How long do i have to keep my house before i sell?

Question

My husband and i just bought our second home back in sept. 06. We were in a rush to get a home near a good school for our daugther. Well we didnt have much to choose from in our area at a price we could afford so we had to choose this house because of the price and the great school near by. Problem is, its not in a good neighborhood and its really small. The question i have is how long will we have to say in this house before we can sell. We didnt put any money down and we got a mortage that is at a fixed rate for the first 10 years then there is a balloon payment at the end. Were not worried about that cause we will only be here at the most 3 years b/c of military. Can someone tell me what options we might have to get out of this house?

Answer 1

Right now the market is really slow and to sell it is a bad time. Wait until homes start selling again then put it on the market. Usually keeping it for at least two years is the best then sell.
Good Luck.

Answer 2

There is no pre-determined amount of time that you keep a house before you sell. That being said, you can sell at any point (now or later), but if you sell now you will of course, make little or no money at all, because from September of last year to now, is only 6 mos. worth of equity and that adds up to vitually nothing. You will either lose money or make nothing. The RE market is VERY depressed right now so my guess is you will have to sell for LESS than you purchased for if you sell now. You don't have too many options here, except to put the house on the market, take whatevery ou might get (if anything) and buy another house. Do you actually have that kind of money, though? Let's be honest, it's expensive to move. Although, you state halfway through your question you are not worried because this is a military base or some such thing, so if that is the case (that you're not worried), then I don't know what the problem is. You should have researched the neighborhood, obviously, and not been so hasty with your earlier decision to buy where you did, but you already are aware of that fact. BTW: Most who are answering here are just blathering on about things they know nothing about. One poster told you to sell and use the money you make to buy another house. That must be some dumb teen (or other idiot), because you obviously are NOT going to make any money on your current home that you purchased a mere six months ago. Beware some of these answers. And please DON'T GIVE ANY POINTS TO AMANDA as one poster suggested, as she is assuming figures that are NOT ALWAYS accurate in EVERY case!

Answer 3

There is no limit on the time you have to reside in a house before you can sell it. You may sell it the next day, but it would not make sense.

Are you saying that you want to move before the 3 years are up or you get a transfer to another base?

I was in the military for over 20 years, my wife and I kept all the house we purchased for rentals especially around a military base, normally it will never be empty for any length of time.

After we decided to retire we sold the properties, which made a pretty good nest egg in addition to our retirement income.

Now there are some tax consequences involved when you sell your houses, so find some one talk to them about a Roth Ira and transfer your property to your Roth Ira. He will show you how to do this.

There will be some times when you will wish you had not done this because of problems that will come up, but after all is done and said, when you look back over the equity build up, plus the tax write off over the years, you will be glad you did. Problems go with the territory.

If you just want to sell the property after the 3 years just put it back on the market. Not a problem.

All ways speak to your tax preparer for all tax advise.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How long do i have to keep my house before i sell?
My husband and i just bought our second home back in sept. 06. We were in a rush to get a home near a good school for our daugther. Well we didnt have much to choose from in our area at a price we could afford so we had to choose this house because of the price and the great school near by. Problem...

Answer 5

Give the points to Amanda!! YOu are going to take a severe hit to your wallet if you try to sell now even if it's for sale by owner! I'd advise you to start doing some improvements around your home to help raise the value and stay there for at least two more years. Improve areas such as the kitchen or bathroom(s) big areas to bolster your selling price. Buyers nowadays are not stupid. They will look to see when your purchased your house and for what price. If they see you've lived in it for less than a year they won't want to give you more than what you paid unless you can show documentation of any updates you have performed. THe biggest problem is you bought your home in the middle of the downswing in real estate prices. Your home may be worth less in the current market than what you paid for it. Stay in the home and make do for at least two more years then sell it. You don't want to have to bring $5000 plus to the closing do you? Fromthe sounds of it, you don't have that kind of money just laying around anyway. Good Luck!!!

Answer 6

You can sell it immediately with a problem, if you're not making a huge profit. If you are, a little extra documentation may be required (regarding improvements made), but you should still be fine.

The only thing to watch out for is if you have a pre-payment penalty on your current loan (you probably don't, with that program).

You will have to pay Capital Gains tax on any money that you make, but you probably won't be making much, if any!

Answer 7

Hmmm....at no point should anyone buy a house without thorough due diligence! You make your money when you buy. If it in negative equity one should keep after due diligence of course for at least 5-7 years when the value doubles. Check the market how it appreciates.....everytime one sells a house it will be taxed. But please get an experienced legal/property investor. Legal advice alone is not always great advice especially if they don't own any properties.

Answer 8

There's no rules about when you can sell, but if you put 0 down then you need to wait until you have enough equity to cover the cost of selling.

Realtor fee: 6%
Excise tax: 1.5-2%
Other closing fees: average 1%.

So basically you need 9% equity to break even.

Also, FYI, if you make ANY Profit and own the house less than 2 years, you have to pay capital gains (income tax on the profit).

Answer 9

Just sell it. There's no law that says you have to stay. You may lose money if you sell too soon, so get it appraised and find out what it could sell for.

Answer 10

You can sell the house anytime you want. If you bought it one day you could sell it the next. Just use the money you get from it to pay your mortage loan off.