Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the same situation. It is frustrating. I am afraid to put my house on the market for fear of having no where to go. I don't want to buy a house because it is the only house available to purchase.

So put a home-sale contingency on your offer.

Fine to do, but in this market you will never win a bid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems impossible to purchase a starter home with a sales contingency. The houses are under contract within days.

Confused, if it's your starter home why would you need a sales contingency?

Either way, prepare your house to sell, keep looking for a house and if you land one, than you put your place on the market and try and get the timing to work out. Normal people do this all the time.

But how can this work in hot areas if homes in such areas sell in a matter of days?

ummm... because houses are selling days? why wouldn't it work... just did this last spring... got an offer accepted on a new place after losing out on a couple, went ahead and closed on the new house... then put ours on the market (the only reason we waited to put ours on the market was that we had given a 2 month rent back on the new house)... got a contract in 2 days on our current house and negotiated a closing 1 week after we got access to the new house... done...

But what if you need the funds from the current house to buy the new house (and to qualify for the loan for the new house)?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems impossible to purchase a starter home with a sales contingency. The houses are under contract within days.

Confused, if it's your starter home why would you need a sales contingency?

Either way, prepare your house to sell, keep looking for a house and if you land one, than you put your place on the market and try and get the timing to work out. Normal people do this all the time.

But how can this work in hot areas if homes in such areas sell in a matter of days?

ummm... because houses are selling days? why wouldn't it work... just did this last spring... got an offer accepted on a new place after losing out on a couple, went ahead and closed on the new house... then put ours on the market (the only reason we waited to put ours on the market was that we had given a 2 month rent back on the new house)... got a contract in 2 days on our current house and negotiated a closing 1 week after we got access to the new house... done...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems impossible to purchase a starter home with a sales contingency. The houses are under contract within days.

Confused, if it's your starter home why would you need a sales contingency?

Either way, prepare your house to sell, keep looking for a house and if you land one, than you put your place on the market and try and get the timing to work out. Normal people do this all the time.

But how can this work in hot areas if homes in such areas sell in a matter of days?

Anonymous wrote:It seems impossible to purchase a starter home with a sales contingency. The houses are under contract within days.

Confused, if it's your starter home why would you need a sales contingency?

Either way, prepare your house to sell, keep looking for a house and if you land one, than you put your place on the market and try and get the timing to work out. Normal people do this all the time.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone give me an example between a starter house and McMansion in Arlington? That is all I have seen! I do not think people renovate it with modest budget and sell. Maybe all the starter homes stay "starter" forever?

One reason I do not like Arlington. If you do not have $1.5m to spend, your house looks cramped and starter.

We live in one of those red brick colonials that are all over Arlington. We don't have the lot size/shape to bump out. So we are stuck in a two bedroom that we bought 8 years ago and need three bedrooms now. There are lots of colonials where people have bumped out the back to add a master suite, expanded kitchen, and main level family room. But we've only seen one come on the market recently (a listing on Jefferson Street that just sold for $885K, if you want to check it out) but that didn't have a basement. Some people think the bumped out houses look choppy, but we'd be happy with one. We can't afford new construction starting at $1.3K. There is no inventory in N. Arlington now in the $800-$1.1 range. I think that is why when you drive around you can now see so many of those "build on your own lot" companies doing steady business.

We too are looking for a new house a bit bigger than ours. Have been for 2 years.

LoL, when you rent the prices will keep going up , you'll have to rent for 5 years until the market cools down.

It seems impossible to purchase a starter home with a sales contingency. The houses are under contract within days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the same situation. It is frustrating. I am afraid to put my house on the market for fear of having no where to go. I don't want to buy a house because it is the only house available to purchase.

So put a home-sale contingency on your offer.

+1

You can't be serious. Not in this market.

As I stated before, if the market is hot for your house, now is the time to sell. Do it, bank the profit, find a rental in the school district you want you kids in, get them settled, and take your time looking. Invest wisely and grow your equity. Its not rocket science.

I did it. No problem. I absolutely refused to sell until I had a place to go. Found a house in North Arlington with no issue. Granted, it was 2011, but the market was pretty hot then, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the same situation. It is frustrating. I am afraid to put my house on the market for fear of having no where to go. I don't want to buy a house because it is the only house available to purchase.

So put a home-sale contingency on your offer.

+1

You can't be serious. Not in this market.

As I stated before, if the market is hot for your house, now is the time to sell. Do it, bank the profit, find a rental in the school district you want you kids in, get them settled, and take your time looking. Invest wisely and grow your equity. Its not rocket science.

+1

Sell in a sellers market and buy in a buyer's market.

It is a huge sellers market---take advantage of the tight inventory and demand to get a great sales price.

Use the rental time to explore an area you are thinking of buyin in.

We only have a single house come on the market about once every 6 months (and its been that way since early 2000). It took us 2 years of renting to find our home--but totally worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the same situation. It is frustrating. I am afraid to put my house on the market for fear of having no where to go. I don't want to buy a house because it is the only house available to purchase.

So put a home-sale contingency on your offer.

+1

You can't be serious. Not in this market.

As I stated before, if the market is hot for your house, now is the time to sell. Do it, bank the profit, find a rental in the school district you want you kids in, get them settled, and take your time looking. Invest wisely and grow your equity. Its not rocket science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are in the same situation. It is frustrating. I am afraid to put my house on the market for fear of having no where to go. I don't want to buy a house because it is the only house available to purchase.

So put a home-sale contingency on your offer.

+1

Can someone give me an example between a starter house and McMansion in Arlington? That is all I have seen! I do not think people renovate it with modest budget and sell. Maybe all the starter homes stay "starter" forever?

One reason I do not like Arlington. If you do not have $1.5m to spend, your house looks cramped and starter.

Anonymous wrote:We are in the same situation. It is frustrating. I am afraid to put my house on the market for fear of having no where to go. I don't want to buy a house because it is the only house available to purchase.

So put a home-sale contingency on your offer.