Selling current house, buying a new house.

**RivaCom** · 09-07-2009, 06:36 PM

Hi Everyone. Hopefully I can get some useful advice here.

I purchased my current house in Jan. 2008. It was a quick purchase and a starter home at best since my wife and I were getting married. Over the year and half we renovated the house here and there. Replaced the electric heat with a eff. gas furnace(with option to install AC unit), new appliances, partial finished basement. However the house is from 1979 and needs many new things like new windows/doors/etc. We did the math and to start replacing everything else that is needed, would be equal to just buying a new home(current mortgage + Improvements, vs. new mortgage at lower rates). We purchased our current home for $112k, and rolled our taxes and closing into the loan. $124k was the final mortgage amount. After a year about 4-5K has been paid off of the principal. I didn't deal with a Realtor the first time so the only experience I have is the shady Realtor the sellers had.

1. Should we go ahead and get a Realtor, even while were still working on different things on the house? Lots of staging and cleaning needs to be done.

2. Will the realtor help us with a purchase price, as well as finding a house for us at the same time? This will be one of those things where we need to sell this house as we purchase another house.

3. My wife's name isn't on the Deed or mortgage for this house. If we put her name with mine, would be qualify for the first time home buyers? Or if we just put hers, would she get it?

4. Should we put our house on the market before we've found our new house?

5. Anything else I should be considering?

Were trying to find something quickly since we are expecting our first in Feb. and she wants to get the house all ready for the baby.

Any help would be great. Thanks everyone.

**Greg** · 09-08-2009, 05:48 AM

Unless property values have gone up where you are you will most likely have to sell at a loss to make the deal work.

None of the things you did add any significant value to your house. So after you subtract the cost of selling you will probably come up with a loss.

Talk to a couple of local agents about selling your house to get a feel for what you can sell it for and what the selling expenses will be. Just be careful of the agents who exaggerate the price so they can have a sign in your yard.

**RivaCom** · 09-08-2009, 07:01 AM

Hmm, thats interesting because i've heard just the opposite. I've heard putting in better heating usually helps sell the house. We also have a roof that was less than a 2 years old when we bought house making the roof less than 5 years old. I've seen other houses in the area go for about 128,000 with less features than ours.

I'll have to contact a real estate agent I suppose.

**dognponyshow** · 09-08-2009, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by RivaCom

I'll have to contact a real estate agent I suppose.

It's difficult for me to imagine how you could get useful answers to your questions without speaking to at least one (and preferably, three) local real estate agents and having them do a market analysis. They can show you what houses similar to yours have sold for (not what the list price was, but what it actually sold for) and how long it took. When a seller is under a time constraint such as yours, it would seem reasonable to try to price correctly and market thoroughly right out of the gate. There isn't really enough time to price it $50,000 too high and put a FSBO ad in the paper.

There's a difference between something that makes a house more likely to sell, and one that offers a high return on investment in terms of price. For example, modernizing the heating system might add a fraction of its cost to the price, but how much depends on what the competition offers. If yours is the best-maintained, most attractive house in its size and price range, then it will look good compared to others. That's the whole point of having agents do a competitive market analysis, so you have a good idea what your competition is, and can price and "fix up" as appropriate.

Best wishes with the sale.

**Nick Brian** · 09-08-2009, 11:29 AM

Hi everyone
Finding the perfect buyer will be a bit difficult. Most of the times it's seen that home appliances are deducted by the buyer to keep a safe margin in hand. That might actually demotivate them to spend other than the house, you know what I mean. If you plan to sell then find an agent and don't invest anymore without agent's concerns.

**tucsonhomes** · 09-08-2009, 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by RivaCom

Hmm, thats interesting because i've heard just the opposite. I've heard putting in better heating usually helps sell the house. We also have a roof that was less than a 2 years old when we bought house making the roof less than 5 years old. I've seen other houses in the area go for about 128,000 with less features than ours.

I'll have to contact a real estate agent I suppose.

"I suppose"? Thats the good news! There is a cure for your concern and you get a choice of many to choose from to handle the situation in a professional and knowledgeable manner.