Six Alternatives to Home Selling

Say you’ve had your home for sale for months and not a single home buyer has decided to make an offer to you. You’ve spent a lot of money on home advertising. made a number of price reductions and nobody calls you.

Maybe your agent now has an expired listing. It’s possible that you’ve even buried a St. Joseph’s statue in your yard, and that didn’t bring any offers, either. What can you do when it’s plain that your home isn’t selling ?

1) Postpone Home Selling

Could it be that now is not the time to sell? If it’s a buyer’s market. perhaps you should take your home off the market and wait for inventory to drop. When there are fewer homes for a buyer to choose from, your home may be snapped up.

• Selling during the holidays is especially tough because buyers expect bargains. You may lose money if you try to negotiate during holiday stresses.

2) Take Out a New Mortgage

If your need to sell is based on financial needs, it might make sense to take out a home equity loan. providing you can afford to pay a higher monthly payment. If your existing loan is an adjustable rate mortgage. and a higher interest rate has raised your payment to the extent that you can no longer afford to pay it, you might be able to renegotiate a loan modification plan with your lender or convert that ARM into a fixed-rate mortgage at a lower interest rate .

Before you decide to borrow more money, through a refinance of your existing loan or by taking out a second mortgage. first meet with a trusted adviser to discuss your financial situation. Don’t talk with any real estate professional who has a vested interest in your affairs. Speak with a tax accountant or your real estate lawyer .

3) Rent Your Home

Some home sellers have no choice. For a variety of reasons, from job promotions to family-related matters, a home seller might be forced to relocate to a new area and leave an existing home behind.

Even if you can’t receive enough rent to cover your mortgage payments. paying a small amount of negative cash flow every month might be easier on the pocketbook than forking over thousands of dollars for a vacant house.

Here are a few tips about renting:

• Be aware that many homeowner insurance policies do not cover a vacant house for more than 30 days; however, you may want to talk with your insurance agent about changing the policy to insure only the structure without contents.

4) Consider a Short Sale

If you’ve purchased your home within the past few years, it’s possible that you owe more than your home is worth. A real estate agent who specializes in short sales might be able to negotiate with your lender to accept less than your mortgage balance. Before you consider doing a short sale. here are a few things you should know:

• Discuss the ramifications with a real estate lawyer to make sure you understand the consequences. Moreover, not every seller qualifies for a short sale. and not every lender will accept a short sale .

5) Offer Your Home on a Lease Option

You might talk to your real estate agent about doing a lease option purchase versus an outright sale. Lease options are appealing to borrowers who, for a variety of reasons, might not be in a position to purchase a home through conventional financing. Maybe they can’t decide whether to buy or rent. Make sure your lawyer reviews all documents before you agree to a lease option .

• Lease options give a tenant the opportunity to later purchase your home at a predetermined price. For a tenant who is on the fence about buying a home. it lets them live there while deciding whether to buy.

6) Ask Your Employer About Relocation

If your employer is transferring you out of town, you might ask about a guaranteed purchase program. Many employers hire relocation companies that offer buy outs for employees. You might not even know that your employer has a relocation program if you don’t ask.

_{At the time of writing, Elizabeth Weintraub, DRE # 00697006, is a Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate in Sacramento, California.}