How do You Know When Enough is Enough?

I finally got the call from my wonderful DC clients that they had a contract on the home they had been trying to sell for the past six months. "Yay," I told them, "Now we can get serious about looking for your dream home down here in Charleston."

"Not so fast." I was told. And my buyers went on to explain that they wanted to wait until they closed on their current home in the end of June, pack up all their belongings, move them into a short-term rental property in Charleston and only then begin to look for that dream home.

My excitement for them took a nose dive when I thought about all the extra time and money they might waste (and lose) if they did it this way. I understood that they only had about six weeks to get a lot done... he had to transfer his law practice over to its new owners, packing AND finding their new home. But she's retired and extremely organized. And I knew they had done a great job of "de-cluttering" prior to putting their home in DC on the market and had many boxes already in a storage facility, ready to go right into a truck. And since they'd already been to Charleston on three "previewing" trips, we all had a very good idea of exactly what and where they wanted to look for their next home.

So, when I heard the great news about the contract on their home and the conditions – 6 weeks until closing – I struggled with how firmly to resist my buyers' (who had also become friends over the past two years) idea to essentially conduct a two-step move and all that entails. Besides the time and money issues, my other rationale includes the following:

• Right now in Charleston as in many if not most part of the country it continues to be a "buyers market" meaning that there is generally an abundance of inventory available. This means that my buyers will have many homes to select from.

• Because of the Buyers market, sellers are generally more willing to negotiate, meaning that my sellers should be able to write a contingent contract based on the successful closing of their home in DC. (Doing it like this means that they can leave all of their belongings where they are and save the expense of moving and storing them.)

• The rental market in Charleston is getting tight with landlords increasing rates and demanding longer-term commitments.

Again though, I am worried about pushing too hard. My buyers are feeling the stress that all sellers do after going through negotiations and hoping that they reach a successful closing. Obviously I wasn't involved in that process and don't know if it was amicable or contentious. What I do know is that I want to be a facilitator to the process, not someone who adds to their stress.

To that end, I've put my concerns out there and will abide by their decision. And now that they have the benefit of my thinking they can add that to their decision-making process.