Let me check my crystal ball. No seriously why not have a back up plan with a moving company to store your items if your place sells quickly and the buyer does not grant you extra time. It all depends on the buyer. Sometimes you can sell and then rent back from the new buyer for a set amount of time. No way to know unless you put it out there.

Real issue is how dependable is your builder w end date?

If homes in your area sell that quickly, then what's the point in putting it on the market now? Just wait until your home is closer to completion. That "4 months" may stretch out to much more.

The only advantage I can think of would be if the buyer had school age children and they wanted/needed the kids to start school in the Fall at the 'new' location. Then 'owning' property in the zone for the new school would simplify that issue.

Once upon a time we had a contract on a home in school zone A, we were living in school zone B (same school district, just different zones for the schools). We were able to get the kids enrolled in school A rather than school B - we were closing about a month after the start of school.

So, that means they would be allowing us to stay for 4 or 5 months after close ?? HHHmmmm Not sure a buyer is going to want to do that ?? What say ye all ??

It is not usual, but in my case back in 1991, I allowed my seller to stay in the house from June to mid September. In my case there was little on the market that I was interested in at the time (and could afford), and I was willing to let them do it... but I didn't really HAVE to sell the very ultra low-end condo I was living in, immediately. (Though I seriously wanted to get away from the putative coke dealer who lived over my unit there... One of the things that new place had was PRIVACY in the yard, and it had been hard to find in anything else I'd looked at.) So anyhow, if you are able to do it, it will be most likely because you have some wonderful feature that is lacking nearby in their price category.

If you do it, make sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed, and ascertain there will be a final detailed inspection once again prior to your moving out. They (you) will have to guarantee there won't be more than the most minor of changes in the place before you move out. This is in the buyer's interest, but ultimately also in yours.

But since you are building - build times always take much longer than planned, most ESPECIALLY when you'll be under the gun like this. Murphy's Law. (My sellers were being transferred to Texas for their job, with a somewhat more firm timeframe than a new build... AND we - my lawyer, realtor and I - set a FIRM exit date for them to leave my then-future home. You may still need to punt for a month or more for living and storages space if your build isn't ready.)

Yes, it is possible to find a buyer who will let you rent back. Most loans do not allow for it for longer than 3 months. Most buyers want to be in and settled before school starts, hence the reason this time of year is ideal to sell. Most buyers will not be happy closing on a new house and not moving in at closing. Buyers are also impatient and want to move in right away and won’t want to postpone their closing date. Not to mention if they keep looking and back out of your contract for a better home halfway through. You are better waiting until 8 weeks before your new home is finished to list. You will have a larger buyer pool of buyers wanting to close in 6-8 weeks....even if it is a smaller tauter pool than what is available now!

If it were me.... I'd put the house on the market June 1st & get a plan in place for where you'll stay between the sale of your current & your new house being ready. Do you have family who is local?? a hotel /Air B&B? I'd rather get top dollar on the sale of my home & bounce around for a few weeks. But maybe it's worth it to you to accept a bit less if the buyers are flexible & willing to delay closing. whatever you decide, I wouldn't try to rent it back from them -- too many horror stories out there. Also, everyone I know who has built a house has had delays, so your move-in date could get pushed further than you think. Sounds exciting, good luck :-)

Put it on and if it sells immediately find a rental for 6 months.

We sold our house in Feb, new owners wanted to be in by mid March, our new house was scheduled for completion mid April. We figured we could couch surf for a few weeks with family...but, by mid April it was obvious the new house was nowhere near completion. We were going to rent a cabin by the beach, but then our builder offered to let us stay in a vacant house he was going to demolish. He put in a couple of beds, a sofa and a dining table, a TV and ginormous stereo system, and let us have the place for a cheap rent. Our house was finally finished in July. It all worked out fine in the end....

Thirty-five years ago we closed on this house (buying it) in early May, but allowed the owners to live in it for an additional 5 weeks after closing. There was no rent - they just continued to keep the utilities in their name and paid the bills for them, and had that time to remove the 10ft tall compost pile in the back garden, and the 150 old automobile tiles with tea roses growing in the, that were in the backyard. We were not moving to KY until then, so it worked just fine for all concerned.

When my daughter and her husband bought their house here, it was in early Oct. Closing was set for 1 Feb as the seller needed to go through many belongings and make the decision about what to take to her new townhouse. DD needed to stay a the restaurant at which she worked in NYC through mid-Jan, so it worked out fine for everyone. They put up a substantial security deposit when the contract was signed and would have forfeited it if they had backed out prior to closing.

"...New Home being built. Basement has been poured stage. Still about 4 mths plus from being able to move in..."

Are you building a tract home? A custom home on land you own?

Completing a house in 4 months is unlikely, unless the quality will be low.

If homes sell as quickly as you have described, at the asking price, put it on the market and get it sold for your asking price. Rent until the new home is completed. Don't bet on 4 months...

We put our house up for sale this past Sunday. It sold Tuesday. Papers all signed yesterday. We weren't living there though.

Sell and rent. That's what we did. We were in our rental for 1 year. We sold our house before our new house was started. We were in a market that houses usually did not sell quickly. There were houses in our neighborhood that had been on the market for a year. Ours sold in a month.

Though mrs. worthy has been on intimate terms with our builder for years, I never trusted he could finish a build on time, so we have always sold and rented.

Way premature. Do you have to sell before closing? If so prepare for a rental.

if not, when 100% of your decisions are signed off and the home is ready for carpet, list your property.

We put our house on the market last year in the rural midwest, had an offer 36 hours after listing, and sold within 4 days. I'm going to say... have a plan, and don't trust the ETA from the builder. We ended up 260+ days in a hotel lol. So be prepared!!!

@ Mark Bischak, Architect - man you couldn't get me invited to one of those parties at the mansion before Hefner passed? :(

Also, have you talked with more than one realtor? If homes are selling like hot cakes they have every reason to encourage you to get your home on the market. Not to say the person you are talking to doesn't have your best interest in mind - just make sure they do.

I just sold mine. I will be moving this week after a three week delay. It was negotiated as part of the contract. My previous home was sold suddenly in the same fashion, they gave me 60 days to move. I rented the house back while I was looking for a new home. When we built another home, we ended up living in an extended stay hotel with our three dogs for a month and a half due to construction delays.

The point is, be flexible. You may need to rent back, find a rental or go to an Airbnb or extended stay hotel while storing your possessions. Realtors deal with this all of the time. You are the seller and you control the process. Even if you receive a good offer, you can decline it if the terms are not acceptable to you.

I would be inclined to list it now as the market is hot right now. Who knows what it will be like in 4 months, 6 months or whenever your house is completed.

"The market is hot" is used for closing your signature on the listing agreement. Often your home will continue to appreciate during a construction delay.

Cool your jets, focus on making sure your project is moving along and all your decisions are finalized and transmitted.

Or plan to rent. When you put your home on the market, it will suck a great deal of time from your other tasks from listing to final moveout and something will suffer.

What Virgil said.

You can list now and put it in the disclosure that the seller needs to rent back during construction of new home. This way buyers can decide if the house is special enough for them to deal with those terms.

Just springing that information on a buyer when you make your first counter offer wouldn't be the right thing to do.

My new construction house was completed last October. We put our house for sale by owner in August and in listing, we indicated that house was not available for occupancy until October. The first people that looked at our house made an offer and bought it. They did try to get us to move out a couple weeks before our new house was ready but we just told them no because we didn't want to have to move twice or worry about where we would live for 2 weeks. I live in northern Indiana and there is a severe shortage of houses on the market.

My new house is under construction. Builder said August 1. I interpret that as plan for September 15th.

We know in our area houses sell best April-June and people do want to move in over the summer to settle before school starts.

We have sold our house with rent back agreement through 9/15. I do have housing available after that if 9/15 is not delivered.

You have to plan for all contingencies and be flexible. Chances are there will be problems.

localeater, even Sept 15 may be wishful thinking ;0)

My nephew and his fiance began a build last October. So yes, some winter weather delays here and there. They were married one month ago today, and are living in a camping trailer in their driveway - it's location convenient to their jobs.. The builder knows (and blesses) they have slipped inside to shower, but porta potty on site. They did use the oven one night this week ;0) Hopefully they will have their final inspections and get their CO this coming Tuesday, be able to move into their house.

Have you sold the house yet?

No , we have not sold yet 8-19-19 Taking Jeff's advice and cooling my jets. I thought my realtor assured me the house would sell quickly no matter when we put it on the market. Soooo,,,,, hoping that is true !! Looking at somewhere between sept. 15th and oct. 15th.

Insulation and dry wall next. Carpet and flooring picked out. Did decide to go with a woodstove down the basement. The triple wall stove pipe is installed. Just need to find some young kids that like cutting , splitting and hauling wood to get it down the basement. Just liked the ambiunce idea of a woodstove down the basement in the family room. And yes, it will offset winter heat bills here in the cold Upper midwest. Wood , not pellet. Lots of wood cut when clearing the property..........LOL

There are lots of signs we are headed to a recession. If it were me, i’d put it on now unless you are able to cover carrying costs on 2houses

Plus once the holidays come, people stop looking

I agree with cpartist.

Houses do sell during the holidays, however, there are fewer people looking to move during holiday time so you have fewer showings and fewer buyers.

IME trying to sell and lease back can be done, but not easily. Most of the lenders I see now have a maximum 60 day deadline after closing for the buyer to move into their newly purchased home if they are buying as a primary residence and that 60 days is a hard line. Not 61 days or 62 days etc.

If you sell to an investor, it's a different story. Or if you sell to someone that isn't financing the property (cash buyer). In exchange you will normally get much less to get that investor interested in your property. Most investors are interested in below market prices which may or may not work for you.

Overall, the comments about remaining flexible are right. Best to sell your property asap.

You missed the crowd looking to relocate before school starts. There may be some that want to be in for Xmas though. Economy isn't all they crack it up to be, so I'd think "now or never!"