OFFICIAL - Buying / Selling / Moving Thread (2 Viewers)

[steelerfan1]

is the Costa Rica dream over icon, or is that still a bit down the road?

For now it's on hold. I have some friends who are actually leaving CR after years and hearing their stories I think I'm in holding.

Government getting greedy stone walling gringo projects.

Also overall real estate going insane. Let's look at the small house we rented for 6 weeks on our first trip down. 3 bedroom / 2 bath... solid basic Tico house.

We paid $3k ish for 6 weeks.
Now it rents for $2-3k a week

We almost bought it for $250k or so. The next year it was worth $500-600. Now? $700-800?

Well, better to find out now for sure. That’s sad though. After following your thread, we went last year as I’d only heard good from people and was looking for a possible cheaper retirement solution. I could not take the heat and the area we were in still looked like there was tons of poverty.

 

[steelerfan1]

is the Costa Rica dream over icon, or is that still a bit down the road?

For now it's on hold. I have some friends who are actually leaving CR after years and hearing their stories I think I'm in holding.

Government getting greedy stone walling gringo projects.

Also overall real estate going insane. Let's look at the small house we rented for 6 weeks on our first trip down. 3 bedroom / 2 bath... solid basic Tico house.

We paid $3k ish for 6 weeks.
Now it rents for $2-3k a week

We almost bought it for $250k or so. The next year it was worth $500-600. Now? $700-800?

Got friends going to Belize in a couple years when they retire.

I hear healthcare is not great there, so I hope they look into that, but the way we are heading, we might not be much better by then.

 

[Desert_Power]

Is there a thread for this? I've not seen one.... please point if there is.

Anyone else looking at buying/selling coming up? I'm about to shoot my first home to put on market after ~20 years. Longest I've ever lived anywhere. New to this process.

Will discuss here and invite others to do the same.

Destination:
Unsure... 80% Chattanooga TN (Vibe, Location) / 20% Southern Florida (family)

We may be selling then taking our time before buying with the suspicion market will continue to drop in these markets.

Have a month or so of travel for work (including an insane 2 weeks in Europe) in March... and also trying to plan two bbq festivals before mid May. Will be a chaotic stretch.

My selling agent is kinda a doofus. Contractors are sloppy with lots of rework. Just dodged a new furnace ($2k), and had an oven commit Sepaku ($750) so far

Don’t know about the housing situation, or real estate in general, but Chattanooga seems way more awesome than S Florida.

WAY more awesome. Chatt is amazing.

The ONLY draw in Florida is being close to my 70-something parents.

There are some serious drawbacks to moving to Southern Florida, but I find it hard to imagine you wouldn't have fun there. Being able to get to the beach/on the water quickly and year-round. Fresh seafood. Never putting doors or tops on your Jeep. I can definitely see you having fun there.

Chattanooga has a lot to like. A city on the upswing and on my short-list of Southern towns I'd live in. I think it will continue to see growth.

I don't predict there will be a huge drawdown in housing prices and think it is difficult to make decisions on that basis. Perhaps I could see a drawback in places like coastal Florida where the insurance situation is really becoming untenable.

Whatever you do, make sure you're spending enough time with your parents. Time is our most precious and non-renewable resource.

 

[FarFromHome]

Is there a thread for this? I've not seen one.... please point if there is.

Anyone else looking at buying/selling coming up? I'm about to shoot my first home to put on market after ~20 years. Longest I've ever lived anywhere. New to this process.

Will discuss here and invite others to do the same.

Destination:
Unsure... 80% Chattanooga TN (Vibe, Location) / 20% Southern Florida (family)

We may be selling then taking our time before buying with the suspicion market will continue to drop in these markets.

Have a month or so of travel for work (including an insane 2 weeks in Europe) in March... and also trying to plan two bbq festivals before mid May. Will be a chaotic stretch.

My selling agent is kinda a doofus. Contractors are sloppy with lots of rework. Just dodged a new furnace ($2k), and had an oven commit Sepaku ($750) so far

Been in Chattanooga area for 3 years. Never even been here before. Nice area. Housing prices decent. 350 grand for 4 bedroom nice home. It's a larger town I guess, but doesn't feel like it. Lots to do. Hour from Atlanta, two hours from Nashville. Everything is cheap here.

Nice! What part of town ya live in? Any detailed thoughts on your area? The town itself?

We initially were looking more north Chatt or st Elmo but now expanding out. Spent a couple lunches in Ootlewah and thought it was a glorified truck stop... but seeing some gorgeous houses north of there by the river. But they're just so far from town...

More specifically I live in Ringgold. About ten miles outside of Chattanooga. I will say about the area is I've never lived in a place where it goes from nice to bad so quickly. I was told by locals that Chattanooga was actually a really rough town. Years ago they started dumping money to downtown area. Starting with aquatic park downtown and branching out.

We went to Panama city Florida a few months back. We are the couple that always coordinates one house showing while on vacation. If I were I a betting man I'd predict within 2 years we buy our next home in that area.

 

[Wingnut]

What's everyone's thoughts on the market? Highly regional I know but we are seeing lots of significant reductions. Not token 1-3k drops but 10...20k drops in both Chatt and SW Florida.

make sure you do your due diligence with respect to insurance in that part of the country.... things are absolutely insane right now with property insurance, especially in areas with higher weather risks

I've got lots of family there. My brother's homeowners just went UP $400/mo. Not up to, up. Pushing $1k on a $350k home 15min inland on the east coast of FL.

That is a big factor for us as well. That is more than my P&I payment on my house right now

Damn, I'm just outside of Tampa and my homeowners insurance is a little less than $1500/year.

 

[Beef Ravioli Part 2]

Water is actually one of the side reasons we are moving to Wisconsin. Kansas is turning into a major drought state. Access to fresh water will be what I can pass down to my children and their children.

We are hopeful to buy on a lake up there but the backup plan will be a few acres. Both situations would have a well for the water source, and where we are going there is a lot of fresh water close by.

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

 

[ChiefD]

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

Thanks.

Yeah, I'll be working but not in HVAC anymore. I found a job up there already.

 

[Grahamburn]

dunno, probably some guy pissing on the side of my house and shouting at the sky.

Territorial Pissings must be her favorite Nirvana track.

 

[ChiefD]

@SWC - what part of Wisconsin do you take everything to the bank?

 

[SWC]

@SWC - what part of Wisconsin do you take everything to the bank?

southeast wisco but spend lots of time up and down the ne side and in the sw corner take that to the bank brohan

 

[[icon]]

We are on the market Saturday morning. Listing is up.

Naturally people are trying to book showings for today (I'm in orlando on business)... GF said people were showing up and banging on the door. Had to get the agent to crack the whip.

4 showings lined up in the morning. I land in Memphis in 3 hours and gotta get shut ready I guess.

Here we go!

EDIT: TEN ******* showings tomorrow now.... Lawd hammercy

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Water is actually one of the side reasons we are moving to Wisconsin. Kansas is turning into a major drought state. Access to fresh water will be what I can pass down to my children and their children.

We are hopeful to buy on a lake up there but the backup plan will be a few acres. Both situations would have a well for the water source, and where we are going there is a lot of fresh water close by.

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, so let me know if you need any insight into the northern Blue Ridge area. Housing prices stayed pretty depressed here from my purchase in 2010 until COVID hit. Once people figured out they could live cheaply out here and work from home while making "D.C. money", there was a land rush. My little 1/3 acre, 1,200 sq ft house has gone up in value over 2.5x since 2021.

 

[WVU Alum]

Water is actually one of the side reasons we are moving to Wisconsin. Kansas is turning into a major drought state. Access to fresh water will be what I can pass down to my children and their children.

We are hopeful to buy on a lake up there but the backup plan will be a few acres. Both situations would have a well for the water source, and where we are going there is a lot of fresh water close by.

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, so let me know if you need any insight into the northern Blue Ridge area. Housing prices stayed pretty depressed here from my purchase in 2010 until COVID hit. Once people figured out they could live cheaply out here and work from home while making "D.C. money", there was a land rush. My little 1/3 acre, 1,200 sq ft house has gone up in value over 2.5x since 2021.

If I recall correctly, I live a little north of you in WV. Same thing happened here. Land and house values went way up and inventory levels dropped.

 

[Beef Ravioli Part 2]

Water is actually one of the side reasons we are moving to Wisconsin. Kansas is turning into a major drought state. Access to fresh water will be what I can pass down to my children and their children.

We are hopeful to buy on a lake up there but the backup plan will be a few acres. Both situations would have a well for the water source, and where we are going there is a lot of fresh water close by.

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, so let me know if you need any insight into the northern Blue Ridge area. Housing prices stayed pretty depressed here from my purchase in 2010 until COVID hit. Once people figured out they could live cheaply out here and work from home while making "D.C. money", there was a land rush. My little 1/3 acre, 1,200 sq ft house has gone up in value over 2.5x since 2021.

I live in NOVA and we do quite a few day trips to the Shenandoah area. Love that area but our target area right now is south of Lexington and north of Christiansburg but avoiding the bigger cities.

Hoping to cash in on my NOVA house one day and turn that into a dream “water property”.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Water is actually one of the side reasons we are moving to Wisconsin. Kansas is turning into a major drought state. Access to fresh water will be what I can pass down to my children and their children.

We are hopeful to buy on a lake up there but the backup plan will be a few acres. Both situations would have a well for the water source, and where we are going there is a lot of fresh water close by.

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, so let me know if you need any insight into the northern Blue Ridge area. Housing prices stayed pretty depressed here from my purchase in 2010 until COVID hit. Once people figured out they could live cheaply out here and work from home while making "D.C. money", there was a land rush. My little 1/3 acre, 1,200 sq ft house has gone up in value over 2.5x since 2021.

I live in NOVA and we do quite a few day trips to the Shenandoah area. Love that area but our target area right now is south of Lexington and north of Christiansburg but avoiding the bigger cities.

Hoping to cash in on my NOVA house one day and turn that into a dream “water property”.

I'm starting to get the feeling we've had this discussion before and my piss-poor memory let me down (again)

It's beautiful down there. Might want to also think about buying raw land, but then you'd have to go through the whole building process.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I retire in 2027 and am looking to relocate within the same area (Maryland suburb of DC), We'd like to transition to single-level living. A 2500-3000 square foot renovated rambler would work. I don't have much appetite for building new, or doing a major renovation.

Since we have 3 years to get it done can afford to be choosy. However we DO need to get agile, so we can make an offer if something great comes on the market. To that end I need to get with a mortgage broker to figure out how the financing will go. I want to buy the new home before selling the current home, and don't want to be rushed on the sell side. Which means I'll need a bridge loan for 3-6 months. Never done that before. Any wisdom from resident Lender Guys.

Where are you now and what towns are you looking towards?

 

[Beef Ravioli Part 2]

Water is actually one of the side reasons we are moving to Wisconsin. Kansas is turning into a major drought state. Access to fresh water will be what I can pass down to my children and their children.

We are hopeful to buy on a lake up there but the backup plan will be a few acres. Both situations would have a well for the water source, and where we are going there is a lot of fresh water close by.

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, so let me know if you need any insight into the northern Blue Ridge area. Housing prices stayed pretty depressed here from my purchase in 2010 until COVID hit. Once people figured out they could live cheaply out here and work from home while making "D.C. money", there was a land rush. My little 1/3 acre, 1,200 sq ft house has gone up in value over 2.5x since 2021.

I live in NOVA and we do quite a few day trips to the Shenandoah area. Love that area but our target area right now is south of Lexington and north of Christiansburg but avoiding the bigger cities.

Hoping to cash in on my NOVA house one day and turn that into a dream “water property”.

I'm starting to get the feeling we've had this discussion before and my piss-poor memory let me down (again)

It's beautiful down there. Might want to also think about buying raw land, but then you'd have to go through the whole building process.

I was thinking the same thing….the conversation sounds familiar.

We have considered finding “the property” with no house on it sooner than later and have it paid off by the time we are ready to move and then use our equity in my current house to build the retirement home.

Are you from Shenandoah or a transplant?

 

[Sleestak]

I retire in 2027 and am looking to relocate within the same area (Maryland suburb of DC), We'd like to transition to single-level living. A 2500-3000 square foot renovated rambler would work. I don't have much appetite for building new, or doing a major renovation.

Since we have 3 years to get it done can afford to be choosy. However we DO need to get agile, so we can make an offer if something great comes on the market. To that end I need to get with a mortgage broker to figure out how the financing will go. I want to buy the new home before selling the current home, and don't want to be rushed on the sell side. Which means I'll need a bridge loan for 3-6 months. Never done that before. Any wisdom from resident Lender Guys.

Where are you now and what towns are you looking towards?

I'm in 20854, and that is also my target area.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Water is actually one of the side reasons we are moving to Wisconsin. Kansas is turning into a major drought state. Access to fresh water will be what I can pass down to my children and their children.

We are hopeful to buy on a lake up there but the backup plan will be a few acres. Both situations would have a well for the water source, and where we are going there is a lot of fresh water close by.

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, so let me know if you need any insight into the northern Blue Ridge area. Housing prices stayed pretty depressed here from my purchase in 2010 until COVID hit. Once people figured out they could live cheaply out here and work from home while making "D.C. money", there was a land rush. My little 1/3 acre, 1,200 sq ft house has gone up in value over 2.5x since 2021.

I live in NOVA and we do quite a few day trips to the Shenandoah area. Love that area but our target area right now is south of Lexington and north of Christiansburg but avoiding the bigger cities.

Hoping to cash in on my NOVA house one day and turn that into a dream “water property”.

I'm starting to get the feeling we've had this discussion before and my piss-poor memory let me down (again)

It's beautiful down there. Might want to also think about buying raw land, but then you'd have to go through the whole building process.

I was thinking the same thing….the conversation sounds familiar.

We have considered finding “the property” with no house on it sooner than later and have it paid off by the time we are ready to move and then use our equity in my current house to build the retirement home.

Are you from Shenandoah or a transplant?

I'm from AA County, MD originally - about 20 miles south of Annapolis. So, a transplant.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I retire in 2027 and am looking to relocate within the same area (Maryland suburb of DC), We'd like to transition to single-level living. A 2500-3000 square foot renovated rambler would work. I don't have much appetite for building new, or doing a major renovation.

Since we have 3 years to get it done can afford to be choosy. However we DO need to get agile, so we can make an offer if something great comes on the market. To that end I need to get with a mortgage broker to figure out how the financing will go. I want to buy the new home before selling the current home, and don't want to be rushed on the sell side. Which means I'll need a bridge loan for 3-6 months. Never done that before. Any wisdom from resident Lender Guys.

Where are you now and what towns are you looking towards?

I'm in 20854, and that is also my target area.

Lower Montgomery County. Nice area and a nice QoL there.

I don't know much about bridge loans, but I doubt you'll have any issues timing things out considering you live in one of the most desirable areas in the U.S.

 

[bigbottom]

is the Costa Rica dream over icon, or is that still a bit down the road?

For now it's on hold. I have some friends who are actually leaving CR after years and hearing their stories I think I'm in holding.

Government getting greedy stone walling gringo projects.

Also overall real estate going insane. Let's look at the small house we rented for 6 weeks on our first trip down. 3 bedroom / 2 bath... solid basic Tico house.

We paid $3k ish for 6 weeks.
Now it rents for $2-3k a week

We almost bought it for $250k or so. The next year it was worth $500-600. Now? $700-800?

Got friends going to Belize in a couple years when they retire.

I hear healthcare is not great there, so I hope they look into that, but the way we are heading, we might not be much better by then.

My father moved there. Had a massive complication during surgery causing a brain injury and ended up in intensive care in the best hospital in the city where he lived, which was about the quality of the lowest quartile county hospital in BFE, rural U.S. And everything was cash pay. I flew down there for a while to help my stepmom and see my dad. Thankfully, he recovered (mostly) after a week or so (initially he was without speech and unable to move his extremities). Suffice to say, when the proverbial #### hits the fan, everything is difficult there. Following his recovery, they moved back to the states.

 

[bigbottom]

Market still seems to be white hot due to low inventory in suburban Texas. Friends in the neighborhood just listed their house and immediately had six full price or above asking offers. They were under contract in less than a week.

 

[skol asylum]

I don't think she is even going to pursue it but my wife got a call from a recruiter looking to fill a job in Lexington SC. Know nothing about the area. Pictures look nice with all the greenery. I think you have to be concerned about hurricane weather though?

 

[steelerfan1]

is the Costa Rica dream over icon, or is that still a bit down the road?

For now it's on hold. I have some friends who are actually leaving CR after years and hearing their stories I think I'm in holding.

Government getting greedy stone walling gringo projects.

Also overall real estate going insane. Let's look at the small house we rented for 6 weeks on our first trip down. 3 bedroom / 2 bath... solid basic Tico house.

We paid $3k ish for 6 weeks.
Now it rents for $2-3k a week

We almost bought it for $250k or so. The next year it was worth $500-600. Now? $700-800?

Got friends going to Belize in a couple years when they retire.

I hear healthcare is not great there, so I hope they look into that, but the way we are heading, we might not be much better by then.

My father moved there. Had a massive complication during surgery causing a brain injury and ended up in intensive care in the best hospital in the city where he lived, which was about the quality of the lowest quartile county hospital in BFE, rural U.S. And everything was cash pay. I flew down there for a while to help my stepmom and see my dad. Thankfully, he recovered (mostly) after a week or so (initially he was without speech and unable to move his extremities). Suffice to say, when the proverbial #### hits the fan, everything is difficult there. Following his recovery, they moved back to the states.

Glad he got through it BB. people definitely have to take healthcare into consideration if the plan to relocate for retirement.

 

[beer 30]

I don't think she is even going to pursue it but my wife got a call from a recruiter looking to fill a job in Lexington SC. Know nothing about the area. Pictures look nice with all the greenery. I think you have to be concerned about hurricane weather though?

Not much that far inland. You'll get some residual stuff but it's rare to see anything substantial make it that far in. My daughter lives in Columbia, if you like the heat & humidity of the summer, great place to live. We've lived in SC since 2007, little further north up by the border with NC, there is a difference in the climate by 5-10°. Other than that, there ain't much going on in SC. There are about 5.4 million people that live in the state and the vast majority of them live in 4-5 city areas. There is a lot of open land here.

 

[[icon]]

We are on the market Saturday morning. Listing is up.

Naturally people are trying to book showings for today (I'm in orlando on business)... GF said people were showing up and banging on the door. Had to get the agent to crack the whip.

4 showings lined up in the morning. I land in Memphis in 3 hours and gotta get shut ready I guess.

Here we go!

EDIT: TEN ******* showings tomorrow now.... Lawd hammercy

60 hours
18 showings
4 offers. 3 at or over ask.

Best offer is over ask, conventional, waive inspection outside termites.

The catch... they want in on Good Friday. We fly out for Europe in 11 days for the rest of the month.

So we may be frantically shoving **** in boxes for the next two weeks while also packing for EU, working, and cooking in a bbq event.

I'm an idiot

 

[ChiefD]

Ours is hitting the market March 20. Been fixing and painting and such.

Forgot how terrible this is.

 

[ChiefD]

We are on the market Saturday morning. Listing is up.

Naturally people are trying to book showings for today (I'm in orlando on business)... GF said people were showing up and banging on the door. Had to get the agent to crack the whip.

4 showings lined up in the morning. I land in Memphis in 3 hours and gotta get shut ready I guess.

Here we go!

EDIT: TEN ******* showings tomorrow now.... Lawd hammercy

60 hours
18 showings
4 offers. 3 at or over ask.

Best offer is over ask, conventional, waive inspection outside termites.

The catch... they want in on Good Friday. We fly out for Europe in 11 days for the rest of the month.

So we may be frantically shoving **** in boxes for the next two weeks while also packing for EU, working, and cooking in a bbq event.

I'm an idiot

Congrats! Great news.

 

[Nugget]

Ours is hitting the market March 20. Been fixing and painting and such.

Forgot how terrible this is.

Good luck! In Lawrence everything that is priced under $450K is going same weekend and it almost doesn’t matter the condition. Couple people have bumped their heads asking too much on some flips, but 5-10% over seems to be the price people are getting if they are ballpark.

 

[caustic]

Ours is hitting the market March 20. Been fixing and painting and such.

Forgot how terrible this is.

Good luck! In Lawrence everything that is priced under $450K is going same weekend and it almost doesn’t matter the condition. Couple people have bumped their heads asking too much on some flips, but 5-10% over seems to be the price people are getting if they are ballpark.

It's crazy. Girlfriend and I are currently renting in Lawrence, and our initial target was to get our first house by ~2026. That will not be happening if the market stays this hot.

 

[Buckna]

Colorado Springs still relatively hot. I’ve been looking since June and there is squat for inventory. Most houses that do manage to come on the market are usually estate sales or something like the longtime owner is moving to a nursing home. I looked at one a month ago that hadn’t been updated since the 60’s and needed every bit of 110k in renovations (I guessed 100k, had my contractor walk it and he came up with 110k.) That house went under contract in 3 days. The previous only other house in that neighborhood to come up for sale in the past few months went under in less than 24 hours for 20k over, all cash but was ready to move-in.

Finally got a place in the same neighborhood we love under contract two weeks ago and through inspection now, should close end of this month. House had two other offers on it first weekend. It doesn’t need much at all except eventual updating but wife wants to redo the kitchen before moving in. We’ll stay in the current house until reno’s done and then list the current house for rent.

There are some houses doing price drops out there but its usually a weird house or someone got overly greedy coming on.

 

[ChiefD]

House hit the market this morning. Agent put it on preMLS last week. 34 appointments scheduled before we hit the market today. Up to 55 and counting at the moment.

 

[krista4]

House hit the market this morning. Agent put it on preMLS last week. 34 appointments scheduled before we hit the market today. Up to 55 and counting at the moment.

Good god. Congrats!!!

 

[ChiefD]

Up to 65 now. We have two offers and our agent is expecting more. She put a deadline of 4:00 tomorrow. So we will see what happens. Both offers so far well over asking price.

Our goal is something that can close on time since we are moving to Wisconsin in the next couple of months.

 

[Beef Ravioli Part 2]

Up to 65 now. We have two offers and our agent is expecting more. She put a deadline of 4:00 tomorrow. So we will see what happens. Both offers so far well over asking price.

Our goal is something that can close on time since we are moving to Wisconsin in the next couple of months.

Went through a similar experience in 2019 when we sold in Columbus, OH. Forty something viewings on a Friday through Sunday. Offers had to be submitted by Monday morning at 11am. Ended up with 18 offers all at or above asking.

Broke it down by lenders because closing date was key to us. My realtor guided us with the best lenders in her opinion, which brought the pool down to five or six. We didn’t end up choosing the highest offer but still well above asking and closed in 30 days.

You waiting to sell this house before seriously considering options in WI or do you have something already lined up?

 

[FarFromHome]

Up to 65 now. We have two offers and our agent is expecting more. She put a deadline of 4:00 tomorrow. So we will see what happens. Both offers so far well over asking price.

Our goal is something that can close on time since we are moving to Wisconsin in the next couple of months.

Hell ya. Not all offers are the same. Discard all VA offers. Take the top 2 and choose the highest down payment.

 

[ChiefD]

Up to 65 now. We have two offers and our agent is expecting more. She put a deadline of 4:00 tomorrow. So we will see what happens. Both offers so far well over asking price.

Our goal is something that can close on time since we are moving to Wisconsin in the next couple of months.

Went through a similar experience in 2019 when we sold in Columbus, OH. Forty something viewings on a Friday through Sunday. Offers had to be submitted by Monday morning at 11am. Ended up with 18 offers all at or above asking.

Broke it down by lenders because closing date was key to us. My realtor guided us with the best lenders in her opinion, which brought the pool down to five or six. We didn’t end up choosing the highest offer but still well above asking and closed in 30 days.

You waiting to sell this house before seriously considering options in WI or do you have something already lined up?

We are moving to wisconsin regardless. Just want it done before we leave around Memorial Day. We do not have a house there yet but I get there April 22 to start my new job. So I will start looking then. We have three really good offers now and our agent put out a dead line of 4pm tomorrow for offers.

Up to 75 showings now.

 

[Peggy]

Water is actually one of the side reasons we are moving to Wisconsin. Kansas is turning into a major drought state. Access to fresh water will be what I can pass down to my children and their children.

We are hopeful to buy on a lake up there but the backup plan will be a few acres. Both situations would have a well for the water source, and where we are going there is a lot of fresh water close by.

This is similar to our dream as well. My adult boys love fishing, all kinds of fishing but fly fishing has become their favorite. We are looking for water property (prefer a creek big enough to fish or a small river) in the Blue Ridge Mountains that we can retire to and then leave to the boys and their families when we checkout. This can’t happen until I retire which is probably 10-12 years away, but we dream and talk about it all the time. Actually keeps me going at what I’m doing now. If the right property came along we have considered buying now and renting it out as we know people that have done the same and have done well.

Are you continuing to work with this move? HVAC, right? Easy to find that work where you are going? I’ll be following along to see how your adventure turns out. Good luck!

I live in the Shenandoah Valley, so let me know if you need any insight into the northern Blue Ridge area. Housing prices stayed pretty depressed here from my purchase in 2010 until COVID hit. Once people figured out they could live cheaply out here and work from home while making "D.C. money", there was a land rush. My little 1/3 acre, 1,200 sq ft house has gone up in value over 2.5x since 2021.

We have two realtors working TN south of Bristol and VA north of Bristol.

Never been there before, last year flew to Charlotte drove to Roanoke, Hot Springs, Bristol, Gatlinburg, then all the way to Nashville. Decided the area around Jackson City is where we want to be. Flying back there in August and will be looking to sell and buy any time after that

 

[FarFromHome]

Up to 65 now. We have two offers and our agent is expecting more. She put a deadline of 4:00 tomorrow. So we will see what happens. Both offers so far well over asking price.

Our goal is something that can close on time since we are moving to Wisconsin in the next couple of months.

Went through a similar experience in 2019 when we sold in Columbus, OH. Forty something viewings on a Friday through Sunday. Offers had to be submitted by Monday morning at 11am. Ended up with 18 offers all at or above asking.

Broke it down by lenders because closing date was key to us. My realtor guided us with the best lenders in her opinion, which brought the pool down to five or six. We didn’t end up choosing the highest offer but still well above asking and closed in 30 days.

You waiting to sell this house before seriously considering options in WI or do you have something already lined up?

We are moving to wisconsin regardless. Just want it done before we leave around Memorial Day. We do not have a house there yet but I get there April 22 to start my new job. So I will start looking then. We have three really good offers now and our agent put out a dead line of 4pm tomorrow for offers.

Up to 75 showings now.

That and empty homes attract squatters. Such a crazy thing but it's a thing that is getting worse. Don't get me started on it. When we sell our current home I put it at 0% I leave it vacant for more then a week or two tops.

 

[Peggy]

What's the process for buying then selling?

Own existing outright, want to new home at a comparable price. Want to be closing on the new house before putting the old one the market so we have a place to live and can move from one to the other as seamlessly as possible.

Not thrilled about the interest rates of having a temporary loan while the old house sells. Not thrilled about liquidating investments for a down payment either. Would you need the full 20% down? HELOC? Bridge loan?

 

[ChiefD]

Ended up with 79 showings and 19 offers.

Accepted one late last night.

 

[FarFromHome]

Ended up with 79 showings and 19 offers.

Accepted one late last night.

Yes sir. Congrats. Always exciting when u accept.

 

[Beef Ravioli Part 2]

Ended up with 79 showings and 19 offers.

Accepted one late last night.

Awesome!

 

[Joe Bryant]

Ended up with 79 showings and 19 offers.

Accepted one late last night.

Congratulations!

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Up to 75 showings now.

Install a turnstile.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

What's the process for buying then selling?

Own existing outright, want to new home at a comparable price. Want to be closing on the new house before putting the old one the market so we have a place to live and can move from one to the other as seamlessly as possible.

Not thrilled about the interest rates of having a temporary loan while the old house sells. Not thrilled about liquidating investments for a down payment either. Would you need the full 20% down? HELOC? Bridge loan?

Join a credit union maybe? Or loan yourself the money using a credit card. We used it as a bridge loan of a sort. (We didn't move that far and we kept the old house while the new one was being modified.)

 

[krista4]

What's the process for buying then selling?

Own existing outright, want to new home at a comparable price. Want to be closing on the new house before putting the old one the market so we have a place to live and can move from one to the other as seamlessly as possible.

Not thrilled about the interest rates of having a temporary loan while the old house sells. Not thrilled about liquidating investments for a down payment either. Would you need the full 20% down? HELOC? Bridge loan?

I've done this several times in exactly the same position (own existing home outright) and am going to do it again in the next year. Kind of a pain, and interest rates aren't good right now, but I did a HELOC in each case and borrowed on that plus added cash on hand so that I could give a cash offer on the new one. That's been necessary for a while here in order to have any chance of winning the bidding wars. Next move is to Chicago, where the market isn't hot, so maybe there would be other options. I looked at a bridge loan once and honestly can't remember why I ruled that out.

I'll be curious if others have ideas. @Chadstroma might also be a resource in that regard.

 

[Peggy]

What's the process for buying then selling?

Own existing outright, want to new home at a comparable price. Want to be closing on the new house before putting the old one the market so we have a place to live and can move from one to the other as seamlessly as possible.

Not thrilled about the interest rates of having a temporary loan while the old house sells. Not thrilled about liquidating investments for a down payment either. Would you need the full 20% down? HELOC? Bridge loan?

I've done this several times in exactly the same position (own existing home outright) and am going to do it again in the next year. Kind of a pain, and interest rates aren't good right now, but I did a HELOC in each case and borrowed on that plus added cash on hand so that I could give a cash offer on the new one. That's been necessary for a while here in order to have any chance of winning the bidding wars. Next move is to Chicago, where the market isn't hot, so maybe there would be other options. I looked at a bridge loan once and honestly can't remember why I ruled that out.

I'll be curious if others have ideas. @Chadstroma might also be a resource in that regard.

Probably because a Heloc is a little better suited and lower interest than a bridge from the little I've read about it.

So I take 100K in cash, plus another 100-200K from a Heloc lender to give to another lender as 20% down? Then carry a mortgage plus a heloc until the first house sells?

Seems like a single lender could combine the two and make it all happen. It's just shuffling of the cards, I take the risk and they make interest and closing costs for the time it takes.

I wouldn't even care if interest rates weren't so high.

 

[krista4]

What's the process for buying then selling?

Own existing outright, want to new home at a comparable price. Want to be closing on the new house before putting the old one the market so we have a place to live and can move from one to the other as seamlessly as possible.

Not thrilled about the interest rates of having a temporary loan while the old house sells. Not thrilled about liquidating investments for a down payment either. Would you need the full 20% down? HELOC? Bridge loan?

I've done this several times in exactly the same position (own existing home outright) and am going to do it again in the next year. Kind of a pain, and interest rates aren't good right now, but I did a HELOC in each case and borrowed on that plus added cash on hand so that I could give a cash offer on the new one. That's been necessary for a while here in order to have any chance of winning the bidding wars. Next move is to Chicago, where the market isn't hot, so maybe there would be other options. I looked at a bridge loan once and honestly can't remember why I ruled that out.

I'll be curious if others have ideas. @Chadstroma might also be a resource in that regard.

Probably because a Heloc is a little better suited and lower interest than a bridge from the little I've read about it.

So I take 100K in cash, plus another 100-200K from a Heloc lender to give to another lender as 20% down? Then carry a mortgage plus a heloc until the first house sells?

Seems like a single lender could combine the two and make it all happen. It's just shuffling of the cards, I take the risk and they make interest and closing costs for the time it takes.

I wouldn't even care if interest rates weren't so high.

Oh yeah, I would just do one mortgage if that's what you were doing. I was thinking the HELOC and cash you had could cover the new purchase so that you don't get a mortgage at all. The mortgage is going to be at a lower interest rate than the HELOC, so if you're doing a mortgage just put everything in that. Be aware that you will need to get one that doesn't have a prepayment penalty, since you'll presumably pay it off when you sell your current place. You might still also need to keep it for a certain amount of time, usually less than a year. Your lender can walk you through those options.

 

[Chadstroma]

What's the process for buying then selling?

Own existing outright, want to new home at a comparable price. Want to be closing on the new house before putting the old one the market so we have a place to live and can move from one to the other as seamlessly as possible.

Not thrilled about the interest rates of having a temporary loan while the old house sells. Not thrilled about liquidating investments for a down payment either. Would you need the full 20% down? HELOC? Bridge loan?

I've done this several times in exactly the same position (own existing home outright) and am going to do it again in the next year. Kind of a pain, and interest rates aren't good right now, but I did a HELOC in each case and borrowed on that plus added cash on hand so that I could give a cash offer on the new one. That's been necessary for a while here in order to have any chance of winning the bidding wars. Next move is to Chicago, where the market isn't hot, so maybe there would be other options. I looked at a bridge loan once and honestly can't remember why I ruled that out.

I'll be curious if others have ideas. @Chadstroma might also be a resource in that regard.

Thanks @krista4

The most common approach is to put in offers with a contingent upon sale in it. This eliminates the need for anything other than a normal mortgage and you can use the proceeds to buy the new home. Depending on your market, this may be perfectly normal and accepted (slow to balanced or warm markets) when there is not a lot of competition for the real estate on the market.

If putting a contingency is not really an option as it will put you at too much of a disadvantage in a competitive market, then a bridge loan is usually the route to go here. To simplify it, you are simply using the equity in the current home to with a short term loan secured by the old home. The typical hang up is that most lenders require you to be able to qualify while holding both loans though I believe I have a lender now that does not require that anymore (would need to double check that and make sure it wasn't a dream after losing a deal last summer because none of our lenders would do it without them being able to qualify while carrying both homes).

You can do an equity loan/line. You usually can not do the equity with the property listed (and most lenders I have known in my past had a 6 month seasoning after taking it off market) so you would want to set it up before listing your home. Most equity loans/lines will offer no costs on them but with a pre-payment penalty for a few years. The costs are usually going to be somewhere around $500ish (unless things have changed a ton since I use to be involved in equity lending a lot).

If you want to dig into you situation in more detail, I am happy to assist. I am licensed in about 13 states and my brokerage is licensed in 48 so if not one of the states I am not licensed in, I can either potentially add it quickly or if not, refer to one of my colleagues to take care of the loans. For the two states that we are not, I know brokers that I can refer you to. For equity, we do them but if you just need a vanilla one, you are better off finding a small community bank or credit union and get it through them as their pricing will be better than what I can offer. The times I do equity loans/lines if when the banks/CU's won't do them (need a higher LTV, higher DTI, low credit, etc). I have helped more than a couple of FBG's either personally or by referring to others.