Buying Next Home - Rational, Stressed, So many Questions RealEstate

I will appreciate any answers, whether you address one question or all. I'm open to all suggestions and feedback especially where I have been short-sighted or ignorant.

I'm a planner - I like having an executable plan and am having trouble formulating one. I'm pretty rational about this and can accept things I can't control, but the uncertainties cause me stress. I'd like opinions on the right course of action. Questions are in bullet form, sometimes dependent on the question before it, full context below.

Excellent Credit, Great Housing Market, Current VA Loan, Good Equity, Upgrading House Size (and cost)

Questions:

1. 1. Is it easier to sell an empty house or a minimized house?


2. What are my loan options?


3. How to negotiate realtor commission?


4. What level of "fixing" do I need to do?


5. Sell when inventory is higher or lower?


6. Temporary Housing Options


7. Do I need a Realtor to View Houses for Sale?

Preface:

• Buying my second house, first time seller.


• The house inventory in our area is very low. The town is continually on the top ten small towns / places to raise kids in America on various lists like Money Magazine, Forbes, etc. My neighbor sold his slightly smaller, less upgraded house in 1 hour for full asking price. When he sold his house, it was the only house in the town in the price range. (Zestimate of ~$240k, Sold for $260,000). I don't think we'll have a problem selling our 13 year old house (largest model available on the street).


• We plan to be in our next home for as long as we can imagine (10-20 years +)


• We can afford to carry two mortgages for a couple of months.


• 3 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cats complicate temporary housing

Context:

1. Empty House or Minimized House - Is it easier to sell an empty house or a house that has been minimized of personal belongings such that only necessary furniture remains in a clean house? My wife and I work full time and have 3 young boys who are not known for their cleanliness. Our ability to keep the house "show ready" at any time is highly unlikely.

• My plan would be to put as much stuff as possible into storage (PODS?) and live minimally during our selling time.


• After minimizing our stuff, should I have a professional cleaning crew come in - do they do a good enough job to justify the expense?

2. Loan Options - I currently have a fixed 30 year VA loan. As you know, you can only have one VA Loan active at any given time. Our preference is to buy our next home and carry two mortgages for 1 or 2 months. My biggest concern is being limited to what is on the market in the 2 or 3 months after we sell our current home. We will NOT have 20% down on our next home if we don't sell our current home first. However, once we sell our current home, we would have 10-15% down available (likely not 20%). I had planned to use my VA Loan again and put 10% or more down on the next home. I belong to USAA and a couple of credit unions - is it best to call them and discuss options?

• Am I overestimating the necessity to have an empty / show ready home given the current market?


• Are there options that allow us to purchase the next home with 0% down pending a current home sale?


• Should I refinance my current VA Loan into a Conventional Loan (we have greater than 20% equity, thus would not pay PMI).


• Should I sell our current house while occupying it and try to find something we love, and if we don't, move to temporary housing?

3. Realtor Commissions - Am I in a good position to negotiate the realtor commission? I sincerely believe that our current house will sell easily / quickly in the 260-290k range, we are likely buying a house in the 350-499k range. I recognize that it is not necessarily less work for a realtor to prepare the sale, the sale will be quick with very few negotiations (?). Is this a good case for asking the realtor to take less of a commission on the sale and receive a full 3% on the purchase? We have some options, some I'm not totally jazzed about.

• Using a service to sell the house myself - This is less likely because it seems like I can already save on the commission rate using other options below - money saved, stress reduced.


• Use USAA Movers Advantage which provides cash back for using their services (~$1900 in our case).


• This is the service my neighbor used, do you think I could also ask the realtor herself to reduce her commission?


• Use a colleagues spouse - I don't like mixing business with people that we know, but they are offering reduced (free selling?) rates. Good deal, but dangerous should something go wrong.

4. Fixing and Disclosing - I am currently finishing major replacements / upgrades to make our house more attractive to buyers. I've replaced all of our carpet, painted, and stained our cabinets, replaced brass with nickel, etc. We also have a lot of upgrades throughout, like tiled bathrooms with radiant heat, stainless appliances, etc. We are putting a new roof on in the coming month or so (insured replacement) and are lined up for exterior painting). There are minor things that can be fixed as well - I'm doing my best to get it all done. If I don't get them fixed, do I just disclose them to my real estate agent and subsequent home inspector? They are dumb things like the ice maker in the refrigerator doesn't work, the Normal cycle button on the dishwasher is broken, the washer buttons are difficult to press - all still functional, the sprinklers need repairing, etc. Our yard needs general clean-up and sod replacement, but we wouldn't be able to do this until late spring (due to weather) after we put the house on the market.

• Do I just give an allowance for this stuff? I plan to finish the things I KNOW need fixed / completed and then count on our real estate agent to help point out additional items.

5. Sell Now or Wait til Spring - Given how quickly my neighbor's house sold (and others in the area) should I sell now (February-ish) or wait until there is more inventory in late spring?

6. Temporary Housing - Should we need temporary housing in-between houses I expected to get an apartment for anything more than 3 weeks and rent for month-to-month. I would also look at house rentals on a month-to-month basis. Is there another option I am not aware of?

7. View Houses for Sale - My wife and I get drunk on Friday nights and browse local real estate. There are some houses that we would like to check out further, and if they are the right house we would be serious buyers. Given all of the things above, we have not obtained a real estate agent. Do I need a real estate agent to arrange a showing?

Submitted December 28, 2014 at 01:25AM by HomburgPokes http://www.reddit.com/r/RealEstate/comments/2qjzh7/buying_next_home_rational_stressed_so_many/ RealEstate