Are you looking at the house and worried there's something wrong with it? Honestly, if it's still on the market 3 months later there probably is. At the very least it's overpriced.

But, who cares?
Does it impact whether or not you want to make an offer on their old place?
Does it impact you?

they are pregnant with triplets and need more space
they are opting for private school and arent tied to the school district
they won the lottery
they want to be settled into a new home for the holidays
they....just want to move....

All of these are possibilities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Suspicious? That is a strange word to use OP. When I think suspicious I think - tax evasion or some other nefarious scenario. They've been in the house for 3 years already which is not a shockingly low period of time. It's quite possible it's a job transfer.

It’s not. They moved 8 minutes away.

Where did they move to? This might be part of the explanation if it's somewhere more urban or suburban.

How would I know the seller had a small child?

I wouldn't give this a second thought. I assume you need to sell your house. You found something else, you need to sell, you aren't sitting on two mortgages between September and March just for kicks.

It is true that a lot of sales happen in spring but by no means is that the only time they happen. The people who bought a newer house in spring end up selling their old house in fall. So it is pretty common for houses to go on the market in fall. There is a second market in the fall for this reason (and because summer is not a good time to put your house on the market).

Are you working with an agent? They should be able to explain this to you. This is an important financial decision and it sounds like this is new to you - would be good to get some professional advice.

I don’t at all understand what the issue is? The first full week after Labor Day is one of the best weeks of the year to list. Summer is an awful time. Are you implying they can’t move during the school year? My kids all go to privates and we leave town for the summer so we have listed twice just after Labor Day. One time we had a quick closing and another we did a rent back to move 12/30.

Did they move to a similar house? From a townhouse to a single family? To a much larger single family?
But the bigger question --how is the old house still on the market?

Any reasons the house can’t be expanded? Lot too small? Maybe they realized it was too small but wasn’t worth the reno cost?