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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Investor Alley => Topic started by: cornbread on August 07, 2015, 09:45:22 PM

Title: Sell now or in 1.5 years
Post by: cornbread on August 07, 2015, 09:45:22 PM
The housing market is very hot right now and we intend to move in another 1.5 years or sooner.  We have around 500k equity.  Paying $2700 principal, interest, and property tax.  Should we sell now and invest equity to pay for rent for the next year and a half?  Houses the same size here rents for $4500/month.  Or move to a cheaper area within the same school district and bus the children to their schools everyday?  But rent will still be in the $3000-3500 range.  (We have junior in HS and the reason to stay in the same school district.

Title: Re: Sell now or in 1.5 years
Post by: Hamster on August 07, 2015, 10:04:42 PM
Saving $1500 a month and busing to school seems like a pretty solid win, considering the two rental options.

As for timing the sale based on where the market is now... We sold a couple duplexes in the last few years and my wife is kicking herself for not waiting since the market has only gone up. You never know...
Title: Re: Sell now or in 1.5 years
Post by: dess1313 on August 08, 2015, 01:38:11 AM
Its a risk either way.  Things go up, things go down.  If you need to be able to move on a short notice and things are slow moving/selling there starting a bit earlier may be good.  But if you're flexible then that may not be such an issue.  do you know where you are moving to?  Is it possible to start looking there or is there a lot of distance involved?  If you bought early it would give you more time to find the 'right' house even if you had to carry payments for a few extra months it sounds like your equity would sustain that
Title: Re: Sell now or in 1.5 years
Post by: cornbread on August 23, 2015, 03:17:14 PM
Took the first step for process of selling house although we are not in a rush to do so.  The agent we met with this morning said she can help us schedule remodeling and have the house listed in less than a month.  Way too quick for us!  We want to take our time and make sure we are listing the house with the right agent.

Questions I have asked:
what types of fees are involved in selling a house?
Can you provide a proposal with services you will provide and % charged?
What types of fixes/improvements/remodeling is recommended?

What other questions should I ask?

The market is hot in our area but is it the right time to put it on the market?  (i.e. Should we wait until spring?). Agent said it doesn't matter because inventory is low and there is lots of demand.

If we wait until spring, should we be concerned about the Feds possible interest rate hike therefore lowering buys' ability to borrow?

The reason we are considering selling soon is because recent sales in our area have gone up a lot ($1.2M min.).  That means $600k min. equity.  Nothing to sneeze at since we can call it quits with the $ except we have school age kids to worry about.

Thanks for any tips you can give us about selling a house.