Can't sell house before moving into new one - Anyone done short term renting?

[str8jkt]

Hi guys, exploring options right now. We are attempting to sell our current place before we move into the new house we are building. Our move date is June 12th so its coming up fast. We honestly didn't predict having any trouble moving our place but I guess thats the fun ( ) with real estate.

We've already price reduced our place at what I think is a pretty big discount and the showings have pretty much tapered off.

To give an idea, we purchased (unfortunately) at the peak of the real estate craze a couple years ago. We now have our place listed at 80k less than what we purchased it for (purchased at $465k, listed currently at $385k). Pretty much inner city (Mayland Heights). extensively renovated bungalow with fully developed basement, double attached rear garage, etc.. Only downside is there is no back yard lawn. Since the garage is attached to the rear you walk out the patio onto the roof of the garage (so its a HUGE deck) but no lawn as the rest is a small garden and concrete patio). Otherwise its a great place which we would be staying in if we didn't need a bit more space for the family.

My parents are graciously offering to help in whatever way they can (ie loaning or "gifting" us the money) until we can pay them back.

Since we are only a month away from posession I am wondering if anyone has any experience with renting their place while continuing to try to sell it.

Any tips or suggestions? We would still want to try to sell it but I don't know how it works having tenants, yet trying to show the place as well. I'd of course love to be able to avoid the hassle of renting but not wanting to pay out two mortgages either until it sells.

What a pain, what should be a fun time moving into our brand new house is being overshadowed by the financial strains of worrying about selling/covering mortgages/looking for renters/etc..



Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Weapon_R]

Tried it before, but it doesnt work well. Tenants don't want to be bothered, and most don't want to move into a house for a short period of time. Buyers don't want to wait til the lease runs out before moving in, and dealing with a house ruined by tenants.

Bad idea to try and rent

[urban.one]

How long are you prepared to hold on to it to get the price you want? What if you hold on to it for a year and dont get a price thats better than you could have gotten today?
How much stress is it going to cause you to hold out for an extra $10,000 or whatever amount? Is it worth it to you and your wife?

Not easy questions to answer. Just make sure you consider all the outcomes from holding onto the house for longer.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle1557540/

House prices will fall in 2011, TD Bank said Wednesday as it revised its outlook for the Canadian real estate sector.

[str8jkt]

Originally posted by urban.one
How long are you prepared to hold on to it to get the price you want? What if you hold on to it for a year and dont get a price thats better than you could have gotten today?
How much stress is it going to cause you to hold out for an extra $10,000 or whatever amount? Is it worth it to you and your wife?

Not easy questions to answer. Just make sure you consider all the outcomes from holding onto the house for longer.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle1557540/

Believe me I know =/ Unfortunately we've already priced the place much lower than I think its worth (I like to think this isn't just me overvaluing the property). We're already now going to walk with not enough money to cover the 20% down payment on our new place because of this.

We initially didn't want to drop the price from 399,999 down to 385 but figured we had to do something to try and get it sold.. Unfortunately doesn't look like its working.

[Sal0]

I'd post pictures... you never know if it will turn into a lead.

[dezmarez]

What kind of mortgage do you carry on the property?
You could always see if you could convert it to a HELOC, minimum payments on a HELOC are significantly less then that of a mortgage. Maybe you would be able to carry both, HELOC on existing property, and your mortgage on the new property. Your financing would have to be re-done. But this is one of the instances where it has worked. I'm surprised you were able to secure financing for the new property without having your house conditionally sold.
Other option, if you have your financing in place, MTG on current property, MTG approved on new property with no condition of getting rid of previous mortgage, take out a small LOC.
Use the LOC to make your mortgage payments for the 2-3 months you are selling. You will have to pay interest on the LOC, but agian it is better then eating a large discount off the price of your current house.

[cmyden]

I wonder how many stories we'll be hearing like this in the near future. So much demand was brought forward by the emergency interest rates, and now with sales pretty blah, inventory rising rapidly, and a lot of people carrying multiple mortgages, the 2007ers will probably be the ones hurting first.

There are a lot of listings on MLS right now that are both for sale and for rent.

[str8jkt]

Here's the place - http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetail...ertyId=9420625

Hopefully its not against the rules to post the link to the MLS page? If so please let me know and feel free to delete the link.

As another offer I'm willing to pay $1500 cash as a referral to any Beyond member that leads to the confirmed purchase of our place. Refer a friend/colleague to purchase our house and earn yourself an easy $1500.

[masoncgy]

Have you checked to see what comparables are selling for in the area?

Mayland is kind of an anomoly for real estate as it's relatively inexpensive to buy in given it's close proximity to downtown... but it's also right under the main airport runway flight path, so it's exposed to a lot of noise.

You might luck out and find a tenant who will rent on a short term basis, but don't expect a lot of rental income from such a tenant.

It would seem this home has 5 bedrooms over two floors... what is the need for a larger place?

[Euro838]

Well, according to the City's assessment, your place is assessed at $355,000 so your asking price of $385,000 isn't far off. You will just need to find a buyer that is willing to pay this amount to live in your house in your area. From the neighbourhood map, the prices seem to range in the $330-$380K range.

As many people have said in this thread, there is a significant amount of listings on the market right now. It all depends on supply and demand obviously for your type of home.

I would probably have to side with not short term renting. It's more hassle than it's worth. Good luck with the sale!

[str8jkt]

Originally posted by masoncgy
Have you checked to see what comparables are selling for in the area?

Mayland is kind of an anomoly for real estate as it's relatively inexpensive to buy in given it's close proximity to downtown... but it's also right under the main airport runway flight path, so it's exposed to a lot of noise.

You might luck out and find a tenant who will rent on a short term basis, but don't expect a lot of rental income from such a tenant.

It would seem this home has 5 bedrooms over two floors... what is the need for a larger place?

We're currently 3rd cheapest house in the area. The other two are without garages and also not renovated. We've tried to undercut (sorry to the other sellers) by a fair bit to try to get this house sold.

Looking for more space outside for a backyard. The place is great for either a family with kids that are a little older, or people who don't want a lot of yard maintenance (have to mow the front yard but don't have to worry about a backyard, also no shovelling a driveway, since its in the rear, just walkways).

Our first child is 3 now and is a typical active boy. He loves outside and we wanted to move into something that has a backyard for him.

Thanks for your comments.

Was also wondering about how Mayland might be overlooked as a lot of people aren't as familiar with the area. Especially casual home buyers that prefer to do their own searches on MLS they are probably more willing to start in a neighbourhood they know of or remember which means skipping over a lesser known neighbourhood? Dunno, just guessing.. Personally I love the neighbourhood and am going to be sad to leave it. Can't ask for a better location being essentially on the crossroads of highway 1 and 2 (deerfoot and 16th ave) and being only a 10-15 min drive into downtown even counting rushour.

[masoncgy]

Originally posted by str8jkt
Was also wondering about how Mayland might be overlooked as a lot of people aren't as familiar with the area. Especially casual home buyers that prefer to do their own searches on MLS they are probably more willing to start in a neighbourhood they know of or remember which means skipping over a lesser known neighbourhood? Dunno, just guessing.. Personally I love the neighbourhood and am going to be sad to leave it. Can't ask for a better location being essentially on the crossroads of highway 1 and 2 (deerfoot and 16th ave) and being only a 10-15 min drive into downtown even counting rushour.

I personally love Mayland Heights. I think it's a great community.

The problem though... as with Vista Heights north of 16th Ave, is the location.

- It's east of Deerfoot Trail... so it's a 'true NE' community in the eyes of Calgarians, and we know what people in Calgary think about the NE, even though a lot of it is unfounded.

- It's right under the flight path of runway 16/34... I grew up near an airport, so I don't ever notice the noise... but for many people, this is a factor. It's kinda funny... my house in Sandstone is near the flight path and my house in Temple is right underneath it... but again, that's something that doesn't bother me... but it does bother other people.

- It's attached to an industrial area (south end of Mayland) and it's close to Albert Park/Radisson Heights, Marlborough, etc... so it has that stigma of being 'in the hood' ... even though that is hardly the case.

I wish you luck in your sale and hope it all works out for you.

[cmyden]

It looks like your closest competition is C3421927 listed at $390k.

Been on the market for 20 days. Well, at least, that's when the listing was created. Maybe you could look at that listing and see how yours compares.

[Jim Rome99]

Drop the asking price by another 20k if you are serious about selling. Sorry, I know it is a kick in the nuts to lose a hundred grand in three years on a house. Get out now before interest rates rise again and the house is worth 300k.

[max_boost]

A few questions, separate entrance for the basement? Suited? 2br, 1bth lower?

3br, 1.5bth main?

1087sq.ft good size bungalow for sure.

Can you post pics from the back of garage?

I mean I'm not THAT interested but like what one Beyond lowballer once justified, if the price is good enough, I just might become interested lol (not meant as a kick in the balls, I sold my SLK for $40K and MB dealer is asking $50K+ lol)

[str8jkt]

Originally posted by max_boost
A few questions, separate entrance for the basement? Suited? 2br, 1bth lower?

3br, 1.5bth main?

1087sq.ft good size bungalow for sure.

Can you post pics from the back of garage?

I mean I'm not THAT interested but like what one Beyond lowballer once justified, if the price is good enough, I just might become interested lol (not meant as a kick in the balls, I sold my SLK for $40K and MB dealer is asking $50K+ lol)

House is setup so there is the main front door and a backdoor which opens onto the concrete patio with trellace. Then downstairs there is only the one entrance which is through the double garage. The back door is down a set of 4 stairs with a half wall and then leads down to the basement (meaning all it would take to suite this place would be to fully wall in the halfwall to the ceiling and possibly add a door at the bottom of the stairs (which would then allow the back door to work for both renters of the upper floor as well as the lower floor). The laundry/mud room is quite large and could be converted into a kitchen fairly easily (downside being the garage would be accessed through the kitchen).

To answer your other questions yes, 3 bedroom up, 2 bedroom in the basement. 1.5 baths upstairs and a full bath downstairs (downstairs has an upgraded shower with body sprayers, etc..).

We're not desperate enough at the time being to be considering lowball offers though. Might have been had we not been able to qualify for both mortgages but with my parents willing to help out for the time being I'd carry the mortgage for a couple months or still consider renters before looking to dump the place for a super low price.

[kaput]

.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by str8jkt


House is setup so there is the main front door and a backdoor which opens onto the concrete patio with trellace. Then downstairs there is only the one entrance which is through the double garage. The back door is down a set of 4 stairs with a half wall and then leads down to the basement (meaning all it would take to suite this place would be to fully wall in the halfwall to the ceiling and possibly add a door at the bottom of the stairs (which would then allow the back door to work for both renters of the upper floor as well as the lower floor). The laundry/mud room is quite large and could be converted into a kitchen fairly easily (downside being the garage would be accessed through the kitchen).

To answer your other questions yes, 3 bedroom up, 2 bedroom in the basement. 1.5 baths upstairs and a full bath downstairs (downstairs has an upgraded shower with body sprayers, etc..).

We're not desperate enough at the time being to be considering lowball offers though. Might have been had we not been able to qualify for both mortgages but with my parents willing to help out for the time being I'd carry the mortgage for a couple months or still consider renters before looking to dump the place for a super low price.

I was just joking about the lowball thing. Thanks for answering the questions. But if you can I would love to see some more pictures of the place or I guess I can just set up a time with my realtor.

[barmanjay]

Well

You've been on the market long enough to know you are priced too high

I just took a look at what has been selling in the last little while and you're is no charm compared, granted you have some very nice features.

The initial curb appeal in your main pic is boring and especially with a we-list sign out front (as seen in the pic) will deter some potential buyers - stigma = (FSBO's are priced too high)

Not having a back yard kills your "family" buyers

Without visiting your place,.. I would say it's priced too high compared to what I've pulled up that has sold.

Don't get me wrong, you are close, but still too high to draw the right buyer - in my opinion.

[lint]

Originally posted by str8jkt
The place is great for either a family with kids that are a little older,

Originally posted by str8jkt
Our first child is 3 now and is a typical active boy. He loves outside and we wanted to move into something that has a backyard for him.

these statements contradict each other. you're hoping for potential buyers who want to move in for the very reason you want to move out. the reality is that very few families would want a place with no backyard. You'd be better off trying to market to other demographics.