DH and I bought our home inthe summer of 2006 when the housing market was AWESOME for sellers and tough for buyers (houses were on the market for a few hours!). At the time I was a SAHM with DD1 and DH just got his first full time post-college grad job. We purchased a 3br/1.5ba twin that was "flipped" so everything was brand new except for th ehot water heater & heating system. Since then both have been replaced by us.
Anyway, we are SO ready to get out of this twin and into our *hopefully* forever home. I am just wondering if we should hang on to the house a little longer to see what the market does.
We are meeting w/a realtor on Monday night and he is going to give us the comps and DOM for area homes and we'll decide then if/when to put the house up. He said on the phone that we are selling a "starter" home and that is what buyers are looking for because this is a "first time home buyer" market.
I'm getting sick to my stomach just thinking about this tough, lol. It's so stressful. I just want to buy a new house -- not go through the hassle of selling this one first, lol.
Re: Selling our house -- Are we crazy??
It is a tough time, but if you have any equity in the house it may be worth it. You figure - it evens out b/c you're going to get your "forever" home at a lower price now with the market lower, but your house will sell lower. It's worth looking into.
The realtor is definitely right about it being a first time homebuyers market - everyone is buying b/c of the $8k credit and other benefits to 1st time buyers. My brother and his fiance are looking - b/c they make under a certain amount they get a mortgage with no PMI and 0% down, plus $10k toward closing costs from the county. Then they'll get the $8k on their tax return! not bad!
We are actually in a similar situation right now. We bought our townhome in 2004 and are looking to move sometime next year. We are planning on putting ours on the market in May to test it out and see what happens. We figure we don't have anything to lose since we are not in a huge rush to sell and have the flexibility to stay firm on what we would like to get for the house.
My H has done a ton of research and he thinks that it is the right decision. The tax credit for first time homebuyers might actually help us sell in this economy.
So, that was my long winded way of saying, no, I don't think you are crazy! Go for it!
We're putting our house on the market in May too, so no- I don't think your crazy! I'm hoping this insane first time home buyers tax credit helps us out, as well as our low low price.
Talk to your realtor about pricing and see what numbers you can come up with. Like you said, now is the time to upgrade if you can afford to get out of your current home.