Both sides
Buyers and sellers, across central and southern Maine, with Fontaine Family - The Real Estate Leader.
Downsizing is two transactions that have to be timed against each other, which is what makes it harder than it sounds.
It also tends to involve a house somebody has lived in for decades, which is a different conversation from selling a starter home.
For most people, selling first is the safer sequence. It converts your equity into a known number instead of an estimate, and it makes your next offer dramatically stronger because it is not conditional on anything.
The gap between the two is manageable with the right settlement dates or a short rental, and it is worth planning on purpose rather than discovering.
Prepared by hand, from recent comparable sales in your actual area, adjusted for condition and for what you have put into it over the years.
Automated estimates are weak everywhere and they are particularly weak in small Maine towns, where there may be only a handful of relevant sales in a year.
People exhaust themselves preparing a house before anybody has told them what actually needs doing.
Emma walks the property and gives you a specific list with costs, including an explicit note on what to skip. It is usually less than people brace for.
Single-level living, a manageable lot, lower heating costs and proximity to family and to a hospital are the things that come up most, and inventory that ticks all of them is thin.
Starting the search early, even before the current house is listed, is usually the right move.
Many of these conversations happen a year out. That is normal and it is better.
Buyers and sellers, across central and southern Maine, with Fontaine Family - The Real Estate Leader.
Wells, septic, oil tanks, lead and shoreland zoning. The questions Maine actually asks.
Including when the answer is that a house is not worth it, or that you should wait.
For most people selling first is the safer order, because it turns your equity into a real number rather than an assumption and makes your next offer far stronger. The gap is manageable with the right settlement dates or a short rental, and that is worth planning deliberately rather than improvising.
A valuation prepared by hand from recent comparable sales in your specific area, adjusted for condition and for what you have put into the place. Automated estimates cannot know what you renovated or which side of the road you are on, and in small Maine towns with few sales they are particularly unreliable.
Almost never. What matters is the cheap and visible work rather than a remodel. Emma walks the house and tells you what is worth doing and in what order, including what to skip. She is not a contractor and will not quote you a number, but she will tell you who to call for one. Most sellers spend less than they expected.
Call anyway. A lot of these conversations happen a year before anything is listed, and plenty end with her saying there is no reason to hurry. There is no cost and nothing to sign to get an opinion.
Tell Emma what you are trying to do and when. If the answer is that you should wait, she will say so.