with a ready, willing and able buyer. Consider this scenario: You've found the perfect house - now you have to go make an offer to the seller. You want the seller to reduce the price and wait until you sell your house. The seller figures that this is a risky deal, since he might pass up a buyer who DOESN'T have to sell a house while he's waiting for you. So he says OK, he'll do the contingency but it has to be a full price offer! You have now paid more for the house than you could have because of the contingency, and you have to sell your existing house in a hurry! Otherwise you lose the house! So to sell quickly you might take an offer that's lower than if you had more time. The bottom line is that buying before selling might cost you THOUSANDS of dollars.

If you're concerned that there is not a house on the market for you, then go on a window-shopping trip. You can identify possible houses and locations without falling in love with a specific house. If you feel confident after that then put your house on the market.

Another tactic is to make the sale ''subject to seller finding suitable housing''. Adding this phrase to the listing means that WHEN YOU DO FIND A BUYER, you will have some time to find the new place. If you don't find anything to your liking, you don't have to sell your present home

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Darya Dym
Beibei - White Springs, FL

Very informative article. Buying a house is a serious decision. It is the largest purchase one has ever made in his life. It is not an easy task to find an ideal place to live. Recently I have come across one interesting service http://climate.fizber.com/ With the help of climate watch homebuyers can check what the climate is like in another town or city before they move there.

Jun 24, 2008 01:04 AM