Selling Real Estate
Selling a house is a complicated process, no matter how good the real estate market is. Whether you’re a first-time home seller or not, you’ll probably have a bunch of questions. Do I need a real estate agent? What’s “closing”? How much paperwork am I going to have to fill out? How can I get the best price for my house? How can I sell my house and buy a new one at the same time?
Knowing the value of your house and exercising patience and restraint are key. Get your home appraised; it’s worth the $250 to $500 price tag. In a good market, the sale price can be 10 percent to 15 percent above the appraisal. In a weaker market, the sale price may be around the appraisal figure. We’ll go over how to figure out your sale price in detail later in the article.
Finally, if you're able, try to put your home on the market as long as possible before buying a new one. Otherwise you may end up paying two mortgages, which can be difficult to afford. If you do end up finding a house that you can’t wait to buy before selling your own, you can ask your lender for a bridge loan. A bridge loan is a special type of loan that, if you have enough equity in your current home, allows you to pay the down payment on a new home. You may also be able to get a home equity loan in order to help with the dual mortgage payments.