{"id":2007,"date":"2008-06-10T06:00:07","date_gmt":"2008-06-10T13:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2008-06-09T17:25:07","modified_gmt":"2008-06-10T00:25:07","slug":"ask-the-readers-upgrading-sell-now-or-wait-it-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seattlebubble.com\/blog\/2008\/06\/10\/ask-the-readers-upgrading-sell-now-or-wait-it-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the Readers: Upgrading – Sell Now, or Wait it Out?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader posted the following question in the forums<\/a> a few days ago, and while there has been some good advice and discussion there, I thought it would be good to bring the question to the larger audience of the blog for feedback as well.<\/p>\n

I have owned a 2-bed 1 bath 975 sq.ft. condo, built in the late 70s, in the middle of Fremont since fall of ’03, and for a lot of reasons I’d like to move into a house or townhome in a lower-nightlife Seattle neighborhood.<\/p>\n

My husband is starting a 10-month graduate program in July and will not be working, and while we can subsist in the condo on my teacher income, we can’t really afford to increase the mortgage until he goes back to work. FYI, my husband is a social worker and right now I make more than he does.<\/p>\n

Oh, and we’re trying to get pregnant and ideally we’d like to move into a place that will work for us with up to two kids. It’s been our plan to stick it out until grad school is over and the kids actually arrive, but I’m telling you: Fremont is really really starting to drive us crazy.<\/p>\n

So as I see it, I have four options.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Stick it out in frat boy hell for another year with the plans to sell next summer.<\/li>\n
  2. Sell now and buy a house with a risky loan (interest only ARM?) that will have an artificially low payment with plans to refinance when my husband goes back to work in a year.<\/li>\n
  3. Sell now and rent until hubby goes back to work, buy next summer.<\/li>\n
  4. Rent out our condo to frat boys and rent a house until the right time comes around to buy.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I’m not really a big fan of #4, but choosing between options #1-3 requires me to have a clue about the state of the market… and it turns out I don’t have one. I’ll take thoughts from anyone who is willing to give me the time of day… Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n

    Sarah<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    The consensus on the forum seems to be that option #3 is her best choice. I agree with that advice, assuming that she’s willing to price aggressively (see regular biliruben’s first-hand advice on that here<\/a>) and can find a good deal to rent a place that her family will be happy in for a year or two (be sure to check out our how-to on watching Craigslist for rentals here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

    What advice do you have for Sarah?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    A reader posted the following question in the forums a few days ago, and while there has been some good advice and discussion there, I thought it would be good to bring the question to the larger audience of the blog for feedback as well. 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