Moving is stressful enough – moving to another state intensifies the stress. It’s no longer feasible to own two homes and selling your home suddenly becomes an urgent matter. If you can’t buy a home in your new home state before you sell your current home in Massachusetts, you may feel desperate.

Check out the steps below to help ease the burden of the process.

Price it Right

Every seller must price the sale right, but when time is of the essence, pricing is even more crucial. You probably want top dollar for your home – who doesn’t? But, asking too much will turn buyers off. Do you underprice the home and hope that you walk away with enough profit or do you price it right alongside the comps in the area?

You’ll need to gauge the market – are there a lot of buyers or only a few? Is the market saturated with homes for sale? The more homes on the market, the lower the price you may expect if you want to sell fast. Only you know your bottom line though.

Make it Attractive

If the market is saturated right now, you have to stand out from the competition. What sets your home apart from others? Why should buyers bid on your home and not the one down the street? Showcase the home’s most impressive features to get your home the attention you want to sell fast.

Figure out the Timing

Timing the sale is probably the hardest part. If you’re moving out of state, there’s a lot more involved in the moving part. If you sell too soon, you’ll be without a home and have to move more than once (not fun when you’re moving out of state). If you don’t sell fast enough, you may not have the money to pay for your new home.

If you think it’s necessary, negotiate the ability to rent back the home from the buyers. This needs to go in the contract, so negotiate it upfront. Knowing you can rent the home from the buyer gives you peace of mind that you don’t have to rush out and be ‘homeless’.

If renting back isn’t ideal, consider asking the buyer for a flexible closing date. If the buyer has more flexibility on the move-in date, he/she may be willing to give you some time to figure out the right choosing date.

Have a Backup Plan

We’d all love it if life was perfect, but recent events certainly show us otherwise. Moving out of state requires a certain level of commitment and if your home doesn’t sell, you may find it hard to fulfill those commitments. Having a few backup plans can help you get through the process:

• Rent the home – If you can afford double mortgages and there’s a decent rental market in the area, consider renting the home. Make sure you do the math to ensure that it’s worth it. In other words, will the rent charged cover the mortgage, taxes, and insurance? Make sure you have proper representation to make sure the lease covers both you and the renter.
• Keep it as a second home – If you don’t want the headache of dealing with renters and can afford both mortgages, keep the home. You can use it as a vacation home or second home. If you have close connections in Massachusetts still, you may want a place to come back to so you can visit.
• Sell to a cash home buyer – If you don’t want the headaches of selling your home to a buyer, dealing with inspections, appraisals, and banks – sell to a cash buyer. You can sell your home in as little as 7 days and have the cash in hand that you need to buy your new home outside of Massachusetts.

Moving to another state does require more steps than moving across town. Do your research to determine if the market is fluid enough to sell the home fast or if you’ll be sitting on it long-term. You can then decide if you need alternate options or if selling to a cash home buyer is your best option, helping you move out quickly and onto your new life in another state.