[dlochart]

Our family is considering a move to a better school district within the next 1-2 years or sooner. We really don't need to leave for 3-4 years but we are targeting 1-2.

Situation:
Our TownHome is worth between 310-320k. We are near Fort Meade, MD. Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) will be bringing thousands (upwards of 10 thousand) new jobs to the area however it won't really kick in until next year and is a multi-year event. There are several new Town Home developments springing up nearby offering 2 car garage TownHomes from the mid 300's. When I mean springing up they are just now clearing the land.

Question 1:
I know we cannot predict which way the housing market will go so I will leave that out of the equation. But given the situation am I risking losing more value in my home by waiting 2-3 years to sell or should I sell now before the thousands of town homes are built? I would like to hear peoples thoughts on this. I know if I were coming into an area (and could afford it) I would prefer a new TH over an older one even if it were 40-60k more.

Question 2:
Given the current state of the housing market and you were selling a townhome would you spend liquid capital to finish a basement to be competitive or take the hit in the sale price? I ask this because what if I dump 10k and finish the basement and then the market forces drop the price down further then I basically lost my money. Most homes in the area do have at least a partially finished basement.

thanks to all in advance.

d

[Fr_Chuck]

Now is the perfect time to "BUY" the new property, but is the time to keep the old property if possible. Most people that I know in the market say that this change in the market was more related to a balancing of the market, too many homes became too over inflated, so while there will still be some drops, as there are still a lot of bankrutpcy and foreclosues to happen over the next two to five years as people who took stupid loans out will be losing their homes, the adjustable rate mortages, even those where the balance grows, ( people are not even paying full interest) and interest only mortages come to terms where full payments are due.
So over the next year is the time if you have the credit or the money, to buy , buy and buy esp forclosures and other emergancy type housing, divorce, death, and moving.

But it is most likely going to be that 2 ( most likely 3) years before this big drop starts to go up again, as builders go bankrupt, less properties built the flood on the market fills up and properties start going back up in value, but maybe not as fast as they did before.

So best case, if affordable, buy new property now, and keep the other for a few years.

Beyond that, what extra profit you make from selling your home will be lost in the extra cost of the new home since its price goes up too.

So to be honest, it is a wash

[dlochart]

Thanks Fr_Chuck for your time. We already have a second home, one which god willing we will rather live in full time but it is in the country were there are no jobs. If I did not have that then keeping the current TH would be a good option. Unfortunately we cannot afford to keep both so we would have to sell one to buy the other.

My main concern is my first question, whether the new TH's being built will negatively affect the ability to sell my older TH.

Thanks!

D

[Fr_Chuck]

yes, it can esp if their price averages are not much more than what you believe is the value of your home. ** have you had it appraised laterly or researched what similar are currently sellng for in your area.

I feel that there are still homes being bought today, but they are just at lower prices than before, which has caught too many people with 100 percent mortages that can't sell for less. So they are house poor.

I sold out all of mine except my main home before the market fell so bady. But my main home we had to reduce the final selling price almost 20 percent of its appraised value to even start getting offers.

And esp if you plan on "up sizing" to a larger nicer home, I would start shoping now.

[dlochart]

yes, it can esp if thier price averages are not much more than what you beleive is the value of your home. ** have you had it appraised laterly or researched what simular are currently sellng for in your area.

No we have not had it appraised in a while. We have a group pf realtors in our area that on a monthly basis send us breakdowns on what has sold and for how much. They even show what the initial asking price was and how much it sold for. We feel based on what we see that if we finish our basement we should be in about the $325K range as it is a 3 bedroom townhome. The new ones going up are 360k+. I am going to look into them as if I was a prospective buyer and see how much they really will be once you add the 'options' like windows and doors (just kidding :D )

I feel that there are still homes being bought today, but they are just at lower prices than before, which has caught too many people with 100 percent mortages that can't sell for less. so they are house poor.

Thankfully that is not our situation as we got in just before the boom. We did not know it was going to happen but I think someone above was looking out for us :)

I sold out all of mine except my main home before the market fell so bady. but my main home we had to reduce the final selling price almost 20 percent of its appraised value to even start getting offers.
And esp if you plan on "up sizing" to a larger nicer home, I would start shoping now.

Did you know it was going to happen? It seems like you knew this mess was going to get bad before it it did. Good foresight!

We are planning on upsizing but not that much. We can comfortably afford to go up to 400k of a house with our equity. What are after is a more stable neighborhood and better school system. The area we are considering is where the school board members live :)

Our current 'hood' is a very transitional place. Nobody talks to anyone and the house flip owners every 2 years. No sense of community.

Thanks for your help!

[smearcase]

I would base the decision on the most important (in my opinion) factor which is when do you need to be in the better school district?
The Ft. Meade upgrade will give you a big advantage in selling. I wouldn't do the basement finishing because I don't think it will affect your sale much one way or another.
What I like to do is list all the factors that are involved (one set for move, another set for don't move), weight the factors from 1 to 5 in importance (5 most imp), then rate the factors from 1 to 10, multiply the weight times the rating, add up move scores and don't move scores. Lets you compare mathematically. Good luck.

[rockinmommy]

Our family is considering a move to a better school district within the next 1-2 years or sooner. We really don't need to leave for 3-4 years but we are targeting 1-2.

Situation:
Our TownHome is worth between 310-320k. We are near Fort Meade, MD. Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) will be bringing thousands (upwards of 10 thousand) new jobs to the area however it won't really kick in until next year and is a multi-year event. There are several new Town Home developments springing up nearby offering 2 car garage TownHomes from the mid 300's. When I mean springing up they are just now clearing the land.

Question 1:
I know we cannot predict which way the housing market will go so I will leave that out of the equation. But given the situation am I risking losing more value in my home by waiting 2-3 years to sell or should I sell now before the thousands of town homes are built? I would like to hear peoples thoughts on this. I know if I were coming into an area (and could afford it) I would prefer a new TH over an older one even if it were 40-60k more.

Question 2:
Given the current state of the housing market and you were selling a townhome would you spend liquid capital to finish a basement to be competitive or take the hit in the sale price? I ask this because what if I dump 10k and finish the basement and then the market forces drop the price down further then I basically lost my money. Most homes in the area do have at least a partially finished basement.

thanks to all in advance.

d

I've been a real estate investor for over 15 years. My advice would be to try to sell it now and see what happens. Is your place ready to show? I'd really make it PRISTINE and stage it for the BEST possible marketing. (Get rid of clutter, possibly a new paint job, remove personal stuff, etc... have you seen any of the shows on TLC or HGTV?) Set what you believe is a fair price and see what happens. You may be surprised. Or it may not sell, and then there's basically your answer. From your description of your area I have no doubt you're looking at a downturn in the value due largely to the new construction.

I've seen time and time again where homes that show beautifully will sell quickly, for more money than houses that show poorly. Sometimes the ones not selling are really even worth more, people just can't see past clutter, or weird colors, or a half-finished basement. People come in and SAY they can see past stuff, or imagine it different, BUT 99% CANNOT!!

[dlochart]

I've been a real estate investor for over 15 years. My advice would be to try to sell it now and see what happens. Is your place ready to show? I'd really make it PRISTINE and stage it for the BEST possible marketing. (Get rid of clutter, possibly a new paint job, remove personal stuff, etc....have you seen any of the shows on TLC or HGTV?) Set what you believe is a fair price and see what happens. You may be surprised. Or it may not sell, and then there's basically your answer. From your description of your area I have no doubt you're looking at a downturn in the value due largely to the new construction.

I've seen time and time again where homes that show beautifully will sell quickly, for more money than houses that show poorly. Sometimes the ones not selling are really even worth more, people just can't see past clutter, or weird colors, or a half-finished basement. People come in and SAY they can see past stuff, or imagine it different, BUT 99% CANNOT!!!!!

Thanks for your advice! After researching how the houses are setup in our area we need to finish the basement. Over 95% of all Town Homes in our area have at least a partially finished basement. Yes we do watch those shows and you are absolutely correct that most buyers are very superficial when they look at a house. We plan to do new carpets and finish the basement. Thankfully we already put down new hardwood floors and a new roof.