How to Time a Move and House Sale?

[My English Castle]

We're thinking of moving to Minnesota to be nearer to my mom.
We both have jobs here, and our daughter's in kindergarten.
We also have a house to sell if we're going to move, and I have literally no idea how to begin the process.

Should we try to find jobs first in Minnesota?
Sell our house here first?
How do people handle the timing of long moves?
Any advice would be gratefully appreciated; I find the idea overwhelming.

[Ima saver]

I am sorry, I have no advice to give you. We only moved once since we have been married. We moved here and lived on our savings for a whole year while my husband built our house.
The only thing I can tell you is to save as much money in advance, as you can.

[tinapbeana]

well, you can go the route of buying a house in minnesota using contingency clauses that you have to sell your house first, etc.

if it were me, though, i'd scope out rental locations near your mom, likewise jobs. if you get a job offer that is willing to wait a month or two for your start date, then jump on a rental property, schedule a move, and contact a realtor in your current home town to sell your current house.

the nice part about renting first in the new area is you get a chance to 'get to know' places and neighborhoods before buying. since this is where your mom lives it might not be an issue, but it still gives you some flexibility to try and find a house near either her or a job after the fact, not before...

[jIM_Ohio]

My advice- sell house before you buy a new one. Reduces risk. Contact a realtor. Maybe contact 2-3. Have each come to your house and tell you "what it will take" to sell house. Our realtor told us to install new carpet, take down border, and paint two rooms. He told us to rearrange furniture in room X and room Y, and clean up room Z.

Ask 3 realtors for this info, you should see some common themes. We were told that the #1 issue to selling quickly was pricing correctly when it was first put on market. He wanted all these things done before we listed, and he generated many showings and 2 offers for us. He was right and I'd use the same realtor again if I ever need to sell.

I know some people which upped and moved with kids older than yours (4th and 6th grade). They moved before end of school year so kids had friends to hang out with over the summer. I would imagine the first day of school has anxiety... not knowing anyone day 1 would increase that anxiety, so this makes sense to me. Come to think of it, I think I know 3-4 families which did it this way.

I would also think if both spouses work, one needs to find a job prior to move. Find a headhunter and see if he can get job for one of you. If he finds a job for both, then his commission will be higher, so he has incentive to help you.

[PrincessPerky]

My first thought was 'prayerfully' because no matter what something will go wrong and something will not be quite right..you can think it thru to the max, or you can just go do it.

IMO job hunt first....and reduce spending NOW, both for saving and so that one of you can be working while the other is packing/unpacking/hunting/setting up playdates to help kid adjust.

Oh and DON'T tell your dream job to wait! you might not be able to, and waiting for most things is not important. But do ask that eh soso job to wait if you feel like it.

Can you stay with family for job interviews at least? if so you will save on those costs.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jIM_Ohio

My advice- sell house before you buy a new one. Reduces risk.

I agree. If you need the proceeds of the sale to pay for the new house, this is the way to go. There is no way to predict how long a sale can take.

My mother moved on June 19, 2006. She put her house up for sale on June 1. It sold last Friday, March 9, 2007. Fortunately, she didn't need the house money to move so it wasn't a problem. Otherwise, she would have been in trouble.

[MonkeyMama]

I agree with the sell before you buy a new home.

I think looking for a job is prudent as well - so you can get an idea if you can find a job, what the market is like, etc. You can rent while you sell your house if need be. Most of the people I know making this move, one spouse finds a job and rents while the other spouse stays behind and wraps up loose ends. Just seems to be the way it often works out.

I did both and it worked out okay - but wouldn't recommend it - hehe. Just happen to be in an industry and a time where it takes a day to get a job. & the housing market was golden, not a flaw in sight, and we put our old home up way ahead of schedule and happened to be the week of 9/11. NEedless to say we owned 2 homes for about 5 months and lost about $100k over night. IT worked out okay, and we could have just backed out of the deal but forged ahead because it was still smart in the end. But I would NEVER buy another house before selling the first ever again. At the time it was like, well obviously nothing could go wrong - we expected to sell our home in a couple of days. A terrorist attack and our home sat on the market for months without a bite - completely and totally unforeseen. & we all know this market is not hot right now anyway.

Oh yes I have a friend who bought another house before selling, told her our experience, she seemed bored to hear of it, but has owned 2 homes upwards of a year and they do not know what they are going to do. BE careful...

We were just looking at a house last summer and I know our realtor was really frustrated but we would not buy a house without our house selling first. We had a lot of pressure. Don't fall for it. You can always try a contingency but depends on the market if it will fly.

Good Luck!

[34saving]

Of course it totally depends on your situation. (How quickly do you need/want to be with Mom? Does Mom have a house you could live in for awhile? Would living with your Mom drive you crazy? How strong is the real estate market at home? Do you have a mortgage now? How long could you handle making 2 mortgage payments?) Assuming some average responses to these questions, here's what I'd do: 1) Put house on market while looking for jobs in MN. 2) Look for house to buy or rent depending on your situation. (There are lots of houses in both categories around here, so finding an appropriate place shouldn't be too hard unless you're looking for something really special.) Move when job/jobs tell you you have to/should. I think you'll have a really hard time buying on a contingency unless your house is at least on the market. If you want advice on school districts and the like, let me know Good luck! (I know this process is overwhelming . . .we're in the proces of getting my in-laws closer to us . . .)

[creditcardfree]

Sounds like you have someone to stay with if you found a job. Seems like it would be best to have a job for one of you first before moving...if there is no job there is no point moving...correct?

1) Job
2) Sell house
3) Buy house

Once you have job offer, put house on market the same day, so call a realtor ahead of time, once you have house offer, make offer on a new home. I guess this is the only way it make sense to me. We just moved to Iowa. Husband stayed in a hotel for 3-4 weeks. We put house up for sale 4 days after we were notified of move (army). House sold in 5 days and closed 33 days later. We found our house (it was vacant) here in Iowa about a week after the offer on the house and closed on the same day. It was a whirlwind.

Our daughters (1st and 4th grades) moved schools mid year and it was fine. They adjusted great. Kids like to give new students special attention.