Real NEastate: Stubborn seller

Q: I live in Sandyford Park and I need to sell my house, but my neighbor’s house is up for sale. I don’t want to wait, because my job is moving to Delaware and I don’t want to commute. But my husband is worried about two sides of the same twin being for sale. Should I wait until he sells his house to sell mine?

A: I can understand your hesitation to have two “For Sale” signs side-by-side. Your husband’s reluctance is not entirely unfounded. Buyers might question why both neighbors are moving out at the same time.

The good news about your neighborhood is in the last four months, more homes have sold than are currently for sale. In fact, according to recent market statistics, Sandyford Park’s average price comes in 10 percent higher than the average price of the 19152 zip code it is in.

Sandyford Park is a small neighborhood in the Northeast with twin homes, most of which feature two-and-a-half bathrooms, which is a very desirable feature. Many of your neighbors’ homes recently were able to fetch an average of 95 percent of their asking price.

If you don’t want to worry about commuting, and you want to take advantage of the current mortgage market should you buy in DE, I wouldn’t let your neighbor’s sale interrupt your plans. He could very well be overpriced and push your relocation back months, or even years.

If your house is priced better, or in better condition, your house could potentially sell before your neighbor’s. Pricing will have an enormous impact on the success, or failure, of the sale of your home.

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.