What Happens When You Sell Before You Buy?

If your home sells before you find the next one, don’t panic. Assuming that you haven’t already started searching for a property, there are three things you can do. 

 If you sell your home before you find your next one, what are your options?

Well, the best thing to do would be to start looking when you put your home on the market. That way, you have an idea of what you’re looking for and you can jump on the house you want once your current house is sold. Assuming that you didn’t do that, there are three things you could do:

1. Rent your original home back from the new owner. Rent-backs are very common. You get to stay in the home for a few weeks before closing and since you sold your home, you have money in your pocket for the next one.

2. Find a short-term rental. Most people rent properties long-term, but you can find somewhere to live for less than six months while you go out and look for your next home. You do have to move twice, but you have more time to make your decision.

3. Keep in mind that selling your house is a good thing. Depending on the market, selling before you buy might be the best option for you. Don’t just hurry out and buy a house once your home has sold; you may end up regretting your decision later on. Find some kind of temporary housing and take your time finding your next home.

If you have any other questions about buying and selling a home at the same time, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Don’t Be Fooled by Discount Brokers

Discount brokers may offer more money on the sale of your house, but they’re not nearly as effective in getting it sold as full-service brokers.

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You’ve probably heard that there are real estate companies out there that offer huge discounts on being able to sell your house. There aren’t many of them, but they exist. Why would anybody hire a discount broker over a full-service broker? 

The obvious answer is the idea that at the end of the closing, you’d end up with a little bit more money if you chose the discount broker. How can they deliver that, though? Well, they can’t! That’s why they haven’t overtaken the business. The public has spoken. However, a few discount brokers manage to survive and complete deals here and there.

In choosing between a discount broker and a full-service broker, you need to interview each type and ask them what they’re going to do to sell your house. Most discount brokers are not going to do very much at all, but in their defense, they don’t promise to do very much.

Working with a discount broker is a bit of a crapshoot.

In this way, working with a discount broker is a bit of a crapshoot. That’s mostly how they work. In fact, that’s the only way they work. In the process of interviewing both the discount brokers and the full-service brokers, you’ll be able to know which one is better for you.

If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or email me. I look forward to hearing from you!

Are Appraisals Reliable?

What are appraisals? How reliable are they? Should you have one done before you list your home? These are all common questions that I wanted to clear up.

Buying an Atlanta Home? Search all homes for sale

Selling an Atlanta Home? Check out our FREE Home Value Report

Today I wanted to talk about appraisals. What are they? How reliable are they? Should you have one done before you put your home on the market?

An appraisal is just an opinion of value.

To put it bluntly, an appraisal is simply an educated opinion of value in the marketplace. The appraiser has constraints within which they have to work, so they come up with an opinion of value for a home.

How reliable is it? Not very. If you watch real estate ads, you'll see homes coming in thousands below appraisal. Why? Because appraisers missed the price!

Finally, should you have an appraisal done before you put your home on the market? You can if you’d like, but I'll say this: I wouldn't, because the only opinion that really counts is the market's opinion.

If you have any questions for me about appraisals or about the Atlanta real estate market, give me a call on my cell phone. I'm happy to help!