It seems like the housing market is cooling down a bit and there are finally a decent number of houses for sale in our price range (but still WAY more expensive than 3 years ago). Are we crazy to buy right now without selling our house first? We’re in the Chicago burbs.
I think it is becoming a buyer’s market in more areas, which makes it a good time to buy. Unfortunately that also makes it a tougher time to sell. I’d be leery of carrying 2 houses unless you are comfortable doing that for an extended time. However, since the market is slowing you could see if they will take an offer contingent on selling your house.
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I can’t speak for the US or Chicago market but my advice to my son is to wait until next year to buy when I expect house prices in Vancouver will be lower. Ditto for most major Canadian cities. Would give the same advice to my London daughter.
As a general principle, I always believe in having your existing home sold before buying the next one.
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Why do you want to move?
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- Do you prefer a house to your current state?
If so then buy, but buy where you want to be, and discount whatever needs to be fixed. - School district is key. Not for your kids, but for resale vale.
There is no #2.
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in my area it is a sellers market, people are bidding way above asking price.
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We bought our current house almost 5 years ago knowing it was not our “forever” house. It’s a 3 bedroom side-by-side duplex with a first floor master and a very small back yard. When we bought the home, we weren’t sure if we wanted 1 or 2 kids but ended up having 2 in pretty quick succession.
The school district is good, and all the houses we’re looking at feed into the same middle school and high school as our current place.
We mainly want to move for more bedrooms and a bigger backyard. There’s a nice park 2 blocks away now, but we’d like to have our own space that’s at least big enough to have a swingset.
Those all seem like good reasons to buy, so then why wait? Sounds like you are going from a starter home to something you plan to keep for 15+ years. Current house probably won’t be too hard to sell? Guess it depends on how much you are buying up, and how annoyed you might be if prices were 5-10% lower in a year from now.
Currently have a friend in St. John’s who bought a house privately and are now trying to sell the old house. In the $450k and less range, houses are selling like hot cakes, with offers sometimes going $50-70+k over asking. In the $600k range, it’s a lot slower.
Saw the house over the weekend. The house itself is absolutely perfect for us. Trying to decide if we’re willing to give up our prime walking location for a place we would need to drive everywhere. Only other issue is that the yard is on a pretty significant slope. Not enough that the kids would have problems running around, but setting up picnic tables outside would be a pain.
You’re not selling me on it.
Do you need to set up picnic tables? Does it have a patio or deck for outdoor seating?
I have to drive everywhere from my house. TBH, i never really thought about walking somewhere as a concept until I spend some time in Chicago neighborhoods where you could walk a few blocks and have a grocery store, pharmacy, and a handful of restaurants. I enjoy walking now, and would do that if I could, even if in the past I had the opportunity to walk and still drove everywhere.
I love living in a walkable neighborhood. I also dislike mowing grass.
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I went and walked the neighborhood Monday night and loved the vibe. Huge park 10 minute walk away that was packed with kids and had several baseball / softball games going.
So… we made an offer, and it was accepted! Homes are still moving fast around here, and they had another offer as well. Closing in 4 weeks and we’re going to get all our junk out before listing our current place. Realtor thinks it will move fast due to location, so fingers crossed that he’s right.
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Having a park within 10 minutes makes it a somewhat walkable neighborhood, as long as it’s safe. I loved living near a park at a couple of my childhood homes (I’m an army brat).
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Agreed. I have a park about 15 minutes’ walk from my house. Walking there is the warm-up, then I stretch a bit then run around the jogging course as many times as I can. Then walk home to cool down.
However, I feel the old man inside me that will start calling the cops on kids and their e-bikes ruining the grass. (As if it is my lawn.)