Why I believe right now is a great time to sell your home

Right now is a great time to sell your current home if you are also ready and willing to move up to that bigger and better home you have been wanting. The reason I say this is that the market is very slow right now and properties stay on the market longer and receive fewer offers. Surely you are asking yourself “How can this be good for me if I am selling my home?” Let me explain. Right now prices are flat or declining. This will surely result in a sales price much lower than you could have gotten a few months ago. It will also take much longer to sell your home. But on the other side of the transaction you will be buying your new home for a corresponding percentage less and perhaps more if you play your cards right. Assuming you will be buying a more expensive home, you will be saving more money on the buy side than you will be losing on the sell side. Let’s look at a possible scenario: your current home would have sold for $1.2 just a few months ago but today you might only be able to get $1.0. On paper it is quite clear you just lost $200,000. Let’s also assume you are planning to upgrade to a home in the $2.0m range. That same home would have sold for perhaps $2.4 just a few months ago so you are picking up $200k in net equity on the pair of transactions.

There are two more huge advantages to moving up in a down or sideways market. 1) The available inventory of homes is generally higher so you will have many more choices and perhaps find a bargain. The other biggie is the fact you will not get into a bidding war and emotionally pay too much for a home. In the end, the whole process will take longer than in a hot market but both transactions will be more orderly and well thought out. This is why I like this type of market best for moving up.


Strategies for moving up in today’s market.
Ideally you would be able to buy now and sell later. Right now we are at a market high as far as fear goes. You may see average prices move lower but your ability to pick up a great deal will not be any better than it is right now. With each passing day we distance ourselves mentally from the financial turmoil which has gripped the world. At some point buyers and sellers will resume their normal buying and selling patterns which completely preclude the possibility of picking up a smoking deal.

How many of you have recently sold your home? What are your thoughts on this?

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