If you are looking to sell your Lexington home, so that you
can move up to a bigger and better home, now is the time to do it, while
mortgage rates are still low! Of course, if you’re looking to downsize as empty
nesters or retirees, now is also a great time to do that, with home prices and
values up.
As your Lexington real estate agent, I’d like to share some
tips with you on how to buy and sell real estate simultaneously. You want to
time everything as perfectly as you can, to prevent having to find temporary
housing between selling your current house and buying your new house in Lexington.
Here is a timeline that I would recommend:
1. Get your house ready to sell. You don’t want to list your
home until it’s ready to sell. This means fixing, decluttering, deep cleaning,
organizing, and neutralizing if necessary. Remove personal items and clutter, and stage the home like a model. You might want to even consider getting an
inspection done, so you have time to fix anything that comes up now rather than
when you’re trying to close.
2. Start searching for a home. Before you list your home, get a
good feel for exactly what type of home you’re looking for. If you sell your
home, you’ll want to be able to buy one quickly. Work with a Lexington real estate agent to
find a home that fits your needs and budgets in the area you’d like to live in.
Get preapproved, so you know exactly how much you can afford.
3. List your home. Again, work with a Lexington real estate agent to help you list your home and show it to potential buyers. The agent can
also help you negotiate a price and closing terms. When you get an offer,
you’ll want to push the closing date back as far as possible, to give yourself
time to buy and close on a home. Interested buyers will hopefully be
accommodating to your terms, but you might want to offer to pay their rent
until then, or to lower the price of the home to make up for the time.
4. Make an offer. After you get an offer on your home, you’ll
want to make an offer on the home you want to purchase. Structure your dates
appropriately, such as making your mortgage contingency follow the date the
buyer has in the contract for your home. Ideally, you’d want to close on the
home you are selling in the morning, and close on the home you are buying in
the afternoon.
5. Plan for worst case scenarios. If your timeline doesn’t work
to your benefit, you may need to rent temporary housing and storage until you
can buy a home after selling, or you may need to pay two mortgages at once if
you buy before selling. While not ideal, it will work out in the long run if you prepare for worst cast scenarios in advance.
Working with a Lexington real estate agent is key! An agent
can help you with timelines, negotiations and closing terms. When ready to buy a Lexington home, to sell your Lexington home, or both, give me a call! I’d
love to help you this summer in the Lexington real estate market!
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