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Key Takeaways About Selling a House When You Relocate
Before you do anything else, ask your employer what the relocation package covers. Some programs pay closing costs, cover a loss on the sale, or buy the house outright, and any of those can be worth more than a sale on the open market.
You do not have to be in Missouri to close. Missouri allows remote online notarization, and mail-away closings are routine, so a seller who has already moved can usually sign from wherever they are.
Two housing payments at once is the risk that costs the most. A contingent offer on the next house is the weakest kind, and the alternatives all trade money for certainty in some form.
An empty house is an insurance problem as well as an expense. Most homeowners policies limit or drop coverage once a home has been vacant for 30 to 60 consecutive days, so tell your insurer before you leave rather than after a claim.
If you have owned the house less than two years, a work-related move may still qualify you for a partial capital gains exclusion. The test compares distances, and it is worth one conversation with a CPA before you sign anything.
Renting it out is a real option and a real job. From another state it means a property manager, tenant risk, and a different tax position when you eventually sell.
If the timeline is the problem rather than the price, selling to a local cash buyer in St. Louis lets you set the closing date around your move instead of the other way around.
Should You Sell Before You Move or After?
Selling before you move gives you the proceeds, ends the carrying costs, and removes the house from your to-do list at the worst possible time. Selling after you move keeps your options open and may bring a higher price, but it means paying for two places at once and managing a listing from a distance. Which is better depends on how much cash you need at the other end and how long you can comfortably carry both.
Almost every relocation runs into the same problem: two closings that need to happen in an order nobody controls. You want the money from this house to fund the next one, but the seller at the other end wants a clean offer, and an offer that depends on your St. Louis house selling first is the weakest kind there is.
What a Home Sale Contingency Actually Costs You
A contingent offer says you will buy the new house if your current one sells. In a slow market a seller may accept it. In a competitive one they usually will not, and if they do it often comes at a price: a higher number, a shorter window, or a right for them to keep marketing the house and bump you.
So the practical question is which substitute you can live with. A bridge loan buys time and adds a payment and an underwriting process. A short rental at the destination is flexible and means moving twice. Selling here first and renting locally until you go is the cleanest for your finances and the most disruptive for your family. Pick the cost you would rather absorb, because there is no version without one.
Do You Have to Come Back to Missouri to Close?
Usually not. Missouri authorizes remote online notarization, and while the notary has to be physically located in Missouri, the person signing can be in another state or even outside the country. Mail-away closings, mobile notaries, and a limited power of attorney are all routine ways to close a Missouri sale without flying back.
What that means in practice is a short list of preparations rather than a trip. Tell the title company early that you will be out of state, because it changes how they prepare the package and how much lead time they need. Check that your photo ID is valid and unexpired, since identity verification is the step that most often stalls a remote signing. And if a lender is involved on either side, ask what they require, because lender rules are frequently stricter than the state's.
What Carrying Two Places Really Involves
The section on double mortgage payments below sets out what the St. Louis house costs you every month it waits and what that adds up to. One thing to know now: Missouri property taxes are billed for the calendar year and due at the end of December, and because the bill follows the property they are customarily prorated between buyer and seller at closing, so you are not charged for months you did not own it.
What Happens to a House You Leave Behind?
It keeps costing money, and after a while it stops being fully insured. Most homeowners policies contain a vacancy clause that limits or removes coverage once a home has been vacant for a set number of consecutive days, commonly 30 to 60. An empty house on the market is also more exposed to the things that clause excludes, which is the combination that catches people out.
The Insurance Gap Most Sellers Never Hear About
Insurers draw a line between unoccupied and vacant, and the difference decides whether a claim gets paid. A furnished house you intend to come back to is generally unoccupied and keeps full coverage. A house you have emptied into a moving truck and left for good is generally vacant, often from the day you go.
Fixing it takes one phone call and about ten minutes. Tell your insurer the house will be empty, ask them to confirm in writing whether your policy treats it as vacant or unoccupied, and ask what a vacancy endorsement or a separate vacant home policy would cost. Do that before you leave. The clause does not cancel your policy, it quietly changes it, and nobody telephones to tell you.
The Other Things an Empty House Needs
Utilities left on. Heat through a Missouri winter to protect the pipes, and power for a sump pump if there is one.
Someone physically checking on it. Mail and packages piling up on a porch advertise that nobody is home.
Lawn care and snow removal, both because of appearance and because most municipalities enforce it.
Winterizing if the house will sit unheated, which is a specific job and not the same as turning the thermostat down.
A local contact for showings, inspections, and anything a buyer's agent needs access for.
Someone available for a municipal occupancy inspection. Several St. Louis County municipalities require one on a change of ownership, and the utilities have to be on for it.
Family and friends often volunteer for this and mean it. It is worth being honest with yourself about how long that lasts across a few hundred miles and several months.
Your Options for Selling Before You Move
You generally have five: use an employer relocation benefit if you have one, list the house with a realtor, sell directly to a cash buyer, rent it out, or leave it empty and keep paying for it. The right answer depends on how firm your start date is, how much of the equity you need at the other end, and how much of this you are willing to manage from another city.
Start Here: Ask Your Employer What the Package Covers
If the move is for work, do this before you talk to anyone else, including us. Relocation benefits vary enormously and people routinely leave them on the table because nobody told them what to ask. Depending on the employer, a package can include moving and storage costs, temporary housing at the destination, help with closing costs on both ends, a loss-on-sale allowance if the house sells for less than you paid, marketing assistance, or a program in which a relocation company buys the house from you directly.
Questions worth asking HR in writing: what exactly is covered, is there a deadline or a required order of steps, does using an approved agent or relocation company affect eligibility, and does selling on your own before you enroll disqualify you from anything. That last one matters most. Some programs require the house to go through their process, and a sale you arrange first can void a benefit you would otherwise have received. If there is a buyout available, it may well beat every other option on this page.
Your Five Options, Side by Side
Option
Best Fit
What to Know
Employer relocation benefit
The move is work-related and your employer offers a package.
Check this first, in writing. It can cover closing costs, a loss on sale, or an outright purchase. Some programs are voided if you sell independently beforehand.
List with a realtor
The house shows well, you have equity, and the start date is far enough out to allow showings and a financed buyer.
Usually the strongest price. Needs time for preparation, showings, appraisal, inspection repairs, and buyer financing, plus commissions. Harder to manage once you have physically left.
Sell directly to a cash buyer
The date is firm, the house needs work, or you want it settled before you go.
No repairs, showings, or realtor commissions, and the closing date can be set around your move. The offer accounts for condition and resale, so it will differ from an open-market list price.
Rent it out
The numbers work after a management fee and you actually want to own a rental.
You become a long-distance landlord. Budget for management, vacancy, repairs, a landlord policy, and a different tax position when you sell later.
Leave it empty and wait
Rarely the plan, often what happens by default.
You keep paying the loan, taxes, insurance, and utilities, and the vacancy clause may quietly reduce your coverage. Understand the cost before choosing it by accident.
Klamen Real Estate Group is family-owned, a direct St. Louis house buyer and a St. Louis business that has been buying houses in this city since 1926. On a page like this that matters for one practical reason: you are dealing with people who are physically here, in an office you could have driven to before you left, rather than a call center that will need you to explain where Creve Coeur is.
Here is what that looks like in practice. You describe the house, where you are moving, and what the date is. Klamen Group reviews the property as-is, in whatever condition you are leaving it in, and explains what a direct cash offer would look like and what the closing would involve if you are already out of state. If you move forward, closing runs through a title company, and the paperwork can generally be handled remotely so you are not booking a flight back to sign.
Klamen Group is also a licensed Missouri real estate brokerage, so listing is a conversation that can be had honestly. If your house is in good shape and your start date is far enough out, the open market will very likely net you more, and someone will tell you that. And if your employer has a relocation buyout on the table, take it seriously before you take a cash offer. The point of the call is to find out which route fits your dates, not to end up with a contract.
What Working With Klamen Group Looks Like
A local team you reach by phone, not a national lead form that sells your information onward.
An as-is review, so no repairs, cleaning, staging, or public showings before you leave.
A clear number to weigh against listing, renting, or an employer program.
Room to discuss timing, including extra time in the house before or after closing, written into the sale terms.
No obligation to accept, and a straight answer if a different path suits you better.
How a Relocation Sale Works in 3 Steps
Three steps, and you can stop after any of them. If you want the longer version, the cash home buying process covers each stage in more detail.
1
Tell Us the Date and the Address
Share where the house is, what condition it is in, where you are moving, and when you need to be there. If you have already gone, say so, because it changes how the closing gets handled.
What You Get:
A straight read on whether your dates are workable.
2
Review Your As-Is Cash Offer
Klamen Group reviews the house in its current condition and explains the offer, what title needs to confirm, and how a remote closing works if you are signing from out of state.
What You Get:
A clear number to weigh against listing, renting, or an employer program.
3
Pick Your Closing Date, or Walk Away
If you accept, the closing runs through a title company, with documents handled remotely where that works for you, and the date set around your move rather than around a buyer's lender. If you do not, nothing happens.
What You Get:
A decision that is yours, with no obligation.
Honest note on timing: how fast a closing can happen depends on the title search, what the title work turns up, and how quickly documents move if you are signing remotely. Nobody can promise you a closing date before those are known, and you should be skeptical of anyone who does before they have looked at the house.
Set the Closing Date Around Your Move, Not the Other Way Around
No repairs, no showings, and no commissions out of the proceeds. See the number first, then decide.
Sometimes, and it is a genuine option rather than a consolation prize. Renting works best when the house cash-flows after a management fee, you have reserves for repairs and vacancy, and you actually want to own a rental. It works badly when it is a way of avoiding a decision, because from several hundred miles away you are no longer a homeowner keeping a house, you are a landlord running a small business remotely.
Run the arithmetic honestly before the sentiment. Rent has to cover the mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and the management fee, and then leave something for the months with no tenant and the repair you did not plan for. If it only works when everything goes right, it does not work.
What Changes When You Are the Out-of-State Landlord
You will need a property manager, or a trusted local who is genuinely willing to take calls at inconvenient hours.
Tenant screening, Missouri landlord obligations, security deposit handling, and eviction procedure all still apply to you, from wherever you are.
Repairs cost more when you cannot see the problem and are choosing a contractor by phone.
Several St. Louis County municipalities require an occupancy permit and inspection on a tenant change, not just a sale.
Your insurance changes. A homeowners policy is not a landlord policy.
The tax position changes in both directions. There is depreciation while you hold it, and the capital gains picture when you sell later is not the same as selling now.
Plenty of people try it and decide a year or two later that it was not what they wanted. If you want to see what that path looks like from the other end, renting it out and selling later covers selling a rental with tenants in place.
Will You Owe Capital Gains If You Sell Before Two Years?
Not necessarily. The federal exclusion normally requires that you owned and lived in the home for at least two of the five years before the sale. If a work-related move is the reason you are selling early, you may still qualify for a partial exclusion, which is a prorated share of the usual limit rather than nothing at all. Whether you qualify and what it is worth depends on your dates and your numbers, so this is a question for a CPA.
The Section 121 exclusion lets a qualifying homeowner exclude gain on the sale of a main home, up to $250,000 filing single or $500,000 filing jointly. The usual gate is the two-year ownership and use test. Sell before you clear it and people assume the whole exclusion is gone. Often it is not.
The Distance Test Is a Comparison, Not a Radius
This is where most people get it wrong. For a work-related move, the rule compares two distances: how far your old work location was from the home, and how far the new one is. The new work location has to be at least 50 miles farther from the home than the old one was. If your old office was 15 miles away, the new one needs to be at least 65. A new job 55 miles away does not pass, even though the commute itself is over 50 miles, because the increase is only 40.
Two further points decide more cases than people expect. If you had no previous work location at all, the test is simpler: the new job needs to be at least 50 miles from the home. And the qualifying move does not have to be yours. It can be your spouse's, a co-owner's, or that of anyone else who lived in the home as their residence, which is why a household with two working adults should check both sets of dates rather than only the one who is obviously moving.
What Else Moves the Number
Your basis, which includes what you paid plus qualifying improvements, not repairs.
Whether you ever rented the house out, which brings depreciation into the picture.
Missouri's own treatment of the gain on your state return, which is a separate question from the federal one and has been changing.
None of that is a reason to delay a move. It is a reason to spend half an hour with a CPA before you sign, because the answer sometimes changes the timing by a few weeks and that can be worth real money.
The Part Nobody Puts in the Relocation Packet
The logistics are the easy half. The things that actually keep people stuck are the ones that do not appear on any checklist, so here they are, with what can be done about each.
"I start in five weeks and I have not done anything about the house."
This is the normal state of affairs, not a failure of organization. Relocations move faster than housing does and the house is the item everyone postpones because it is the biggest. Pick the two decisions that unlock the rest: whether the house is being sold or kept, and what date you actually have to be gone. Everything else follows from those two, and neither requires you to know what the house is worth yet.
"I do not want to be the person paying two mortgages."
Almost nobody plans for it and a lot of people end up there anyway, because the contingency offer got beaten and the listing took longer than the agent's estimate. Decide in advance how many months of double payments you could absorb without it changing decisions at the other end. If the honest answer is one or two, that shapes the choice more than the price difference between selling now and holding out.
"The house needs work and I do not have time to do it now."
Getting a house ready to list is weeks of work, and it is competing directly with packing, a job transition, and possibly enrolling children in a new school. A traditional buyer with a mortgage needs the house to satisfy an appraiser and an inspector, so the repair list is not optional on that route. An as-is sale prices the condition into the offer instead, which is often less about the money than about removing several weekends from a month that does not have them.
"I have already moved and I am dealing with this from another state."
Then the priority is reducing the number of things that require you to be physically present. A closing can usually be handled remotely. An as-is sale removes showings, repair coordination, and contractor scheduling from your list. What is left is a title company, some documents, and a date. That is a manageable amount of work from anywhere.
Two housing payments at once is the single most expensive thing that can go wrong in a relocation, and it is almost always caused by a timing gap rather than a bad decision. You avoid it by settling the St. Louis house before you commit to housing at the other end, or by accepting a known cost, such as a rental or a bridge loan, in exchange for keeping your options open.
The arithmetic is worth doing on paper before it becomes real. Add up what the St. Louis house costs you every month with nobody in it: the loan, property taxes, homeowners insurance, utilities kept on, lawn or snow service, and any HOA dues. Multiply by the number of months a listing could realistically take in your part of the market, then add the price reduction that usually comes with a house that has sat. That total is the true cost of waiting, and it is normally larger than the gap people are holding out for.
If You Settle It Before You Move
If You Leave It Behind Unsettled
You know your number before you commit to housing at the other end.
You are making decisions about the next house without knowing what this one will bring.
The carrying costs stop at closing, and there is no second payment.
The loan, taxes, insurance, utilities, and upkeep continue for as long as it takes.
Insurance is no longer your problem, because the house is no longer yours.
The vacancy clause may reduce coverage after 30 to 60 days, usually without anyone telling you.
You can make a clean offer on the next house rather than a contingent one.
A contingent offer is the weakest kind, and often costs you the house you wanted.
If You Need a Few Days Between Closing and Leaving
A closing date and a move-out date do not have to be the same day. If you need to stay in the house for a period after closing, or you need the closing to wait until a school term ends, raise it while the terms are still being agreed. It is something that can be discussed and written into the sale terms rather than assumed, and it is much easier to arrange before a contract than after one.
None of this means selling before you go is automatically right. If your start date is months out, the house shows well, and you have an employer program or the patience for a listing, waiting will usually net you more. The point is to choose it deliberately rather than arrive there because the calendar ran out.
Where Klamen Group Buys Houses in the St. Louis Area
Klamen Real Estate Group works with homeowners across St. Louis City, St. Louis County, West County, the Lambert Airport corridor, and nearby Missouri communities. A relocation timeline is set by your employer and your start date, not by your zip code, but what the house is worth and how quickly it would sell on the open market do change from one part of the area to the next.
If your city is not on the list, call anyway. The team can tell you quickly whether your property is in the service area, and whether the dates you are working with are realistic.
Why St. Louis Homeowners Call Klamen Group When They Are Moving
A move out of state attracts a lot of attention from companies you did not contact, most of which are not in Missouri. Klamen Group is a St. Louis family real estate business with an office in this city, a history here going back to 1926, and no interest in pushing anyone into a decision they will regret from eight hundred miles away.
Family owned since 1926, a St. Louis family business, not a national brand licensing its name to whoever answers the phone.
A local office at 7508 Delmar Blvd you can visit, and could have visited before you left, rather than a mailbox or an out-of-state call center.
Licensed Missouri brokerage, so the comparison between selling direct and going to market can be an honest one.
Closings handled from out of state, so sellers who have already moved can generally sign remotely without a flight back to Missouri.
Related Situations Klamen Group Can Help With
A move is often not the only thing happening. If one of these is also part of the picture, there is a page for it.
Frequently Asked Questions About Selling a House When Relocating from St. Louis
Can I sell my St. Louis house from another state?
Yes, and it is routine. Mail-away closings, mobile notaries, and a limited power of attorney are all normal ways to handle it. Missouri also authorizes remote online notarization under Missouri's remote notarization statute, where the notary must be physically in Missouri but the signer can be in another state or even abroad. Tell the title company early that you are out of state, because it affects how they prepare the package.
Will my homeowners insurance still cover the house once I move out?
Possibly not in full. Most policies contain a vacancy clause that limits or removes coverage once a home has been vacant for a set number of consecutive days, commonly 30 to 60, and the coverages usually restricted first are vandalism, theft, glass breakage, and water damage. Insurers also treat vacant differently from merely unoccupied. Call your carrier before you leave and get the answer in writing.
Do I owe capital gains if I sell before living in the house two years?
Maybe not. The federal exclusion normally requires two of the last five years of ownership and use, but a work-related move can qualify you for a partial exclusion. The distance test is a comparison: the new work location has to be at least 50 miles farther from the home than the old one was, so if your old office was 15 miles away the new one needs to be at least 65. IRS Publication 523 sets out the rules, and it also covers a separate election that lets members of the Uniformed Services and Foreign Service, intelligence community employees, and Peace Corps employees and volunteers suspend the five-year test period during qualified official extended duty, so ask a CPA about that if you are moving on orders.
Do I need to make repairs or clean the house out before selling?
Not for a cash sale. A cash buyer purchases the house in its current condition, so the condition is priced into the offer rather than becoming a list of jobs competing with your packing. That includes roof, plumbing, electrical, and cosmetic work, and it includes anything you would rather not move.
Does my employer's relocation package affect how I should sell?
It can affect it a great deal, so ask before you do anything. Packages vary and can include closing costs, a loss-on-sale allowance, or a program that purchases the house directly. Some require the house to go through their process, which means a sale you arrange independently first could void a benefit. Get the terms from HR in writing, and if you want a neutral primer on what a home sale involves and what it costs, the CFPB home sale guidelines are a reasonable place to start.
How fast can a sale close if my start date is soon?
It depends on the title search, what the title work turns up, and how quickly documents move if you are signing remotely. Closing runs through a title company, which searches title, handles the settlement, and pays any mortgage payoff and recorded items out of the proceeds in priority order, with the balance going to you. Some closings come together quickly and some cannot beat a particular date. A local buyer can usually tell you in the first conversation whether your timeline is realistic.
Can I stay in the house until my move date?
Usually that can be arranged, and it is worth raising early. A closing date and a possession date do not have to be the same day, and extra time before or after closing can be discussed and written into the sale terms. Do not assume it; ask for it while the terms are still being agreed.
Is there any cost or obligation to get an offer?
No. Requesting an offer is free and it does not commit you to selling. You can review it, compare it against listing, renting, or an employer program, and walk away. More general questions are answered on the cash home sale FAQs page, or you can contact the St. Louis office and ask.
Find Out What Your House Would Sell For Before You Go
You do not need the movers booked, the repairs done, or the family conversation finished before you make a phone call. Klamen Real Estate Group can look at the house as it is today, explain what a direct cash offer would look like, and tell you honestly whether your dates work.
No obligation, no pressure, and no cost. If listing it, renting it, or using your employer's program would leave you better off, you will hear that too.
