To Buy Or Sell First

by Darrin DeRoches August 30 - September 5, 2012

To buy or sell first? That is the question. Usually I would always tell a client to put their house up for sale first and then begin looking at possible homes in the market. I have a great house in the Gage Park neighbourhood ready to go on the market but we are waiting till mid-September to list the property since there are absolutely no desirable properties on the market for my client to buy. We have searched three different areas that they would consider moving to and not one property comes even close to their wish list. Therefore we have to come up with a new game plan.     We met for lunch this week and after a long conversation we have laid out the perfect plan for today’s market. First my client is meeting with a mortgage broker and their bank to set up “bridge financing’ which is exactly what is sounds like. This line of credit is basically a mortgage that will bridge the time it will take to buy a new home and sell the old home. We want to have our money straight so when a quality property comes on the market we can make a strong offer with no conditions and successfully acquire the property. We will likely be facing competition and I for one do not like to lose, so with our “bridge financing’ in place we can make an offer most people cannot compete against.      The second part of the plan is to have the system set up when a new listing comes on the market we are able to be the first one to the door. Speed is of the essence and we put in place a couple of things which enables us to do just that – first people in with an offer ready to go.     The last part of the plan is to have their house ready to be put on the market the second we have a new home secured. The pre-planning, pictures, marketing, signs, internet ads etc. have all been set up and only need a push of the button and a phone call or two to have their property on the market within minutes. This will show the sellers that we are not only ready to buy but their property is on the market, priced well and ready to sell!      The fall market is coming fast and will be hot. As a broker you must be ready for anything and with these clients we are not just ready – we are going to knock it out of the park. The market changes daily and you have to be ready so you not only get top dollar for your property, you will have bought your dream property. My clients will be sitting in the back of our company limousine writing the offer with no conditions beating all others to the door before they even realize it was on the market. Everyone else will be out in the cold when they cannot find a suitable property in September while my clients will be enjoy the holidays in their new home. V     Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at mail@uniquerealty.ca.