First, pin down your real deadline. It’s usually not your start date at the new job. It’s the month you can no longer stomach paying for two places at once. Once you’ve got that date, you’re mostly picking between listing with an agent, renting the place out, leaning on whatever your employer’s relocation package offers, or selling to a cash buyer on a date that lines up with the move. Houses in Wake Forest tend to sell pretty well, so listing is often a perfectly good plan, but if the house needs updating or the clock’s already ticking, a sure thing on a set date can beat chasing the last few thousand dollars.
Why a Job Move Hits Wake Forest Families Hard
Wake Forest has grown like crazy, and a big share of the folks who moved there did it for a job somewhere in the Triangle, which is great right up until the job changes. Maybe two companies merge and your department gets moved to Chicago, or the promotion you were gunning for comes with a new zip code, or the remote gig you took a few years back suddenly wants you in an office five days a week, eight hundred miles away. Whatever the reason, the house ends up being the biggest loose end in the whole move.
Picture a family in a 2005 two-story off Capital Boulevard. One of the parents lands a promotion that means relocating to Denver in about sixty days. The company will hand over a lump sum for moving costs but won’t buy the house. It’s in decent shape, honestly. The upstairs carpet is original, though, the deck has a few boards that flex when you step on them, and the kitchen still has the builder’s laminate counters. They’d love to buy something in Colorado before school starts, and that’s a tall order with a North Carolina mortgage still hanging over them.
What Relocation Packages Really Cover
It’s all over the map. Some employers, usually the larger ones, offer a guaranteed buyout through a relocation company, where your house gets bought at an appraised price if it doesn’t sell on the open market by a certain date. Others cut you a lump sum and leave the house entirely up to you. And plenty of companies don’t offer anything for the house at all.
If yours is a lump sum, ask whoever does your taxes how much of it you’ll actually keep, because relocation money generally counts as taxable income these days. Better to find that out while you’re planning than in April.
The Options in Front of You
Listing with an agent
In a decent market, a house that shows well can do nicely. The catch is the calendar. You’ll need showings, an inspection and a buyer’s loan to all come through, and there’s a good chance some of that happens after you’ve already moved and are trying to sign papers between meetings at a new job.
Renting it out
Some families hang onto the house as a rental, especially folks sitting on a low mortgage rate they hate to give up. That’s a reasonable call, as long as you go in knowing you’ll be a long-distance landlord, either paying a property manager or fielding calls about a broken dishwasher from two time zones away.
A bridge loan, or just carrying both houses
If you’ve got a bridge loan lined up or a big savings cushion, you can buy in the new city before the old place sells. You’ll be paying for two homes until it does, though, and that can drag on longer than anybody planned.
Selling to a cash buyer
No showings, no repair list, and the closing date gets set around your move rather than around a lender’s schedule. You’ll usually give up some price for that speed and certainty, but you also dodge months of double payments.
What Waiting Costs You
Two mortgages add up in a hurry. Throw in taxes, insurance and utilities on a house nobody’s living in, and somebody still has to cut the grass. Leave a house empty through a Wake Forest summer and someone also needs to keep an eye on the air conditioning, because a unit that quits in July can mean a musty house by the time a buyer walks in.
A Simple Way to Compare Your Options
It helps to put real numbers side by side. For a listing, start with a realistic sale price, then take off the commission, whatever repairs a buyer is likely to ask for, and the mortgage, taxes and utilities you’d carry for however many months the sale takes, double payments included if you’ve already bought out west. For renting, write down the rent and subtract the mortgage, insurance, a property manager’s cut and a little set aside for repairs and empty months. A cash sale is mostly the offer minus your mortgage payoff, since Easy Sale HomeBuyers says it pays the closing costs. Seeing all three on one sheet of paper usually takes a lot of the emotion out of it.
Why Wake Forest Owners Reach Out to Easy Sale HomeBuyers
Easy Sale HomeBuyers is a family-owned company based in Raleigh that’s been buying houses around the Triangle since 2014, and it holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Going by its site, it buys houses in whatever condition they’re in, charges no commissions or fees and pays the closing costs.
When a job move is looming, families looking for companies that say we buy houses in Wake Forest mostly want one thing out of the deal, and it’s a closing date they can actually count on. With that in hand, they can sign a lease or make an offer out west without crossing their fingers.
How the Sale Works
Call 919-887-8452 or use the form on the website, and tell them when you need to be gone. The company says a cash offer usually follows within 24 hours, with no obligation attached. Take it, and you can close in as little as seven days or hold off until the kids finish the school year, without cleaning or fixing anything first (a few past sellers mention just leaving behind furniture they didn’t feel like moving).
Selling a House Anywhere Around Wake Forest
Easy Sale HomeBuyers buys in Wake Forest, Rolesville and Youngsville, south through Raleigh and Knightdale, and across Wake, Franklin, Durham and Johnston counties.
Questions People Ask About Selling for a Job Move
Is it better to sell before I move or after?
Selling first saves you from double payments, but it means showings while you’re packing, which is why a lot of people either list early or go with a cash buyer.
My employer offered a buyout. Should I take it?
Hold it up against what you’d probably net from listing or from a cash sale, since buyout programs run on their own appraisals and timelines.
Do I have to pay taxes on relocation money?
Usually, yes, so check with your tax preparer before you count on the full amount.
Could I just rent it out instead?
Sure, as long as the rent covers your costs and you’re fine managing it from far away.
What happens if my start date moves?
A cash buyer can often shift the closing date, so tell them the minute you know.
Can we leave some furniture behind?
Yes, past sellers have mentioned leaving behind things they didn’t want to haul across the country.
What if I owe more than the house is worth?
Any sale has to pay off the mortgage at closing, so talk with your lender early about the options before you commit to a move date.
Can I sell after I’ve already moved to another state?
Yes, plenty of sellers do, and the closing can usually be handled with documents you sign remotely, so ask the closing attorney how they handle it.
Does Easy Sale HomeBuyers buy on the Franklin County side of Wake Forest?
Yes, Franklin County is one of the eight counties it buys in, so the part of Wake Forest that crosses the county line is covered too.
Ready to Sell? Let’s Talk.
If a new job is taking you out of state and you need to sell your Wake Forest house on a schedule, call Easy Sale HomeBuyers at 919-887-8452 for a free, no-obligation cash offer.
Find Easy Sale HomeBuyers on Google Maps
Find Easy Sale HomeBuyers on Google Maps
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