Real NEastate: Should I wait for my buyer to sort out issues or put my home back on the market?

Q: The year started off with an offer on my home in West Mayfair after 295 days on the market. I was very excited to finally feel like things were going to start rolling, but the buyer is having a problem with the mortgage. The mortgage company said is will need to postpone settlement until May because of an issue with the buyer’s pay raise – it wants to see a full year of pay stubs at his current wages. Ugh! Do you think I should wait it out or put it back on the market? I thought I’d be out of here by now.

A: If you decide to put your home back up for sale, your dilemma is finding another buyer. There is no guarantee that, even if you do put it right back on the market, you’ll find another buyer soon and that buyer will want to settle before May.

You may have to evaluate your bottom line to secure another buyer. If you did not get an offer for the first 295 days you had your home for sale, what do you think prompted the current offer? Did you reduce your price and then get more appointments? Or was it a low offer that you accepted?

The opposite dilemma comes about if you decide to stick it out, but question if this buyer will even be able to secure the loan in May. If the lender is making you wait, what makes you think that it will work out in the end? Try and get assurance from the mortgage company that this buyer you have now is solid and there will not be any other problems that could delay or stop the sale of your home.

If there’s a mortgage commitment required, I would ask for this as soon as possible. It should flush out any problems the buyer may be facing. If you were planning on making settlement in March or April, maybe it’s not hard to wait another month or two.

Stacey McCarthy is a real estate agent with the McCarthy Group of Keller Williams. Her Real NEastate column appears every Wednesday on NEastPhilly.com. See others here. Read other NEast Philly columns here.