Buying and Selling in the same market can be tricky, especially in a Seller’s market. Whether you’re downsizing or upsizing, Seller’s markets are tough. Typically, housing inventory is in short supply while Buyer demand is high.
In more balanced markets, people would often choose to sell their home first. To me, in a balanced market or a Buyer’s market, that approach is logical and less risky. You get a firm offer accepted on your property and, knowing exactly how much purchasing power you have, you hit the ground running and find a home to buy.
Unfortunately, that kind of sensible approach isn’t going to work in Guelph – at least not right now. If you sell first, you may have an extremely challenging time finding a new property, both due to lack of inventory and also fierce competition and bidding wars.
Another logical scenario would be to buy first, but include a Sale of Property condition. Such a condition grants a Buyer an agreed-upon amount of time to find a new home. If they cannot find a home within that timeframe, the deal is off and the Buyer’s deposit is returned. This takes a lot of risk away, but the problem is… no Guelph home Seller is likely to accept this condition at this time. Offhand, I can’t even recall the last time I saw an offer go through with a Sale of Property condition attached to it.
So… what does this all mean? It means that, if you are Selling and Buying within Guelph, you will almost certainly need to buy first and then sell. And here’s where people can get themselves in a lot of trouble.
Selling and Buying – What Not to Do
In a word, don’t wait to sell. You should be in a position where you can turn around and get your home on the market right away. I’m talking within a day or two.
Why the rush?
Simply put: all markets shift. They always do. And, sometimes, they shift without a great deal of warning. I’ve seen it happen before, most notably in 2017. That was a wild year for home sales in Guelph. Due to an influx of GTA Buyers, we experienced a huge surge in home values in the early part of the year. It was then, as it is now, a ‘cash buyer’ market – meaning that Buyers had virtually no chance of being successful purchasing with any conditions in their offer.
Problems arose when Buyers failed to sell their own homes within the same market. They bought before their own homes were even ready to list. In some cases, Buyers took weeks before their own homes hit the MLS. Well, the market did shift in the summer of 2017 and, suddenly, a lot of people who’d bought found themselves in trouble. They’d waited, then listed their homes only to find that – yep – the wild competition, bidding wars, and huge prices were a thing of the distant past. It was a mess.
Get Your Home List-Ready
If you’ll need to sell your current home to finance your new purchase – and most of us do – my advice is to get your own home ‘list-ready’ before you even start to look at properties. With a list-ready home, you can compete in a wild and over-heated market on the purchase, but at least turn around and sell – right away – in exactly the same market conditions. You’ll feel the pain on the Buying side, but when you are Selling, you’ll experience the opposite effect.
Just what will take to get your home list-ready? That’s going to depend on the state of your home. Myself? I have my home in a list-ready condition at all times, because I suspect I’ll need or want to sell. So, I’ve gotten my home to a state where it could be on market within a week. For me, it’s reassuring to know I can move quickly, if I need to. It’s still very lived-in and would require deep cleaning and a storage locker and some help – but in 72 hours, I could list my home and feel confident that it shows well.
My advice is to start by fixing what is broken. Inside and outside, fix anything that is in disrepair. Handymen and trades people book out. Trying to find one on a rush basis may be close to impossible. So make a list of items that need to be repaired and get it done sooner than later.
Purging and de-cluttering are low-cost tasks but they really pay off in the Staging and Selling process. Make this a priority and spend your time off tackling your home, room by room. I am a big fan of having a bin as means to unload a lot unwanted items in a very quick and painless manner.
If there are rooms that need to be painted, or trim and doors that have seen a lot of wear and tear, get all of that sorted. Tackle these projects room by room yourself, or call in an expert. Painters are in demand and tend to book out. Finding one on short notice may be hard.
Photograph Your Home in Advance
I’m a big fan of having listing photographs ready and waiting, in situations where someone is Selling and Buying in a heated market. This can easily cut several days out of your listing preparation time because – you guessed it: photographers are busy and book ahead!
My advice is to get the interior of your home all prepped and de-cluttered and to get the interior images shot and ready to go. When it comes time to list, all that will be needed is current exterior shots that are quick and easy and that most photographers can get to quickly.
If the exterior of your home has special features that might get ‘lost’ during the winter and early spring months, consider having exterior photographs taken during a seasonal period. I really like my backyard and I garden on a power scale… but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the home between late November and late May. So last summer, when I thought it looked its best, I put down fresh mulch and edged the gardens and had exteriors shot. Just in case.
If you’re Buying and Selling in a hot seller’s market, make it a priority to get your own home list-ready. You should be able to turn around and list within a few days of Buying. Do this and you’ll avoid the risk of getting caught in a downward-shifting market during the in-between period, when you’ve bought firm but haven’t yet sold.
