Anybody else selling their house?

[vjm]

What is your timeline like? I am in a good situation (bought very low), but the whole thing is really giving me a headache. Especially since I would not sell if my top choice lets me in, which is highly unlikely but you never know. All my other schools are faaaaaaar away.

How are you planning on handling this?

[insomniac]

I'm having trouble, too. Realistically, I'm not going to be able to put it on the market until I move, so it will be pretty stressful waiting for it to sell. I have to get some work done on it- going to try to do it in May- July if possible. Despite the questionable market, I'm hoping it's unique enough that it will sell passably quickly as long as I don't horribly overprice it. Glad to know I'm not alone...

[vjm]

I was praying I would hear early, so I could start getting things together, but it seems that I will probably be riding some waitlists. I can't imagine trying to buy a house in the middle of all this (although you will be getting a great deal). Looking forward to no homeowner duties/ expenses while in law school.

I was discussing the whole issue with a friend, and he said "Why don't you lease option a house wherever you get in?"
Me: "Oh, I don't know exactly where I will want to end up practicing."
Him: "Just exercise the option and sell it at the same time."

The risk inherent in this proposition, as well as the mental picture of graduating/ taking the bar/getting new job/ putting house on the market/buying new house ALL AT THE SAME TIME, made me break out in a rash.

Good luck to us all in our housing searches and struggles!

[zardoz]

I am stuck with the problem of keeping our house and renting a place.  My husband cannot leave his job, and since I hope to come back to this area to work, we don't plan to sell our house.  So, we are trying to figure out how this is all going to work.  I will probably end up living in a closet during law school so that we can make ends meet.   

Anyway, I agree that buying, selling, or keeping a house right now is all stressful.  Best of luck to everyone with their housing plans for the fall.

[jawilliamson]

I'm from Richmond and selling right now is tough but not impossible.  My husband and I started doing improvements to our house last fall to get it ready to be on the market.  We have put in hardwood floors in place of carpet, ceramic tile in place of laminate, put in new cabinets and had new countertops installed... all we have left is some landscaping and interior painting and it will be ready...

Average time on the market in Richmond Va is 45 days so we are planning to put it on in late may/june...

The worst part for us is not knowing where we are going to be moving too... it's hard to house shop when you don't know where you are going!

[upgrade]

Same boat here.  Comps in the market don't look all that great, so I may end up taking a small loss after the realtor takes her cut.  I am still waiting on several schools to respond to my application, but I will probably start fixing some minor things in the next few weeks. 

[duderancher]

I have my home on the market too.  I tried For Sale by Owner for a few months but finally listed it Jan 15th.  I will know in the next few weeks where I will be going to law school and then the house will be my final big, stressful thing to take care of.  Right now I am trying to make money but am prepared to just get out of it if in a few months if I have too.  If I can't do that, I don't know what I will do. 

[J.A.A.N.]

ugh...what a sore topic for me!

Yes, I am in this boat. We listed our house in January and would like to move by mid-July. My plan is to decide in April which school I will attend and go from there. Worst case, I will ask for a one year deferral if I'm attending a school that will require us to move and my home has not sold in time.

Good luck everyone 

[RandyJay419]

I am stuck with the problem of keeping our house and renting a place.  My husband cannot leave his job, and since I hope to come back to this area to work, we don't plan to sell our house.  So, we are trying to figure out how this is all going to work.  I will probably end up living in a closet during law school so that we can make ends meet.   

Anyway, I agree that buying, selling, or keeping a house right now is all stressful.  Best of luck to everyone with their housing plans for the fall.

I'm in a similar situation -- renting a place during law school and keeping the house back home.  Slight difference, we're not committed to staying in our hometown after law school...but during, the SO has to stay in-town for his job.  Our plan is for me to get an apartment in [whatever law school town I wind up in] and list the house while the fam continues living there until it sells.  So, even if it takes a while to sell, at least it won't be vacant or rented out to someone we don't know.

God willing, the market will recover during the first two years of law school!   

[areopagite]

I have to say this has been the most stressful part of the whole process by far.  The LSAT and applications were tough but trying to sell our house and find another one a thousand miles away, all before summer start classes begin in May, is driving me crazy.

We bought a foreclosure a couple of years ago very cheap and did a total renovation.  I'm hoping that we can trade some of the sweat equity for a quick sale, but we still need to get enough back out for a downpayment elsewhere.  I'm beginning to fear that getting the timing to line up will be impossible, but we're still hoping for the best.

Good luck to everyone else trying to sell!