Buying, Selling, Moving All At Once

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Buying, Selling & Moving...OH MY! 5 Tips for Simultaneous Transactions

Good morning, real estate fans, Alice Lema here again, broker John L. Scott, Southern Oregon. And today we are doing our podcast and we're so excited. We're getting great feedback. So definitely give us a, like, give us a comment, share it with your friends.

[00:00:22] Cause today's episode, we're going to talk about buying and selling at the same time and it can be a real experience because your head might feel like it's going to explode. But I want to give you five tips to get through it.

[00:00:36] So, first of all, understand your market conditions because the market conditions are going to dictate whether you get your house ready and on the market first, and then go look for a house.

[00:00:45] Or if you're going to start looking for a house. And yet you're listing the house to sell ready for. So understand your market conditions because that will tell you what to do first. Okay.

[00:00:58] Second of all, when you're addressing the home that you own, that's getting ready for sale, super important, get it inspected.

[00:01:05] Okay. Have it professionally cleaned or do a really deep, deep cleaning, like the windows have to be sparkly, the little tracks in the door, like the sliding door, wiped down, all of the door, jams, wipe off the door and out. Would you want to do that anyway? Because even though we're coming out of the COVID, it's still we don't know better to err on the, on the side of safety.

[00:01:30] So the second tip is absolutely get your house ready and stand out in the front and look at it with fresh eyes because the buyers are going to drive by. And we actually have buyers even in a tight market that won't go into some houses. And they're missing the deal of a lifetime because they just won't get out of the car.

[00:01:50] So you don't have to do a ton, but you want your lawn greenish. If you have a lawn, you want it mowed and you want just some couple inexpensive, pretty flowers. And you know what? They don't even have to be real. They could be fake. You just want a little splash of color, all along the walkway and on up to the door. And remember that some people are elderly. Some people are bigger than other people and you want to make sure, and some people come in pairs who, and make sure they can get to the house together.

[00:02:19] Make sure there's nothing overhanging, or in the way or trip that they could trip on. So just look at it from, from the buyer's perspective. So that's your second tip is get your house ready and do a really good job of that.

[00:02:34] Now, thirdly, on your purchase, you're going to have to talk to the lender and the lender is going to need to know about what you're going to get out of the house you're selling, and then they're going to pre-qualify you to purchase the next place.

[00:02:49] So what's really fun about the market right now, even though it's hard, it's a hard market. The interest rates are so ridiculously low that you can actually get an amazing payment for a more expensive house than we're used to buying at least here in Southern Oregon. So that's really fun.

[00:03:07] And if you're buying an investment property, then, I guess that's a different podcast, cause that's a whole nother list. But the point is still the same is that step number three is be ready to talk to your lender. They're always gonna want a couple years of tax returns. If you file taxes, if you're a hundred percent disabled, you don't file tax returns.

[00:03:29] Would you have a different document to send to the lender? It's the same idea. You have to prove to the lender that you are a human, that you have money coming in. So whatever that document is, do that. Most of us have to do taxes. So couple of tax returns, couple of months of bank statements, couple of paycheck stubs, and then they want a list of your monthly bills so that they can see that you can actually afford the mortgage that you're going for.

[00:03:53] So that's step number three is if you're getting financing, get that started kind of early on. So you understand what your what's your payments going to be, and that this is all going to work.

[00:04:05] Because, you know, it's always, when you're not quite ready to buy a house that the house that you want comes on the market and it's like, oh. Then you, then you're scrambling or worse you're trying to write multiple in a multiple offer situation. And you can't really compete because you don't have pre-approval letter.

[00:04:20] So, and if you're paying cash, you still need to move your money around. Because you're going to do a what's called proof of funds. And, this is the step three, as well as you, you want to be ready with your financing capability in case you write an offer.

[00:04:36] And if you're paying cash and you have lots of money in the bank, you don't want to show a bank statement or get a letter from the bank that says you have lots and lots of money. You want just the amount to buy the house. Or to buy the building because you know, it's going to happen. It always happens.

[00:04:53] You turn in an offer and you have this proof of funds, which is like three times as much as a house. And then you don't really get to negotiate because they think you have lots of money. So, just either have your pre-approval letter in the works and getting ready to go.

[00:05:07] And if you're paying cash, have a bank statement or bank letter that has about the amount that you're going to, pay for the, for the property that you're going to buy. So that you're not, you know, tipping your hand too much. And plus finances are private, at least some things should be private these days. Right?

[00:05:25] So that's step number three is have your, your money in order, have your money prepared so that you can be ready to write offers.

[00:05:33] So step number four is more logistical. So this is the part that trips a lot of people up is let's say you have an offer. You're in escrow, on the house you're selling. You're in escrow, on the house you're buying. And so now you have to actually do the move, and the timing of all these is difficult, even in the best of markets.

[00:05:57] So step number four is build into your offer extra time. To have access to the new house and simultaneously build into the house you're selling the offer. You're getting the buyer you're dealing with on the house you're selling. Build an extra time to move out. And here's how that works. You write in the, the listing, the house you're selling that you're going to close on.

[00:06:25] Let's say the 15th. They're going to close on one day, but you really need three to five calendar days to finish moving. And I know that sounds like a lot, but here's what happens is not all the escrows link up together perfectly. At the end, especially in the COVID slightly post COVID, we're still having delays that are not expected and it's, it's just what happens at the end.

[00:06:50] And what we're, what we're doing to kind of ease this transition is with the house you're moving out of, have a day of closing. And then have up to five business days, not business days. I'm sorry calendar days up to five calendar days to finish moving.

[00:07:07] And on the house you're moving into have that close maybe the day after. So you have escrow closed on the house you're selling day, number one. This one, closing day, number two, but the house you're moving into, see if you can get at least stuff into the garage with the new owner. Or see if that person can actually move out without any extra days, on their end.

[00:07:32] So that if, and when things start changing at the very last minute, you're not stuck in a U hall circling somewhere .Or worse, the people buying your house are in a U haul in your driveway and you can't get into your new house. So it's all about asking for this time early on. And then if you need to renegotiate later, don't be afraid of doing that.

[00:07:58] So step number four is understand the timelines of both transactions. And pad the heck out of it on both ends. So that if there are delays it's all going to be okay.

[00:08:13] So step number five is actually getting the movers and the stuff and doing the transition. And that is tricky because you have to organize all your help.

[00:08:28] So step number five is plan to have your help, like two days after, so that if there is a problem with the closing times and coordination that you are not canceling a mover and trying to schedule it for two days later. Cause they don't do that. You know, your friends or family don't do that either. So if you're getting everything, getting help, whether you're paying them in beer and pizza or you're writing them a check, again, it has to do with timing, but I'm putting it as a separate step because people are so busy during all this time that the physical moves sometimes doesn't get thought all the way out. And, and I have a list, so we can, I can give you a list of things to do and kind of when to do it. But you also just need to kind of sit down quietly with your own life and your own family, and, you know, either your phone or paper and pencil and write down all the things that need to be done.

[00:09:24] Because in addition to organizing your helpers a couple of days later, or a day later than you actually think, in case something goes wrong. You also want to be in front of ordering your internet and cable TV early because sometimes those companies are a week to 10 days out. And a lot of us can't live without our streaming. Some of us actually can't work because we work at home. So, you know, start to understand the actual physical moving logistics of who's going to help you.

[00:10:00] And when, and are you going to have your internet and cable set up ahead of time? Go ahead and put the utilities in your name for the new one. And it's okay if you're paying a couple of days extra it's like don't, don't fret over that. It's okay. And then don't cancel your insurance, the house you're moving out of. Give it a couple of extra days in case.

[00:10:25] Because we've had situations where people were trying to, we call trip over dollars to get to pennies. And, they try to cut they did cut off their insurance of the house they were selling. And there was. And they didn't tell us. And then there was a delay only half a day, but it put us into the next, the next morning.

[00:10:47] Well, guess what happened overnight? Their hot water heater. It leaked all over. And we went into the house to open it for the buyer and there was water like whipped up into the drywall.

[00:11:00] It was terrible. And so then she didn't have insurance. You know, her homeowner’s insurance would have paid for that. Well and also having a home warranty would have paid for that. Taking care of her hot water heater would, it would have taken care of that too.

[00:11:14] I'm not being judgmental. I'm just saying an of prevention when it comes to houses. So that's our, that's our tip for number five is the logistical planning of the physical move is you need to have your helpers just a day or so later than you think to give room for things to go wrong in the closing order, your utilities and your internet. And your insurance early for the new place and keep your insurance and the utilities a day or two late for the old place.

[00:11:50] And yes, you're paying a few dimes, a few dollars extra. It's okay. Suck it up. It's going to be much smoother. If something does go wrong, you're going to be so glad you did it that way. Okay. So those are our five tips for buying and selling at the same time. And I know it's a lot to have juggling in your head, but in this kind of a market, it's actually a great thing to do.

[00:12:15] Because you can get these amazing properties at these killer rates. The market is very accommodating of you selling right now and getting a good price and not having to wait on the market very long. So it's, it's the perfect storm and that just doesn't happen very often. So I encourage you to ponder these five things.

[00:12:37] Get ready. Call me if you're ready to list your house, call me if you're ready to buy a house. I'm around all weekend. And again, give us a, like, give us a comment, share this with your friends. We want to, you know, get the education out there. So people are prepared to be good buyers and sellers and have the least amount of drama possible.

[00:12:57] That's our goal. That's our goal. We don't try for no drama anymore, cause that doesn't seem realistic anymore, but we'll go low as low as possible.

[00:13:06] So, Alice Lema, broker John L. Scott, here in beautiful Southern Oregon. I'm around all weekend. Give me a text, give me a call (541)301-7980 Happy Blessed Memorial Day. Thank you to all our service people and, the families. Go visit your loved ones if you can. And, you can, do it by zoom. All right. So have a beautiful weekend. Bye now.

Buying, Selling & Moving...OH MY! 5 Tips for Simultaneous Transactions

Good morning, real estate fans, Alice Lema here again, broker John L. Scott, Southern Oregon. And today we are doing our podcast and we're so excited. We're getting great feedback. So definitely give us a, like, give us a comment, share it with your friends.

[00:00:22] Cause today's episode, we're going to talk about buying and selling at the same time and it can be a real experience because your head might feel like it's going to explode. But I want to give you five tips to get through it.

[00:00:36] So, first of all, understand your market conditions because the market conditions are going to dictate whether you get your house ready and on the market first, and then go look for a house.

[00:00:45] Or if you're going to start looking for a house. And yet you're listing the house to sell ready for. So understand your market conditions because that will tell you what to do first. Okay.

[00:00:58] Second of all, when you're addressing the home that you own, that's getting ready for sale, super important, get it inspected.

[00:01:05] Okay. Have it professionally cleaned or do a really deep, deep cleaning, like the windows have to be sparkly, the little tracks in the door, like the sliding door, wiped down, all of the door, jams, wipe off the door and out. Would you want to do that anyway? Because even though we're coming out of the COVID, it's still we don't know better to err on the, on the side of safety.

[00:01:30] So the second tip is absolutely get your house ready and stand out in the front and look at it with fresh eyes because the buyers are going to drive by. And we actually have buyers even in a tight market that won't go into some houses. And they're missing the deal of a lifetime because they just won't get out of the car.

[00:01:50] So you don't have to do a ton, but you want your lawn greenish. If you have a lawn, you want it mowed and you want just some couple inexpensive, pretty flowers. And you know what? They don't even have to be real. They could be fake. You just want a little splash of color, all along the walkway and on up to the door. And remember that some people are elderly. Some people are bigger than other people and you want to make sure, and some people come in pairs who, and make sure they can get to the house together.

[00:02:19] Make sure there's nothing overhanging, or in the way or trip that they could trip on. So just look at it from, from the buyer's perspective. So that's your second tip is get your house ready and do a really good job of that.

[00:02:34] Now, thirdly, on your purchase, you're going to have to talk to the lender and the lender is going to need to know about what you're going to get out of the house you're selling, and then they're going to pre-qualify you to purchase the next place.

[00:02:49] So what's really fun about the market right now, even though it's hard, it's a hard market. The interest rates are so ridiculously low that you can actually get an amazing payment for a more expensive house than we're used to buying at least here in Southern Oregon. So that's really fun.

[00:03:07] And if you're buying an investment property, then, I guess that's a different podcast, cause that's a whole nother list. But the point is still the same is that step number three is be ready to talk to your lender. They're always gonna want a couple years of tax returns. If you file taxes, if you're a hundred percent disabled, you don't file tax returns.

[00:03:29] Would you have a different document to send to the lender? It's the same idea. You have to prove to the lender that you are a human, that you have money coming in. So whatever that document is, do that. Most of us have to do taxes. So couple of tax returns, couple of months of bank statements, couple of paycheck stubs, and then they want a list of your monthly bills so that they can see that you can actually afford the mortgage that you're going for.

[00:03:53] So that's step number three is if you're getting financing, get that started kind of early on. So you understand what your what's your payments going to be, and that this is all going to work.

[00:04:05] Because, you know, it's always, when you're not quite ready to buy a house that the house that you want comes on the market and it's like, oh. Then you, then you're scrambling or worse you're trying to write multiple in a multiple offer situation. And you can't really compete because you don't have pre-approval letter.

[00:04:20] So, and if you're paying cash, you still need to move your money around. Because you're going to do a what's called proof of funds. And, this is the step three, as well as you, you want to be ready with your financing capability in case you write an offer.

[00:04:36] And if you're paying cash and you have lots of money in the bank, you don't want to show a bank statement or get a letter from the bank that says you have lots and lots of money. You want just the amount to buy the house. Or to buy the building because you know, it's going to happen. It always happens.

[00:04:53] You turn in an offer and you have this proof of funds, which is like three times as much as a house. And then you don't really get to negotiate because they think you have lots of money. So, just either have your pre-approval letter in the works and getting ready to go.

[00:05:07] And if you're paying cash, have a bank statement or bank letter that has about the amount that you're going to, pay for the, for the property that you're going to buy. So that you're not, you know, tipping your hand too much. And plus finances are private, at least some things should be private these days. Right?

[00:05:25] So that's step number three is have your, your money in order, have your money prepared so that you can be ready to write offers.

[00:05:33] So step number four is more logistical. So this is the part that trips a lot of people up is let's say you have an offer. You're in escrow, on the house you're selling. You're in escrow, on the house you're buying. And so now you have to actually do the move, and the timing of all these is difficult, even in the best of markets.

[00:05:57] So step number four is build into your offer extra time. To have access to the new house and simultaneously build into the house you're selling the offer. You're getting the buyer you're dealing with on the house you're selling. Build an extra time to move out. And here's how that works. You write in the, the listing, the house you're selling that you're going to close on.

[00:06:25] Let's say the 15th. They're going to close on one day, but you really need three to five calendar days to finish moving. And I know that sounds like a lot, but here's what happens is not all the escrows link up together perfectly. At the end, especially in the COVID slightly post COVID, we're still having delays that are not expected and it's, it's just what happens at the end.

[00:06:50] And what we're, what we're doing to kind of ease this transition is with the house you're moving out of, have a day of closing. And then have up to five business days, not business days. I'm sorry calendar days up to five calendar days to finish moving.

[00:07:07] And on the house you're moving into have that close maybe the day after. So you have escrow closed on the house you're selling day, number one. This one, closing day, number two, but the house you're moving into, see if you can get at least stuff into the garage with the new owner. Or see if that person can actually move out without any extra days, on their end.

[00:07:32] So that if, and when things start changing at the very last minute, you're not stuck in a U hall circling somewhere .Or worse, the people buying your house are in a U haul in your driveway and you can't get into your new house. So it's all about asking for this time early on. And then if you need to renegotiate later, don't be afraid of doing that.

[00:07:58] So step number four is understand the timelines of both transactions. And pad the heck out of it on both ends. So that if there are delays it's all going to be okay.

[00:08:13] So step number five is actually getting the movers and the stuff and doing the transition. And that is tricky because you have to organize all your help.

[00:08:28] So step number five is plan to have your help, like two days after, so that if there is a problem with the closing times and coordination that you are not canceling a mover and trying to schedule it for two days later. Cause they don't do that. You know, your friends or family don't do that either. So if you're getting everything, getting help, whether you're paying them in beer and pizza or you're writing them a check, again, it has to do with timing, but I'm putting it as a separate step because people are so busy during all this time that the physical moves sometimes doesn't get thought all the way out. And, and I have a list, so we can, I can give you a list of things to do and kind of when to do it. But you also just need to kind of sit down quietly with your own life and your own family, and, you know, either your phone or paper and pencil and write down all the things that need to be done.

[00:09:24] Because in addition to organizing your helpers a couple of days later, or a day later than you actually think, in case something goes wrong. You also want to be in front of ordering your internet and cable TV early because sometimes those companies are a week to 10 days out. And a lot of us can't live without our streaming. Some of us actually can't work because we work at home. So, you know, start to understand the actual physical moving logistics of who's going to help you.

[00:10:00] And when, and are you going to have your internet and cable set up ahead of time? Go ahead and put the utilities in your name for the new one. And it's okay if you're paying a couple of days extra it's like don't, don't fret over that. It's okay. And then don't cancel your insurance, the house you're moving out of. Give it a couple of extra days in case.

[00:10:25] Because we've had situations where people were trying to, we call trip over dollars to get to pennies. And, they try to cut they did cut off their insurance of the house they were selling. And there was. And they didn't tell us. And then there was a delay only half a day, but it put us into the next, the next morning.

[00:10:47] Well, guess what happened overnight? Their hot water heater. It leaked all over. And we went into the house to open it for the buyer and there was water like whipped up into the drywall.

[00:11:00] It was terrible. And so then she didn't have insurance. You know, her homeowner’s insurance would have paid for that. Well and also having a home warranty would have paid for that. Taking care of her hot water heater would, it would have taken care of that too.

[00:11:14] I'm not being judgmental. I'm just saying an of prevention when it comes to houses. So that's our, that's our tip for number five is the logistical planning of the physical move is you need to have your helpers just a day or so later than you think to give room for things to go wrong in the closing order, your utilities and your internet. And your insurance early for the new place and keep your insurance and the utilities a day or two late for the old place.

[00:11:50] And yes, you're paying a few dimes, a few dollars extra. It's okay. Suck it up. It's going to be much smoother. If something does go wrong, you're going to be so glad you did it that way. Okay. So those are our five tips for buying and selling at the same time. And I know it's a lot to have juggling in your head, but in this kind of a market, it's actually a great thing to do.

[00:12:15] Because you can get these amazing properties at these killer rates. The market is very accommodating of you selling right now and getting a good price and not having to wait on the market very long. So it's, it's the perfect storm and that just doesn't happen very often. So I encourage you to ponder these five things.

[00:12:37] Get ready. Call me if you're ready to list your house, call me if you're ready to buy a house. I'm around all weekend. And again, give us a, like, give us a comment, share this with your friends. We want to, you know, get the education out there. So people are prepared to be good buyers and sellers and have the least amount of drama possible.

[00:12:57] That's our goal. That's our goal. We don't try for no drama anymore, cause that doesn't seem realistic anymore, but we'll go low as low as possible.

[00:13:06] So, Alice Lema, broker John L. Scott, here in beautiful Southern Oregon. I'm around all weekend. Give me a text, give me a call (541)301-7980 Happy Blessed Memorial Day. Thank you to all our service people and, the families. Go visit your loved ones if you can. And, you can, do it by zoom. All right. So have a beautiful weekend. Bye now.