Why People Sell Series: Getting Married

If both are renting, the consultation will be less complicated because we will only need to time the end of each lease or explore if subleasing or an early cancelation fee is possible. Subleasing and early cancelation fee will be very important to negotiate with the landlord if the leases will not end before the wedding and in time for a closing on a new home too. Bringing a copy of your lease to our consultation will be very helpful so we can advise you how to approach the landlord.

However, if they both own a home and desire to purchase a third home, there are many options to discuss in the consultation and it is more complex. If you are in this situation, start early to give yourself time to think and explore all of your options, which includes keeping the homes for investment.  And consider these questions: What will we qualify to purchase, how long will it take to sell both homes, what will we net from the sale and how do we time all of this around a quickly approaching wedding date.

The best time to call Linda Craft Team Realtors to learn about your options for selling homes and buying a new one together is now.

1. How Much Time Do You Have Before The Wedding?

What is the wedding date and do you need to sell two homes simultaneously or do you have time to spread out all of these sales and the new purchase over time? After all, getting married is exciting but planning a wedding has a huge to do list. Are you really ready to take on 3 real estate transactions at the same time? To know the answer to this question, we analyze days on market for each home which will vary depending upon price, location and style and we analyze time needed from under contract to close on multiple homes. Most importantly, we help you fully understand all that will be added to your physical and emotional state to prepare you for being able to carry the bride over the threshold of your home together.

2. Does Becoming an Investor now make Financial and Emotional Sense?

Another exploration would be looking at the possibility of not selling your present homes but keeping one or both homes as an investment. This may be a wonderful time in your life to start building your financial future through owning real estate as an investment. The wealthiest people in the world own real estate as an investment and know the power of having a tenant pay off your mortgages to create future cash flow for retirement.

If this is an option you wish to consider, the consultation would include education on budgeting for landlords and a close look at mortgage qualification. We would analyze rental rates for you area, prepare you for the downside of this long term investment and take a close look at your qualification for originating a new mortgage in which to purchase your marital home. The worst thing you could do is sign a lease on both of your homes thinking you could then buy a new one together and find out you no longer qualify for a third mortgage. Now your homeless and searching for another house to rent instead of buy together.

Many mortgage lenders will not count investment rental income on new landlord/investors until you are “seasoned." Renting your houses out could push you out of a new mortgage for a year or two until you gain experience and financial proof of managing vacancy and repair cost on your investment properties. Your income, debt and cash flow has to all line up with your emotional tolerance for being a landlord. So if your heart says "Yes" to being an investor in real estate we would refer you to an experienced mortgage lender to assess if this is a financial option for the two of you. Lining up the head and heart is a must do in marriage and investing in real estate too.

3. Which home has the highest probability of selling first? 

A market analysis of both homes will show which house has the greatest odds of selling first. We would study past sales in your area, days on market and current absorption rates to help answer who is most likely to need to move first. Getting married is a countdown that works backwards in the timeline and so is selling a house and moving. Knowing the timing of each sale measured against the ultimate goal of having a home to share together after the honeymoon is important information to know up front in your planning. This is one of the many things we help you understand during our consultation.

And that's just the beginning! Head over to our Wake County real estate blog for Questions 4 through 10 that you should be asking before selling and buying your new marital home!