Be Ready to Move...That Offer Could Be Here Sooner Than Later

Moving ahead with something without a plan is generally a poor idea, whether it be selling your home, buying a car, or even something as mundane as going grocery shopping. When you list your home for sale or rent, one of the primary questions you need to answer is, "Will we be ready to move when we receive an acceptable offer?"  

Before your home is placed "active" on the market, you should have a strategy in place which ensures you will be able to vacate the house by the buyer's move-in date.

Although this may sound like a basic tenant of real estate sales, many sellers are caught flat-footed when an acceptable offer is presented. I have seen many a deal fall apart through the years because the seller was not prepared to vacate the home in a reasonable period of time.

Many sellers who manage to vacate their homes by closing date cause themselves undue stress, as they scramble to find another home to rent or buy, storage space for their furniture, etc.

In today's "buyer's"  real estate market, where there are many more sellers than prospective buyers, home sellers simply cannot risk losing a buyer because that seller cannot accommodate the buyer's closing date,  because the next prospective buyer could be months -- or even years -- away.

During a recent conversation with a friend, I was reminded of such a situation in 2010. The owners of the home, located on Lady's Island, turned down an excellent offer because they feared they would not be able to find another home before my client's move-in date.

My clients moved on to another property. More than a year after this incident, the owners of this home have still not sold it. In the meantime, these sellers made another year's worth of mortgage payments, taxes, maintenance, homeowner's association fees, etc. All because the owners did not have an exit strategy when the offer came in.

Of course, this begs the question, "Why would you put your home on the market if you are not ready to move?" But that is another blog for another day.

Before you list your home for sale, have an exit plan in place. Work with your Realtor, and create a sales action plan which not only prepares your home to be put on the market, but also includes a strategy for getting out of the house once receive an offer.