W. K. Lis
Superstar
Some people will sell/lease their property requesting that no NO SALE sign be put up and/or no open houses.
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Buy First or Sell First?
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Eug
Senior Member
You can stage a home without moving out. That's what we did with our condos. We moved out the excess furniture, removed all the other junk, took down all the personal pictures, and repainted where necessary. And then I continue to live in it, but making sure that I neatly made the bed every day and kept the kitchen and all living spaces clean. No smelly cooking either. Granted I did eat out a lot, but still ate in for some days.
BTW, I bought first, then sold. However, it should be noted that if you own two homes for too long as your "primary" home, you can be liable for capital gains tax on a portion of the one you're selling. However, I was sure we could sell quickly for reasonable prices, since we were selling mid-priced 1 and 2 bedroom condos in nice areas in downtown Toronto, and it was a hot sellers' market at the time. We sold in a week, so my living-in-a-staged-home only lasted that long. I probably would have had a harder time living that way if it had been say 1 month.
Also, it actually took us a month to stage our condos. Some of the furniture we just discarded, but the rest of the stuff we moved out had to be packed first and put into storage. And of course the painting took a little while too. We did all of this ourselves, after work each day. Since we already had modern furniture and modern tastes for art, we didn't have to buy or rent new pieces. When we staged our mom's place though, the professional stager we hired brought in new artwork and linens, etc.
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James
Senior Member
Great feedback, Eug. I'm with you on your approach. In a hot sellers' market, the risk of selling first is that you may not end up buying anything within your required amount of time, leaving you with essentially nowhere to live. Buying first simply makes the most sense.
In today's market climate, sought-after single family homes are, for the most part, still in a sellers' market condition. Moving into a SFH from, say, a condo would remain a challenging scenario, I would imagine.
In today's market climate, sought-after single family homes are, for the most part, still in a sellers' market condition. Moving into a SFH from, say, a condo would remain a challenging scenario, I would imagine.
Regular
New Member
Sell than buy. This is to avoid any interest fees in between unless you have money to buy then sell later.
James
Senior Member
I was thinking about this point. I've been to many open houses which were obviously staged...but even though most potential buyers know it's staged, the lasting impressionable impact seems to remain. A lot of buyers will still remember the house by its furnishings, its decor, the layout, the created space, etc. I guess that's why they say real estate is very much an emotional purchase as it is a logical one.
Hank
Active Member
We moved from a condo to a single-family home in late 2011, and we bought first and then sold. It really couldn't have worked any other way for us; we looked for at least six months before we found the house we wanted to buy, whereas we put our condo on the market on a Monday and it was sold by Friday (it was a pretty nice, two-story condo that I think we priced reasonably).
We did what Eug mentioned above when selling: we de-cluttered the whole place (probably got rid of close to half of the random junk we'd been keeping for no reason, mostly to Goodwill but some to our storage locker), repainted our bathroom to a more neutral colour, made our beds every day, kept things generally neat, and left the unit (and skulked around the hallways) whenever someone was scheduled for a tour. As I said, it sold in less than a week so not a big deal for us.
Although we're not planning on moving any time soon, I'd do the same thing again next time unless it becomes very difficult to sell a home and I start seeing lots of homes I like listed on mls at the time.
James
Senior Member
I know of someone else who bought first recently as well. They waited until they found the right house for them and included for a typical 60 day closing as they weren't too concerned about selling their current home. Once the purchase was firm, they put their existing house up for sale and sold it fairly quickly with a co-ordinated closing date shortly after the move-in date of the new house.
I guess it really does come down to the type of property you need to sell. If it's in a generally in-demand neighborhood where houses sell within a week or so, you probably wouldn't have any issues buying first. On the other hand, if you current property is in an area which typically sits for 4 weeks, then I'd be nervous about buying first.
I guess it really does come down to the type of property you need to sell. If it's in a generally in-demand neighborhood where houses sell within a week or so, you probably wouldn't have any issues buying first. On the other hand, if you current property is in an area which typically sits for 4 weeks, then I'd be nervous about buying first.
James
Senior Member
A relevant article in the Toronto Star on the pitfalls of buying first...
http://www.thestar.com/business/real_estate/2014/05/08/the_houses_that_dont_sell.html
The houses that don’t sell
Even in Toronto’s hot housing market, buyers aren’t always buying it.
Bryce and Ashlee Collins, seen with 6-month-old son Ben at their Wyndham St. home, thought it would be smart to buy their next house before selling their current one in this bidding war-crazed market. But a month later, they're still waiting for a buyer.
By: Susan Pigg Business Reporter, Published on Thu May 08 2014
Two weeks from now, Bryce and Ashlee Collins are likely to be the terrified owners of two homes.
One is the three-bedroom Etobicoke backsplit — “our forever home” — they bought last month and where they plan to raise their six-month-old son, Ben.
The other is the detached house they’ve renovated over the last four years in up-and-coming Little Portugal, near Lansdowne Ave. and Dundas St. W.
It’s been on the market for a month now without an offer.
“My wife and I consider ourselves somewhat knowledgeable about the real estate market, but we were not mentally prepared for this,” says Bryce, 38.
“All you hear about are the bidding wars but, as two agents have said to us: ‘You never hear about the houses that do not sell.’”
The Collins are panicked, living proof of the vagaries of the Toronto real estate market. They are also a cautionary tale that things don’t always go as you would expect, even in the hot 416 region where it can be far more difficult to find a house than to sell one, given the persistent shortage of for sale listings and the growing demand to live close to the core.
It’s as if the Collins’ three-bedroom, 118-year-old house on a quiet street just steps from the burgeoning bars and restaurants of Dundas and Queen St. W., has disappeared from the radar, even as semi-detached homes nearby have drawn multiple offers and gone for well over asking.
Realtor Elaine Mok is so perplexed, she asked a half-dozen colleagues to do a case study on the house, which she listed for $750,000 on April 9, based on the fact the more updated, but otherwise identical, neighbour sold for $809,000 last fall.
They agreed it was priced and marketed properly, although the Collins have since dropped the price to $729,000.
“When we started, it was fun. We packed up all the baby’s toys. We sent the dog to my parents’ house because he sheds.
“We thought he’d be back in four days. He was there for two weeks,” says Bryce, who has also sold a condo and a townhouse over the years, and never seen anything like this.
House hunters have commented that the two-car parking doesn’t come with a garage, the basement is unfinished and there is no basement apartment.
Beach realtor Rick DeClute is seeing the same thing at his listing on prime Leuty Avenue — a detached home, just five houses from the water that hasn’t had an offer in two weeks.
(In fairness, the average time on market for GTA properties, including condos, is about 20 days, although generally less in the 416 region.)
Even some online posters — the house was featured as blogto.com’s House of the Week — see it as a bit of a bargain at $1.5 million in a market where the average sale price of a now approaching $1 million detached.
“I guess it’s the HGTV thing: Everybody wants everything done. It could use a new kitchen. But you can throw a stone and hit a house nearby that sold (with a direct lake view) for $2.5 million,” says DeClute.
While multiple bids aren’t letting up, there is growing buyer fatigue, says realtor David Fleming. That’s only adding to the unpredictability in the 416 market, in particular: buyers who are walking away from houses they feel could attract multiple offers or, in a strange twist, walking away if there aren’t multiple offers, fearing that’s a sign that “something is wrong.”
DeClute offers one simple bit of advice to clients, even in a hot market, struggling with the age-old question: Is it best to sell or buy first?
The owner of the Leuty house agreed, is prepared to wait as long as it takes, and has yet to buy another home.
“The risk if you sell first is that you don’t find the ideal place is that you have to rent for a while, but you are able to shop with money in your pocket and you are in the drivers’ seat.
“The alternative is that if anything happens and you can’t sell, you can find yourself with your back against the wall and be forced to reduce your price, usually by about 10 per cent.
“In this case, that would be $100,000.”
http://www.thestar.com/business/real_estate/2014/05/08/the_houses_that_dont_sell.html
The houses that don’t sell
Even in Toronto’s hot housing market, buyers aren’t always buying it.
Bryce and Ashlee Collins, seen with 6-month-old son Ben at their Wyndham St. home, thought it would be smart to buy their next house before selling their current one in this bidding war-crazed market. But a month later, they're still waiting for a buyer.
By: Susan Pigg Business Reporter, Published on Thu May 08 2014
Two weeks from now, Bryce and Ashlee Collins are likely to be the terrified owners of two homes.
One is the three-bedroom Etobicoke backsplit — “our forever home” — they bought last month and where they plan to raise their six-month-old son, Ben.
The other is the detached house they’ve renovated over the last four years in up-and-coming Little Portugal, near Lansdowne Ave. and Dundas St. W.
It’s been on the market for a month now without an offer.
“My wife and I consider ourselves somewhat knowledgeable about the real estate market, but we were not mentally prepared for this,” says Bryce, 38.
“All you hear about are the bidding wars but, as two agents have said to us: ‘You never hear about the houses that do not sell.’”
The Collins are panicked, living proof of the vagaries of the Toronto real estate market. They are also a cautionary tale that things don’t always go as you would expect, even in the hot 416 region where it can be far more difficult to find a house than to sell one, given the persistent shortage of for sale listings and the growing demand to live close to the core.
It’s as if the Collins’ three-bedroom, 118-year-old house on a quiet street just steps from the burgeoning bars and restaurants of Dundas and Queen St. W., has disappeared from the radar, even as semi-detached homes nearby have drawn multiple offers and gone for well over asking.
Realtor Elaine Mok is so perplexed, she asked a half-dozen colleagues to do a case study on the house, which she listed for $750,000 on April 9, based on the fact the more updated, but otherwise identical, neighbour sold for $809,000 last fall.
They agreed it was priced and marketed properly, although the Collins have since dropped the price to $729,000.
“When we started, it was fun. We packed up all the baby’s toys. We sent the dog to my parents’ house because he sheds.
“We thought he’d be back in four days. He was there for two weeks,” says Bryce, who has also sold a condo and a townhouse over the years, and never seen anything like this.
House hunters have commented that the two-car parking doesn’t come with a garage, the basement is unfinished and there is no basement apartment.
Beach realtor Rick DeClute is seeing the same thing at his listing on prime Leuty Avenue — a detached home, just five houses from the water that hasn’t had an offer in two weeks.
(In fairness, the average time on market for GTA properties, including condos, is about 20 days, although generally less in the 416 region.)
Even some online posters — the house was featured as blogto.com’s House of the Week — see it as a bit of a bargain at $1.5 million in a market where the average sale price of a now approaching $1 million detached.
“I guess it’s the HGTV thing: Everybody wants everything done. It could use a new kitchen. But you can throw a stone and hit a house nearby that sold (with a direct lake view) for $2.5 million,” says DeClute.
While multiple bids aren’t letting up, there is growing buyer fatigue, says realtor David Fleming. That’s only adding to the unpredictability in the 416 market, in particular: buyers who are walking away from houses they feel could attract multiple offers or, in a strange twist, walking away if there aren’t multiple offers, fearing that’s a sign that “something is wrong.”
DeClute offers one simple bit of advice to clients, even in a hot market, struggling with the age-old question: Is it best to sell or buy first?
The owner of the Leuty house agreed, is prepared to wait as long as it takes, and has yet to buy another home.
“The risk if you sell first is that you don’t find the ideal place is that you have to rent for a while, but you are able to shop with money in your pocket and you are in the drivers’ seat.
“The alternative is that if anything happens and you can’t sell, you can find yourself with your back against the wall and be forced to reduce your price, usually by about 10 per cent.
“In this case, that would be $100,000.”
torontocondosorg
New Member
I would feel more comfortable selling before buying anything. If you buy before you sell, then you might get more desperate on the sale of your current place and end up taking less for it than if you didn't have the worry of carrying a second mortgage. By selling first you can take your time and get what your place is actually worth, then know what you have to work with for the new place. Just have a longer close.
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