To move or not to move...

[SeekerMage]

That is the question. I need a little advice on the pros and cons of moving. We have been looking for a new home for a while and simply havent found anything much bigger then we have (more bedrooms yes, but smaller everywhere else) We are running out of space, and plainly put fed up with things sucking around here (no garage, no storage, condo rules etc) Its taking us forever to get our place ready to list and things just keep happening to delay our getting it ready (to list a few, cat had stitches, shelf fell off the wall so we have more painting to do now, I had stitches, girls got the flu etc) If we move we will be tight on bills yet have most of our current bills taken care of through the equity. If we dont move then we will still be tight on bills but our credit will keep taking a hit vs get better.

I just dont know what way to turn. We found the perfect house that was calling to us and have tried to rush to get things ready only to have it appear to be sold out from under us and in the midst of our rush the girls got sick. On one hand we have a go ahead yes move and on the other a no its not time. How do we know what to do? I am afraid to list our house and not be able to find a new one since the realtor we are listing with (his office is across the street from our complex and knows it well) says our units sell in no time flat.

Anyone have any words of advice? Are we being to picky in our search? Should we try more then one or two realtors? Anyone know the secret to making life easier? I wish! Thanks (maybe I should have put this in the bitching forum hehehe) :)

[american_mama]

I don't know if I can say anything useful since I haven't bought a house. But most of your email sounds like you want to move, and soon. Does it make a huge difference if you decide to do it in a month or in 6 months? If not, that might relieve some pressure. And so many people bid on houses and don't get them, but end up in other houses that it makes me think there are several ideal houses for each family. I think another one will come your way.

[marchmommy]

Oh my--I totally know where you are coming from. We are looking for a home, moving from a condo, and it has been incredibly stressful. I honestly don't have specific advice since I am practically in your shoes, but wanted to tell you I totally understand--it is so stressful and hard to figure out. I have a toddler and one on the way--and can't wait for the day when we have found the house, sold the condo, and moved, and are happy with our decision. . .We also found a perfect house, it was sold the same day to someone who went over the asking price and we are discussing getting rid of our annoying realtor.. ...

[babymama]

Moving decisions are soooo hard. First thing I thought of when reading your message was....please don;t rush into anything.

DH and I rushed our last home purchase (bought the 1st house we saw), and sometimes I regret it. We knew it would be a bit of a stretch budget-wise, but we didn't anticipate:
1) delayed income from DH starting a new career; and
2) not being able to sell our condo as soon as we thought (also a hot location w/ units that supposedly sold in no time flat).

That move almost ruined my pregnancy, bc I spent the whole 3rd trimester *freaking out* about carrying 2 mortgages.

We're pleased with our new home, but in retrospect, I think we moved way too fast and made a decision based on emotion (so easy to do during pregnancy and very easy to do when you're fed up with your current place).

If we had been more deliberate in our planning/looking for a home, I think we would have studied our budget, considered the worst case financial scenario of not being able to sell our house, ruled out other house options, focused more closely on which n'hoods to consider, looked at nearby schools, etc. BC we never did that, we sometimes have lingering doubts about the move.

Maybe I didn't read your message right, but it sounded like you were working with two realtors on homebuying (or did you mean one realtor for the homebuying process and a different one for selling your condo?) As the spouse of a new realtor, I would not encourage you to work w/ more than one realtor for homebuying (unless both realtors know that you're not working with them exclusively - it'd be like cheating when your in a committed relationship). Of course, if your not happy with the first realtor it's okay to "fire" her/him. Although, now that I re-read your message, maybe you meant 1 realtor for homebuying and another realtor for selling your condo. That is fair, but if you find a realtor you like/trust, it might be simpler to just use the same person.

Best of luck to you!

edited for grammar

Mama to Santiago, born 11/16/03

[chlobo]

I was just in the exact same position. We have a two-bedroom house with no basement, attic or garage and hence no storage. Plus, it gets darn cold in winter.

Well we decided to sell. We had two weekends of landscapers challenge where friends helped us get the yard ready for sale and then we put it on the market. We got an offer within 3 days. I wasn't sure whether to sell as we had no prospects on the horizon. However, my husband said he was prepared to move into temporary housing if we didn't find anything (I wasn't sure I wanted to do that with a baby and two cats).

We ended up buying a house. The realtor says that there is nothing like the prospect of moving to sharpen your focus and help you find a house.

That said, this house is far from my dream house. And it needs a new kitchen. We move in next week so only time will tell if it was the right house to buy. I'm pretty apprehensive about it. My husband is psyched.

I wish I could be more help. If you sell do you have a temporary option you can exercise if you don't find what you want? Can you specify a really long closing date? Can you make it contingent? Above all, remember you have to be at the new place day in and day out so make sure its something you can live with (literally).

[barbarhow]

We were in a sinilar position a little over a year ago. We decided it was time to move but were fearful of having to carry two mortgages. We put our house on the market before finding anything we liked and our house sold before she got the sign in the ground. We were pretty stunned. We continued to look but found nothing that was acceptable to us in our price range. We then made the decision to build. We ended up in a small 2 bedroom apt for 11 months while our house was built. It basically s-cked living in that apartment but we so love our new house.
I know that I veered off topic-I don't know where you live so don't know if building is an option. We found in the market around here it was a much better deal to build what we wanted than to buy an existing home. We got so much more for our money. HTH
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03