Especially in this housing market I would sell now. Unless you can afford 2 house payments. If you can afford to make payments on both houses then you could risk waiting. Personally......I am with missstaceyh...I would not be able to stand the thought of not knowing whether the house was going to sell or not. And when we were making those decisions the economy was fine. We did sell within a week and had 6 weeks to pack up a house we had lived in for 23 years. We moved into our new house suite above the garage but if that had not been built in time we were prepared to camp in a travel trailer if we had to. I am glad it did not come to that! I guess since rentals are difficult to come by in your region you could rent your house if 2 payments were not an option but there are risks involved with that too. How quickly do you expect your house to be built? Do you have relatives who live close by?

We've been on the market since March and have had 10 showings. That's not a lot for most areas, but it is for where we are. I'm pretty sure we've had more than anyone else in our neighborhood which I attribute to the pro-like pictures I took for the listing. A cheaper house in our neighborhood just went off the market after being on for several months and I don't know that they had any showings. Our neighbor's house is $30-40k overpriced and they had almost no showings for the first 9 months or so. Then a couple months after we listed, they went out and had a pro photographer take pictures of their house. Now they are getting multiple showings despite their price. Several of our showings were people who came out to this neighborhood and only looked at our house even though there were 1-2 others within $10-20k, so we know the pictures have made a difference. Granted, we still haven't sold, but the more people in the door, the better. I just looked at what has sold since we've been on the market and only 3 houses under 50 years old have sold on this side of town (we're on the far side, away from the 'big city'). Whether you have a realtor or not, take a look at your listing pictures and make sure they showcase your house in the best way possible (no dark rooms that are hard to see or pictures of furniture instead of the house, etc). If not, make your realtor take new ones or do it yourself. Use or borrow a camera with the widest lens possible (I rented an ultra wide angle lens for my DSLR). Regarding Realtors, we had one for the first 3 months at the usual 6%. Our current realtor is a local 'flat fee' agent. We paid $499 for the listing plus $99 for the lockbox. At closing, we will pay her .5% plus the 3% to the buyer's agent. So, 3.5% plus $598. We did this so we could lower the price as much as possible, but still have it in the MLS. Turns out, she's been more helpful than the full commission agent was. I've also been doing a lot of the work on my own - the pictures, I made fancy flyers and a website and have been posting it as many places as I can. If you are doing FSBO, go to Postlets.com and make an account. It's a syndication website that will post your house on several websites including several that the realtors use (Front Door, Zillow, etc). It will also give you html code you can use to post fancy looking ads on Craigslist and other websites. It's very simple to use - just enter your house info and upload some pictures. I have been using it even though we have an agent. HTH. Here is a link that might be useful: Postlets

This is a great thread for those contemplating building a new home. Clients are often bringing me sketches of floor plans or plans they've found online. Such plans can be helpful as a point of departure but almost always require a complete redo. What helps me more is a detailed conversation about lifestyle, philosophy of art and design, and a deep understanding of the site.

Tips for Buying Land, Designing and Building A Custom Home, Reposted Part 3 This is the final posting for my article on Buying Land, Designing and Building A Custom Home. Part 2, Continued was just posted. The original posts, Part 1, and the initial Part 2, were posted in January. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the remainder of the article disappeared after posting. This posting, Part 3, is the final posting of the article. Part 3: Building the Home This is the third and final part of “Tips for Buying Land, Designing and Building A Custom Home” Bidding: Competitive bidding or negotiated construction contract: These are the two general approaches for selecting a builder, or general contractor, for construction—each approach has its own pros and cons. Do some due diligence to understand and identify which is best for you. Your architect can advise you about both approaches and which one may best fit your situation. --Types of construction contracts: Many consumers don’t know that there are three primary types of construction contracts, each of which apportions financial risk in different manner: 1) Lump sum or fixed price (which apportions the financial risk to the builder, who always includes a contingency within the fixed price); 2) Time and materials which apportions all financial risk to the owner; and 3) Cost plus, (which may provide some measure of shared risk) which means the cost of the work (materials and labor), plus typically the builder’s OH and profit. A derivative of the Cost Plus contract is a Cost Plus with a Not to Exceed Amount. To encourage the builder to stay below the Not to Exceed Amount, it’s common to share all savings below the amount 50% to builder and 50% to owner. --Allowances: An allowance is simply a “place holder” inside the contract for construction for one type of work or another, which is not fully detailed, specified or identified completely. Multiple allowances are typical when abbreviated or incomplete construction documents are used for bidding and construction. Allowances are often not a good idea to allow in a construction contract because it allows some builders to put in a sum much too low for what the consumer may actually want. Should this happen it opens the door for a subsequent change order for the builder which will increase the overall cost and profit of the project for the builder. The best strategy for allowances is to have NONE. Zero. Take the time to properly design. detail and specify everything in order to avoid unpleasant surprises created by insufficient or inappropriate allowances. This may be the second most important tip in this article! --Change orders: A change to the specified scope of work described in the construction contract is called a Change Order. Change Orders should always be in writing from the builder, with a description of the changed work, together with the total and complete cost and change to the schedule. The owner must sign the written Change Order and authorize the builder for the work and cost before proceeding with any work. Always carefully read the contract for construction, before signing, to verify the terms and conditions for Change Orders. Do not accept other or lesser definitions for Change Orders. Make it clear, in writing, how Change Orders are to be prepared and managed. Construction: Getting started: Once a contract for construction is signed by owner and builder, it is the builder’s responsibility to confer with the owner and advise about the schedule and sequence of construction. Regularly scheduled meetings with the owner and builder are identified, and the builder identifies who will be in charge of the construction site on a daily basis. The builder is the general contractor, responsible for selecting, scheduling, supervising and payment of all of the other specialty or sub-contractors required for completion of the project. --Complete construction documents vs. abbreviated documents: If one has worked with an architect and has had complete construction documents prepared—properly detailed drawings and written specifications—the construction phase will be much smoother, more orderly and with few surprises. That’s because the builder has complete documents for construction which represent everything desired by the owner and necessary to complete the project. On the other hand, if the owner thought they could save money by only having abbreviated documents prepared, the construction phase is likely to be challenging, with many requests from the builder to the owner as to what the owner wants to do, what selections and finishes are desired, and a host of other construction phase decisions which are required. In addition, there may often be errors in construction arising from a lack of information in the documents, causing the builder to use his best judgement, but which may not meet the owner’s expectations. As a result, changes and revisions may be required during construction which often result in change orders, increased costs and schedule delays. Many owners complain about the frantic pressures and uncontrolled costs during construction, and the majority of these may result from abbreviated and incomplete documents meant to “save money”. The old saying “You get what you pay for…!” is more applicable than many consumers recognize, with the added, stressful and unexpected expenses during construction more than offsetting the costs to prepare complete construction documents in the first place. Take your pick on how you wish to proceed with construction! --Construction observation & administration: Architects provide services to owners, to represent them and their interests, during the construction phase, if retained to do so by the owner. Without an architect, it’s up to the owner to monitor the accuracy and completeness of the construction as it progresses, and to be aware of the construction sequence and schedule. --Progress payments: If a lender is involved they usually their own terms and conditions as to the frequency and amount of progress payments which are acceptable. Always ensure that the terms and conditions from the lender are those incorporated into the construction contract. Architects also provide services to owners to ensure that proper and timely progress payments are made. Without an architect, it’s up to the owner to receive, review and act upon the builder’s requests for payment, and to determine if the billings and the amount of work performed correspond with one another. Always obtain a release of liens statement from the builder for each payment, indicating that the builder has paid all applicable specialty and sub-contractors for the billing period. Without such evidence in hand, the owner is open to liens filed by these contractors if the builder does not pay them on a regular and timely basis for their work. --Retainage: It is common practice (and good judgement) to withhold 10% of each progress payment, so that there is a 10% retainage at the time of substantial completion, final punch list and close out at the conclusion of the project. Ensure these terms are included in your construction contract. --Substantial completion & occupancy: Substantial completion is the term used to designate the point in construction where the owner may occupy the project for its intended use. There may still be outstanding minor work and/or corrections, which will be noted on the final punch list. --Final punch list & close out: The final punch list is compiled by the owner and the builder, working together, noting all minor work and/or corrections which may be needed and which must be fully completed before final payment of the retainage amount. --Certificate of Occupancy: Some jurisdictions require that a formal Certificate of Occupancy be issued by a Building Official, and all code violations remedied by the builder, before an owner may occupy the project. In such cases, it’s the builder’s responsibility to comply with jurisdictional requirements in a timely manner and to keep the owner informed.