MOVING UP GUIDE
PART 1:
MOVING UP!
Table of Contents
PART 2:
BUILDING YOUR TEAM
PART 3:
SELLING YOUR CURRENT HOME
PART 4:
BUYING YOUR NEXT HOME
PART 5:
LIFESTYLE CHANGES WHEN MAKING A MOVE
PART 6: FINAL THOUGHTS & CLIENT SUCCESS
A Market Analysis of Your Current Home
The most accurate valuation of your home is what an open market buyer agrees to pay for it within a given timeframe. As this cannot be done without actually putting your home on the market, you will want a real estate agent who knows the market well enough to preview the home and advise you accordingly.
The agent will compare your home with other nearby homes that have recently sold as well as homes that are currently on the market. With this comparative data your agent will advise you on an approximate selling price and help calculate the equity that you will earn from selling after fees and taxes have been paid. It is essential to analyze a range of potential selling prices from the best to worst case scenario.
A Thorough Review of the Market Landscape and Selling Scenarios
The best case scenario: You are buying and selling while your current home is in good condition, in a desirable location, and the neighborhood where you want to buy provides a lot of possibilities in your price range. This is often the case when a purchaser is downsizing or transitions from an urban neighborhood to a more suburban one. In reality, you may not always be buying and selling in a bestcase scenario.
A more difficult situation (but one our team manages often) is when you need to move and the place where you want to purchase has a low supply of housing inventory. If you need to sell your current home in order to buy, you have an even bigger challenge.
One tactic is to plan for two separate moves. You can put your house on the market and then, when it sells, you can move into a rental until you can find the right home. We have certainly had clients go this route.
Another alternative, that is a little more difficult to maneuver, is finding a home to purchase where the owner allows a contingent offer based on the sale of your current property. Keep in mind, though, that if you are buying in a smaller and closer-to-town market, most sellers are not interested in accepting a contingent offer. This tactic works best if you’re buying at a higher price point where the inventory doesn’t move as quickly.
Some clients have the ability to purchase a home without selling their current one immediately. In this situation, your real estate agent will prepare a market analysis of your current home that takes into account market patterns, such as absorption rates and odds of selling. Even if you don’t have to sell your current home immediately, you want to evaluate the time it could take to sell to mitigate risk.
For this reason, we recommend the use of a conservative forecast. Prior to the last recession, the economy was skyrocketing, and many people bought new homes that were priced well above the market average. They were then trapped when the market crashed and they still needed to sell their current home. They had to chase the market down, dropping prices far beyond what they had ever imagined. Some owners chose to rent instead of taking those deep price cuts, but, during this time, many rental payments weren’t covering the carrying costs of the home. This left a lot of people in a bad position and led to high short sale and foreclosure rates.
This exemplifies why you need to be careful when buying a second house before selling the first one. This starts with carefully determining the final sale price of your current home.
There’s also another situation to consider — and one that can be the most challenging. It is when a home owner is satisfied with their current house, but they want something more. It could be a larger yard, a pool, or a better location within their same neighborhood. They would like to move, but they don’t have to.
In a competitive market, this prospective buyer can be hampered by making comparisons to their current home, or discover that they need to get their current home on the market and sell it quickly in order to move up. When the right house comes along, it might be the right one for someone else, too.
Some good advice for these scenarios, which move-up buyers tend to find themselves in:
- Have your current house ready to go on the market at a moment’s notice by having listing photos taken and your home ready for showings. Sellers considering a contingent offer will want to see that you can get your house on the market quickly!
- You need a good agent searching for you, beating the bushes for properties that might consider a contingency, or that you can make an offer on before it goes on the market so you are not competing with a large potential buyer pool.
The Genevieve Williams Real Estate Team has helped clients through each of these scenarios, and they are all workable with the right approach. If you are thinking about a move, we are happy to meet with you to discuss the right action plan for your situation. We are here to help!
PART 2: BUILDING YOUR TEAM
Do You Really Need to Hire a Realtor When Buying and Selling a Home?
Some buyers and sellers believe they don’t need to hire a Realtor. While we have certainly come across unrepresented buyers and sellers in our years of experience, we do not advise this option— especially if you are going through the daunting process of buying and selling at the same time! There are numerous reasons why you want an experienced Realtor in your corner:
- Purchasing a home is a major decision. It’s also likely the largest financial investment you will make in your lifetime. You want experience on your side to advise you in the process, which is full of important choices and an overwhelming amount of details.
- Buying and selling at the same time can be quite difficult. It is important to choose a Realtor who has expertise with this situation, who is a great negotiator, and who works hard to keep it all moving in the right direction seamlessly.
- Realtors have connections to properties that you may not find on Zillow or any other real estate site. Agents have other ways of finding properties that are not on the market or are not currently available for purchase. Realtors also have access to other agents’ private listings, or will use their relationships with other agents to try to get a lead on upcoming properties.
- The NC Offer to Purchase and Contract is a legally binding document. You could lose thousands of dollars if something were to go wrong. An experienced Realtor will help explain all the ins and outs of the contract documents and ensure you navigate the contingencies correctly.
- If you are buying new construction, you may be under the impression the builder’s representative will take care of you; not so! They represent the builder, whose contracts are written to protect the builder.
Before beginning the home buying and selling journey, one of the first things you need to do is call a lender to get pre-qualified and explore the various mortgage options that might be a fit for you. It’s important to know what you qualify for and what you are willing to spend monthly before you start home shopping. These numbers are often not the same, and the lender can walk you through this process. For example, the loan amount you qualify for may be much greater than what you actually want to pay per month. You will also need to ask if you can purchase your new home without contingencies. There is no charge for being pre-qualified, you are not locked in at any rate, and you are not required to use the lender. Being pre-qualified is an important step, not only for your piece of mind, but sellers will want to see you have spoken to a mortgage broker when it comes time to make an offer.
We advise our clients to perform their due diligence by reaching out to at least three lenders. It is crucial to pick a lender that you feel good about since you will work so closely together throughout the home-buying process.
Did you know that not all real estate agents are Realtors? A licensed Realtor is a member of the National Association of Realtors and is legally bound to its Code of Ethics. A real estate agent without the Realtor designation is not bound to any such standards. Bear this in mind as you talk to various agents.
A good Realtor looks out for your best interests, knows how to negotiate, and can walk you through every step of the home buying and selling process. Your Realtor can help you find an experienced lender so you can secure financing. Realtors also have vast networks of professionals to recommend including home inspectors, contractors, movers, and many more.
If the Genevieve Williams Real Estate Team can help you in your home search, please reach out. Even if you’re not quite ready to sell or buy, we are always happy to talk through the process and your various options.
What Are You Supposed to Look for in Your Lender?
- The types of programs they provide, particularly if you need a flexible loan. For example: you don’t have a lot of cash on hand, you want to purchase before you sell or you have a high debt-to-income ratio.
- Responsiveness and flexible hours, such as evenings and weekends. Once you find the house you want and make an offer, we will need to give the seller a pre-approval letter for the offer price and the size of the down payment. The nature of our business this often happens on the weekend or in the evening. If we are in a competitive offer scenario, responsiveness is key!
- Location and proximity to your new home. Are they local? Believe it or not, a lender in another time zone may cause delays and problems. Lenders must follow certain timelines and, if they are late, the closing may be postponed. Also, you have a competitive edge if the other Realtor knows and respects your borrower, which takes us to the next point...
- What is the lender’s reputation? Are they experienced? Do they have agents and clients to vouch for them? Look into their past performance.
- Do they have underwriting in-house? It’s not a deal breaker per se, but it can be very significant. If they have their own in-house underwriting, that is a big plus! Smaller banks are generally better off in the lending world. Big banks, and even some credit unions, can move slowly. Local banks are much more flexible, they can make exemptions easier, because they usually know everyone they’re working with throughout the system.
Now That You Have Identified What to Look for in a Lender, How Should You Prepare for the Initial Conversation?
- Lenders will need to have general knowledge of your income, debt and other key financial information. You will want to ask how much you need to plan for on a down payment and closing costs, as well as asking how much to plan for each month once you own the home.
- Normally, you will not need full documentation on your income and employment history to get pre-qualified, but since you’re going to need this information down the line, it’s not a bad idea to start thinking about collecting information like tax returns and W2’s.
- Be prepared for the lender to ask permission to run your credit to get your credit score. They will need your credit score to determine what kind of interest rate you will receive.
When you feel like you are months or even a year out from making a move, go ahead and reach out to potential lenders. It will help you figure out how much you need to save in order to afford the kind of house you’d like to purchase. The best place to look for a lender is a recommendation from your Realtor or a friend who recently purchased. The benefit of your Realtor’s advice is that, instead of having dealt with them for one sale, Realtors have dealt with them for several transactions and recognize their overall reputation in the industry. It is not legal for Realtors to get kick-backs for their recommendations, so you can rest assured that any recommendations are not to the advantage of your agent.
PART 3: SELLING YOUR CURRENT HOME
If you are selling your home for the first time, it’s a completely different ballgame from what you have seen as a first-time buyer. First of all, you are in control of the process. You call the shots to ready your house, agree on the listing price, and accept or reject the bid.
Here are some useful tips to remember before placing your home on the market. Once you are a Genevieve Williams Real Estate client, we’ll sit down and talk about the process and, what, if any, changes to make to your home and how to properly price your property.
- Hire an Experienced Realtor: Real estate transactions are fraught with critical decisions and challenges that a skilled and seasoned Realtor can help you navigate.
- Detach Yourself: A home is the backdrop to many of life’s cherished memories. It is hard to say goodbye. Be cautious not to let your emotional attachment get in the way of making decisions, particularly when it comes to planning, decluttering, and pricing your home. Once the home is on the open market, it’s a product for sale, and needs to be presented in the best possible way.
- Pricing Your Home: Choosing a Realtor and selling the house go hand-in-hand. The correct pricing of your home is extremely important. It can determine if you receive an offer on your home within a few weeks or whether your house sits on the market for months.
- Repairs and Upgrades: Ensure that all of your systems and appliances are functioning properly, as they are likely to come up in a home inspection. Your Realtor may also advise you if any changes could make your home more desirable to buyers.
Readying Your Home for Sale
Selling your home isn’t rocket science, but it is easy to make mistakes when you are not fully prepared for the process. If you are considering selling your home in the foreseeable future, there are a few things you can do now to make the process smoother and less stressful. While not all of these are MUSTS, our seasoned recommendations will help you sell your home quickly — and for more money.
Declutter
Every item in your home falls into one of three categories:
- Junk/Trash
- Donate or Sell
- Take to the New House
We tell our clients to start the decluttering process as soon as possible before listing their home — consider it pre-packing for an eventual move. Specifically, your countertops should be clear and all of the items on shelves should be neat and organized. Closets are not meant to be overstuffed. Potential buyers WILL open them. Toys should be paired down as much as possible. The pre-listing phase is a good time to get rid of things you no longer want or use. You may even want to lease a storage unit for select items that you’re not yet ready to part with or plan on taking to your new home, but are not ideal to keep in your home while it is on the market. The fewer “things” you have in your home, the bigger it will seem to buyers.
Depersonalize
It is very important to depersonalize your home as much as possible. Doing so will allow prospective buyers to imagine themselves living there. Trust us, people get distracted by looking at your personal items instead of focusing on the house itself! Take down all personal photos (yes, including the marriage picture and those lovely baby pictures) and mementos including diplomas and trophies. Put any unique collections in storage. Take down the magnets from the refrigerator, and remove the banners and posters for your favorite sports team.
Clean
Your house should be the cleanest it has ever been! Look high, look low. Cobwebs and dust can collect in the corners of the walls and floors. Search for debris on light fixtures and ceiling fans, or wash them thoroughly. Scan around door frames, light switches, door knobs, and walls in high-traffic areas (think hallways and stairs). Invest in a few Mr. Clean Magic Erasers to remove any and all scuff marks.
Also, if you have a pet, make sure your house is free of any hair or odors. Consider having the carpets professionally cleaned. You might even want to ask a trusted friend for an honest assessment of how your home smells.
Wash Windows
Your home may have amazing views, but if your windows are dirty, no one will appreciate them. Check all windows on all levels of the home. At certain times of day, windows may look fine, but if the sun hits them at a certain angle, it’s another story! Use lots of elbow grease, or consider hiring a professional. A quality window-washing treatment is an investment worth every penny.
Landscape
Your home’s landscaping should look its best for listing photos and for potential buyers! Focus on the following when ready to list your home:
- Keep the grass trimmed and edged neatly.
- Spruce your beds with a layer of fresh mulch.
- Prune or cut any shrubs that have overgrown.
- Cut any tree branches dangling over the building and electrical wires.
- Plant a few bright flowers outside your main entrance.
- Clear grass and leaves from all walkways, patios, and driveways.
Curb Appeal
When you list your home, you want to make it as welcoming as possible as potential buyers pull up to the front of your home. There are some easy ways to enhance your home’s appeal:
- Add outdoor lighting, including porch lights, window lighting, and walkway lighting.
- Add a fresh paint coat to the shutters and front door.
- Buy a new welcome mat.
- Clear the roof of any obvious fallen branches.
- Make sure the gutters are clear and not clogged.
Interior Painting
Touch up any nicks or marks in the paint throughout home. Be sure to check the high-traffic areas mentioned above that are most likely to need these touch-ups.
Consider neutralizing any strong color choices. The color palette should be as neutral as possible in order to cater to as many potential buyers as possible. Nonetheless, please consult us before doing painting. We can suggest colors that are widely liked and will coordinate with your home decor.
If you have any wallpaper in your house, we recommend that you remove it. Not everyone is a wallpaper addict, and even if they are, they may not like the patterns you have picked. A room in a neutral paint tone will appeal to a much broader range of buyers, which is always the goal.
Bottom Line... We recognize that preparing your home for market can be daunting. There are a lot of factors to consider and every situation is different. Please contact a Realtor before you make changes to your house or spend money on a renovation. We are always happy to advise you on these decisions and on anything related to your home. If you need recommendations for contractors to get your home list ready, we can help on this front too.
PART 4: BUYING YOUR NEXT HOME
Contingent Offers: What This Means to You
Chances are, if you are buying and selling a home at the same time, you need to sell your current home in order to complete the purchase of your new home. With a contingency in place, the transaction is conditional. If your current home sells by the specified date, the contract on your new home moves forward. If your current home doesn’t sell by the specified date, the contract for your new home can be extended if both parties agree, or can be terminated.
In a competitive market, it is very hard to win if there are multiple offers on the home and you are coming in with a contingent offer. Sellers see a home sale contingency as risky because there’s no guarantee that your current home will sell. We will talk through all of your options beforehand to put you in the most competitive position to buy and sell at the same time.
How to Choose the Right Move-Up Financing
Many borrowers find it easier to buy their first home than to buy their second home. With a second home, they are often faced with the possibility of owning a new home and old home at the same time. We would all like to think that we can sell our current home just before, or on the same day, as buying a new home. While that does happen occasionally, the more likely scenario is that the borrower needs to buy a new home first and then sell their current home.
Why does it need to be that way? Market demand drives the purchaser’s ability to either enter into a contract with a home sale contingency or to enter into a contract without one. Home sale contingency simply means that you enter into a contract where your ability to purchase the home is dependent upon the sale of your current home.
This can be a great option for the buyer, but it does put the seller at risk, because no one really knows how long it will take to sell your current home. It is much better for the owner to consider a deal that is not contingent on the sale of your house. It reduces the risk of waiting for you to sell your home.
How does a move-up purchaser compete if their current home isn’t selling or they want to hold their home and rent it? There are a number of programs designed... you’ll want to talk to a lender.
PART 5: LIFESTYLE CHANGES WHEN MAKING A MOVE
Reflect on what you’re searching for in a new neighborhood. You will quickly realize that you have some must-haves and some nice-to-haves on the list. You’re going to have to make compromises! Here’s some guidance on how to assess the best neighborhood for you:
First, Think About These Questions:
- What kind of house would you like? Are you interested in a single-family home, a townhouse, a condo? Is there any particular style?
- How far are you willing to commute? Up to 10 miles, or not longer than one hour?
- How do you plan to get around? Walk, bike, drive, or take the light rail?
- Do you want to be able to walk to amenities? What does “walkable” mean to you-- restaurants and shops at your doorstep, or within a mile? Is it important to have sidewalks for running or riding bikes? Do you want to be able to walk to a nearby park?
- Would you like to be in a historic neighborhood or a new development? Historic neighborhoods have a charm, but historic homes often require work, and sometimes have strict guidelines about what you can and cannot do when upgrading your house. Newer designs tend to provide modern features, but may offer limited design and builder upgrade choices.
- Do you have kids or are you planning to have them in the future? If so, you will want to do some research on schools that you feel are a good fit to narrow down neighborhoods. Even if you’re not planning to take advantage of the public school system, living in an area with a sought-after school system will add value to your property.
Second, Match Your Needs to the Neighborhood
Once you have identified your needs, talk to friends, family, and your Realtor about which neighborhoods might be a good fit. Although Realtors cannot offer opinions on some of these topics, they can let you know what neighborhoods suit your needs once you have established your requirements. We often connect our clients to other clients and contacts in the neighborhoods they are considering, so they can get a feel for the community.
Next, Do Your Due Diligence
Once you have identified some neighborhoods that could be a fit, research the criteria that is most important to you to make sure the neighborhood is a good match. See what the neighborhood is like at varying days and times. It’s not enough to see your potential new home at 12 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. When you’re driving around the neighborhood, consider:
- Are the houses in the area well maintained?
- Can you imagine yourself living there?
- Shop nearby stores and visit local restaurants. Can you see yourself participating in the community?
- You are going to want to be sure to test commutes and daily drive activities. Google Maps and Waze make these easy by tracking traffic and showing times. Or, you can actually drive the routes yourself.
- Research the school and crime information in neighborhoods or areas you are considering.
Buying with a Baby or Young Kids?
Buying a new home is an enormous and stressful decision at any time. But, if you are buying with a baby, young kids or have plans for children soon, it’s a whole new ball game! You still have the four basic home-buying considerations – location, size, condition, and price – but you also will want to consider a few more factors depending on your short-term and long-term plans:
Laundry and Bathrooms
Bathrooms are one of the key things that get overlooked. Several things to consider here: 1) Having a toilet on the main living level of your household while you’re focusing on potty training. 2) Where you will be giving baths. Even if glass walk-in showers are all the rage, you may want at least one tub. (3) You will be doing tons of laundry! This almost goes without saying, but make sure the washer and dryer are in a convenient location.
Visitors
Will the grandparents come to visit when the baby is born? Are you going to want them to stay for a couple of weeks or months? Having a third bedroom or a pull-out sofa to accommodate supportive relatives may be important to you. Think through potential childcare options. Do you possibly need a nanny space or a room for an au pair?
Future Family Plans
An extra bedroom or bonus room can also come in handy if you’re hoping to have another baby in the future. Until then, the room could be used for multiple purposes including a nice office space if you are working from home more often while your kids are young.
Parking
With a baby or small child, think through what you are going to do if your new home doesn’t have allocated parking. If you are grocery shopping and coming home packed with bags and your baby are you going to have to worry about where to park? Covered? Uncovered? Street parking? It’s certainly something to think about.
Stairs
Also, consider how you will enter your home. Is that entrance stroller friendly? Do you need to ascend a flight of stairs to get there? Having a baby involves a lot of gear so have a plan for if or how you want to manage a flight of stairs multiple times a day.
Outdoor Space
Think about that first year as your baby learns how to crawl and walk as well as a toddler whose legs are moving all the time. Would you rather unlock the backyard gate for them to run, or pack up to go to the park? Are you going to want a swing set in your backyard or room for a pick-up soccer game? Or would you like to go with others to the neighborhood park?
Safety
For infants and young children, all safety concerns must remain at the top of our minds. Is the dream home worth it if on a busy road? Can you live on a different level in a house than your child’s bedroom?
Educational Opportunities
Then there is the school decision: public or private? Is your child going to walk to school or take a bus? Maybe you are going to drive them, or you would like to find a neighborhood with lots of kids in their future school so you can carpool. Do your research now on all the school options; it will be here before you know it.
Your children grow up, so do their friends. They are going to take up more physical space at home. Be sure the home you chose has a family-friendly floor plan that you’re searching for and space to grow into –at least for the next few years.
If your family is growing up and you feel the need for more space, please contact us.
This is just what we do! We can help you think of your next home and help you figure out what will work best for your family. We are are always happy to chat, even if you are not quite yet ready to move up, but need to start thinking about it.
Moving with Kids While Keeping Your Sanity!
Before the Move
Celebrate the home you are leaving! Be sure to take photos (inside and outside) of the home you’re leaving, particularly if your children are young. Suggest holding some kind of goodbye party leading up to the transfer, so kids (and parents!) can say a goodbye to the home, the community, and dear friends.
Try to introduce the kids to their new home and community well in advance of your actual move. Take a few visits to the new location and branch out to local shops, parks and fun attractions. Assign ageappropriate moving tasks to your kids and let them help. Younger children could carry their toys and stuffed animals. Elementary school-aged children could tag containers. Ask older children to look online at some of the activities and sports in the area of your new home online.
While packing, consider using different colors, tags, and even photo labels. We suggest using each child’s favorite color to denote their boxes. This way, the little ones will keep focused and maybe even put away stuff themselves, which will bring a little of the pressure away from their parents. It also allows kids to take ownership in their new space as they put their things up.
Think about keeping the kids’ items close at hand and clearly labeled as these will be some of the first boxes you will want to unpack to get them settled into their new home. Take this packing time as an opportunity to purge unused and outgrown clothes and toys. If your child is close to getting too big for an item like a highchair or changing table, don’t move with the items — donate them or sell them.
For each child, pack a small travel bag as if you were going for a weekend. Ensure that you have everything you need for two full days (think bottles, fun snacks, sippy cups, beloved books, go-to outfits, and any food or prescriptions you want). You won’t have to dig through endless boxes for what you need right away.
Help your children to be excited in their new home. Enable them to choose their bedrooms (well, maybe) and paint colors (with reason!). If you need a play set for your new yard, or if you have the space for a trampoline or an air hockey table, let them guide you search for these entertainment products. Involve your children in the setting up of their play space and bedroom.
During the Move
RULE #1 - ENLIST HELP! If you have local family members, ask them to help on the actual move day. And, if possible, line up help for the days before and after moving day. If you don’t have family nearby, ask a couple of close friends. If needed, barter childcare!
Try to spread the move over a couple of days, if possible. As soon as you have the keys to your new home, start making some pre-moving trips of smaller items/boxes. Take whatever things you can bear or survive without for a couple of days. Perhaps the goal is to have one space completely set up before the transfer itself. It’s going to make the actual moving day much easier and faster.
Once you’re in your new home and unpacked, save a few of your bigger moving boxes. They make for great forts and spaceships in those early days! Allow your children to decorate them with markers and stickers to keep them busy and engaged as you settle into your new space.
NEED HELP? The Genevieve Williams Real Estate Team wants to make your move as smooth as possible, whether you’re moving with or without kids. If we can provide you with information on anything related to your move, please contact us!
PART 7: FINAL THOUGHTS
Buying and selling a home is probably the biggest financial decision you’re going to make in your life, and it’s a complicated process. We’re here to support you! There is a lot of information to explore, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have advised hundreds of buyers and sellers over the years, and we have a lot of insight into the system. We would love to get together over coffee to share our experiences, answer any questions you may have, and talk you through the process.
Genevieve Williams OWNER/BROKER, REALTOR ®
P 704.323.9127
E GW@gwclt.com
Bailey Ralls Lee BROKER, REALTOR ®
P 336.402.3480
E Bailey@gwclt.com