By Chad Arend, The Arend Team
In follow up to the article I wrote last month regarding the initial steps to purchasing a home, I thought I would write one for those thinking about selling your home. This won’t be the actual process of selling, rather a discussion of the thought process and steps you can take in advance of actually putting your home on the market.
First, start by working backwards. This includes two things; where you’re going to live next, and when do you want to move into your new home? This is important, because it will provide less chance of having to scramble to find a home should your current home sell very quickly.
If you’re not considering purchasing a home after moving from your current home, this will make it much easier on the timeframe, depending on what exactly you’ll be looking to move into. However, if you are considering purchasing a new home once your current home sells, then you’ll most likely be looking at a “contingency purchase.” For more on how this process works, see my blog. Generally speaking, early in the process, you’ll want to know approximately where you want to move, your rough budget and available inventory within those parameters to see if homes you might like are likely to be on the market when it is time for you to start shopping.
If you are planning to purchase a home after selling your current home, you should check into financing (if needed) as soon as possible. It’s important to know that you won’t have any problems with obtaining a mortgage on the future purchase, since you might not be able to stop the sale of your current home without breaching the contract with your buyer. Even if you aren’t going to be purchasing before the next six to nine months, contact the lender to see what you can do to either improve your credit score, establish a down payment goal, etc.
As far as timeframe is concerned, a fairly good rule of thumb to follow is:
• One to two weeks to prepare to go on market
• 60 days on market before accepting a contract (this number can widely vary depending on the market for your home – this is the current Maricopa County average)
• 30-40 days to close the transaction after offer acceptance
Based on this timeframe, it takes about three to five months from start to finish. Timeframes could vary depending on market style for your home, if the buyer is paying cash or financing, and how inventory compares to demand.
While considering all the above, you’ll want to start deciding which Realtor you will use to help with the process. When making the important decision to choose a Realtor, focus on neighborhood expertise; look for hyperlocal. Be sure to ask their work experience, and what resources they’ll use to market the property in addition to their opinion of value and marketing timeframe.
The Arend Team strives to be on the forefront of the local real estate market and provide the best service and response time to long-time clients and new customers alike. We keep on the forefront of technology, yet also keep tried and true methods. Our industry skills include aggressive negotiation tactics, local knowledge, always update-to-date contract knowledge, premier marketing tools and a strong support staff. We always assure every client involved in the real estate transaction is “kept-in-the-know” on each aspect of the buying or selling process. Our goal is to make sure we maintain a true “clients first” attitude towards all aspects of our business.
