Movin’ on up

Realtors and lenders are starting to see folks moving up to their dream homes today. The challenge for many people is that in order to buy the dream home, they must sell their departing residence for the down payment, and because of the home inventory shortage, some sellers will not accept an offer contingent of the sale of another house. Buyers don’t want to sell their current residence first without an assurance that they will find a dream home. Professional real estate agents can help by protecting their sellers with a contract contingency that states the sale of their home is subject to the successful purchase of another home. Mortgage lenders can assist by helping move up buyers with a bridge loan. A bridge loan is a temporary loan secured against the departing residence for the down payment on the dream home. This bridge loan is paid off after the seller moves into their new home and sells their old house. Another thing a seller can do is a cash-out refinance for the down payment on the old house and convert it to a rental property after they move. Baby boomers can sell their departing residence to their children and tell their kids to allow them to rent it back for a few months at reduced rent as payback for the cost of raising them and putting up with their behavior as teenagers. This way the parents have plenty of time to find a house with reduced stress and uncertainty. The benefit for the kids is a great house at a great price and possibly low property taxes based on the county assessor’s parent-to-child exemption. Moving up, down or out of the area can be stressful, however, this is why you hire a great Realtor and a great loan officer.