Cindy,

You are correct! The move up buyer is the best client right now to find as buyers. However, we come across the same situation, those homeowners may have taken their equity out and now have no more money to put down on the new house thus wanting more money out of their house than it can give to them.

However, I agree with you that those are the best buyers right now. When I come across one with plenty of equity to pay me and have a check at closing, I always tell them to think of their current home as "sunk cost" (accounting term meaning a cost that can't be recovered) and negotiate a much better price on the new purchase.

The ones that agree with me have gotten great deals on their new home but some of them are still dreaming.........

Yes. That is great. Stage 2.

One of the problems with upside down home sellers is that it usually winds up with the agent being beat down on the commission.

Mortgaged to the hilt is a red flag for me. I'd rather move along. Yes, find someone with equity, then educate. Very good.

In my MLS, I can find homes that have sold BEFORE a specified date, thus providing me with a pretty good list of homes that have been lived in for 4+ years or more.  There will be homes in the list that may not be what you need, i.e. the home may be currently listed, but there won't be many.

Look at your county's tax record search functions to see if you can sort a search based on closing dates.  Maybe?