Real Estate: Buy or Sell First

[Sputnik]

Well as some of you may remember, my bf and I bought a condo last year (1 year ago to be exact). We like the condo and have spent about $10K on renovations and new appliances. Anyway its a bit tiny for us we find, so we're doing some of the last minor updates and then we want to put it back on the market. So here's where I'm not sure what we should be doing - should we put this place on the market and sell it first? Or should we find a place first, and then put it up for sale? I just saw a place we're interested in getting today (new listing), and it has a long closing date (Aug 31st), but our place isn't quite ready to go on the market yet...This is really our first foray into the real estate world, so we're not quite sure about the whole selling/buying process yet.

[GMJAP]

Just make sure you can handle the payments for both if you buy first, and don't make any plans based on selling by a specific date.

[Viben' round]

one thing that I have heard is that by buying and selling rapidly, you won't have much equity in the house. it hurts the resale, on the other hand you did add 10K in upgrades and renovations.

[Sputnik]

I'm not concerned about capital gains because I've read up on it and they said if its your primary residence that you're selling and moving to then you don't pay cg until you cash out completely. Not only have we put in $10K in upgrades, we also paid double on our mortgage for a while and managed to pay off over $10K on the principal in less than a year. So I'm not too worried about selling it after only a year. We stopped paying double payments on the mortgage once we decided to buy a new place because our mortgage is portable and we got a kick (removed) rate, so we want to transfer as much of the old mortgage to the new place at the great interest rate. I know we'll have to add on to the current mortgage for the next place, so we wanted to keep as much of the mortgage at the low rate because the rates aren't as low anymore.We got the place for a fairly low price because it did need some work. The unit below us sold for $23K more than the price we paid. The condo at the end of the hall from us (same floor layout) sold for $18K more than ours. I've been watching what goes for sale in this building for the last year.

[Mr. Poopypants]

The only big problem is that you may not get that 10K back completely from the renovations. You almost never get back what you put in to a house or apt.I would not bank on getting much more than you originally paid for it. I don't mean to be a downer, but that is what a lot of people say.

[Sputnik]

Its possible... Ottawa real estate is pretty hot right now though, and we're downtown, within walking distance to Parliament Hill (gov't for you US folk).

[Trina]

Check how the real estate market is in your area. If it is hot right now, then it may be best that you get it listed and this will possibly get you the best offer. When you sell it, you can find someplace that it temp until you find your new pad. Good Luck

[Sputnik]

We finally listed our condo on Tuesday. Have had three showings... might have an open house next weekend. There are a couple of houses we are interested in, but won't put any offers on them unless we get an offer on ours. So I'm hoping either ours goes quickly, or the other two houses sit for a while. I don't think there's much chance of either though. Its a real pain in the (removed) trying to keep your place clean all the time. Especially with two shed monsters (aka my cats).

[21Rouge]

I will always sell first before buying. Doing it the other way sometimes results in you accepting a lesser (often a *much* lesser offer) as you are anxious to complete the deal to move on to the new home. I know this from experience . There is always a home out there for you..it is there..somewhere.

[Sputnik]

Yeah I'm trying to think that way. We don't want to be paying two mortgages either.

[esjones]

Whether your buy first, or sell first, stay in control of the transaction!If you buy a new place before you sell, you are out of control to an extent.If you can maintain two payments indefinitely, OR can afford to lower the price on the property you're selling at any time to move it quicky, then you're still in control. I would never let myself get into a position where I had to make two payments and couldn't afford it.To me, that is as dumb as trading in a car where you owe more than the car's market value, and wrapping your payoff into the loan on a new car. Many people do that, but it's not sound financial practice.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Personally, I think you should do both as close together as possible. Selling first would be nice, you would have extra money on a down payment and money to renovate the house (if you need to).

[Sputnik]

What I'm hoping is that we actually close on the purchase of a new place before closing on a sale of this place, so that we have a bit of overlap with two places. We did that when moving here and it was great.

[Sputnik]

So we got an offer last week on our place and conditionally sold it the same day. It was conditional on the home inspection and condo documents being reviewed by the lawyer. The home inspection was done and passed early in the week. Our place is still listed because its only a conditional sale, but no one has requested to see it until last night. Someone wanted to see it today. I said okay. Then later last night, discovered our toilet was leaking quite steadily all over the floor. Today I called a plumber and it turns out the toilet is cracked right up the back of the tank. So I have to replace the toilet! But because of the plumbing issues, I called and asked that the showing for today be cancelled. I just said it was an emergency to the real estate office. Now I'm all worried that the people who wanted to see it will be pissed off - if my conditional sale falls through, I still have to have people coming to see it to make another offer. Oh this has been one of the most stressful months I've ever had. *sigh* I hope the last condition is done early next week and then won't have to worry about it. Anyway just needed to "vent"? sort of...

[merckx56]

I buy and sell houses on a monthly basis...I'm a flipper! If you can handle two payments and the bank is willing to fork the cash, by all means buy the house you want while you still own the condo. My partner and I are into 5 houses right now and trying to buy the house next door to my own house.Don't worry about the toilet issue, it's not a big deal. Toilets are cheap, the plumber is $$. If I was within 500 miles, I'd do it for you.Call the agent who was going to show it and apologize and tell the truth. Tell her that you noticed a leak, and in lieu of fighting it, you just decided to install a new toilet. Believe it or not, a new toilet is a selling point. Fresh paint is all fine and well, but people look at 3 things when they buy a house. New roof, new Bathroom, and new kitchen. We buy so many sinks, toilets and kitchen appliances, the guys at Lowes know us!! People always paint rooms the color they want anyway. We paint the walls white!As long as you break even on the condo, you'll be fine. Even though you put $10k in it, you have been there long enough to get the $$ back.

[Sputnik]

Well we got pretty close to asking so we're going to break even, maybe a teensy profit. But very teensy. If the conditional sale goes through. I'm still waiting for it to be final. Its the waiting thats killer. I emailed my agent and told him what the problem was today so if he's talking to the buyer agent, he can tell them what happened. I just feel so bad to turn down a showing. That is the second time (out of about 15 showings).

[millster]

I feel for you on the toilet issue, Sputnik. When I sold my house in Cincinnati, I ended with a few issues as well. The house sat vacant for a while and the wax rings on the toilets dried out among a few other things. That was a real pain as I had to hire someone to go and do it and had to rely on my realtor to make sure the work was done properly. Obviously it wasn't feasible for me to go from Montana to Ohio to check it myself. Houses can be a pain sometimes, but by and large they're worth it. Good luck on the sale. Things have a way of working out as you need them to.

[Pigs]

Well good luck! We just sold our house and we're about to move at the end of the week (june 30th) It sold after 7 days... the house market around here is crazy right now.We made 13k over what we payed after living there 2 years, and putting maybe $1000 into the house, mostly on the front yard.We're upping the sqft to about 1600+ We looked at some new houses but they were all really boring so we went for something 20+ for a bit of character :DGood Luck

[Sputnik]

Woo hoo! The condo is officially sold!!

[Sputnik]

Thank you. I'm going house shopping tonight.

[Sputnik]

We bought a house! Okay its conditional at this point and its actually a townhouse, but still... we bought a house! I have a yard (or will have a yard!). I'll have a garage and a basement! I've never had a garage or a basement!

[millster]

Congratulations! That's great news. Come to think of it, I've never had a garage either. At least not one that was useable.

[Sputnik]

Thanks! I'll post pics once we get possession.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Congrats!! You are one up on me, I don't have a garage.....yet.

[drunkenmaxx]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Congrats!!This may be a dumb question, but what is a Townhouse?its kind of like a duplex (at least around here it is)

[Sputnik]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Congrats!!This may be a dumb question, but what is a Townhouse?I guess maybe you'd call it a row house? Its like 6 houses all attached to each other on the sides...

[Sputnik]

I'm so excited! We are supposed to get the keys to our house tomorrow from the lawyer. Thursday we move our furniture over. Yesterday I bought a new stove for my new house and it comes on Saturday!!

[Psychobroker]

Congrats Sputnik!

[Sputnik]

Thank you! I got the keys today. Just got back from there - took half a vibe full of boxes. Could have stuffed a whole lot more in there but didn't feel like it. I just wanted to get in there and see it without furniture!

[Sputnik]

So we are pretty much all moved into our new place. Hiring movers was a smart idea on our part. They had it all done in about 4.5 hours and I didn't have to lift a finger. Yesterday we got the digital cable and the internet hooked up. Slight problem with the internet - they couldn't get the cable in the computer room to work, but it works in the basement. So we now have to use a wireless router (which I was using on the laptop before) for both computers. I don't really like that idea. I always wanted one of the computers directly connected to the cable. But its not going to work here. I'm also not having any luck getting the wireless security set up, so right now I'm not practicing "safe surfing." I think I'm just going to go buy a whole new wireless g router with a USB adapter for the desktop and the wireless card for the laptop. What a PITA! Nice house though. We like it a lot. The cats are afraid of the stairs though. They are getting used to them very slowly.

[rasermon]

Congrats on the townhouse. Are you putting the stove to use today? btw, I'll have some bacon and eggs.

[Sputnik]

I plan on using it tonight to make my bf some pasta for his triathalon tomorrow! Here are some pics.Sputnik has a home:Front walkway:Backyard (the selling point for us):Kitchen:Family Room:

[rasermon]

Wow, nice pics!!!Congrats again.

[Sputnik]

Thanks!So far I really like it here. It was so weird to see Sputnik sitting in a garage. She's never been in one (aside from the gm dealer) as we always had outdoor parking at our apartment and condo. My bf is putting together our patio set for the backyard - we got the glass table, umbrella and 4 chairs for $150! Gotta love end of season sales.