Deciding To Sell
You may feel like the decision to sell your home isn’t up to you. A PCS move or change of a job often locks us into the selling mindset. Before you make an automatic decision let’s take a look at the factors you should consider.
Why do I want to sell?
Often times people confuse surface level reasons for base motives. A simple way to determine your true motivation is to ask yourself 3-Why’s:
“Why do I need to sell my home? Because I have to move out of town”
“Why do I feel like moving out of town requires me to sell my home? Because I want to purchase a new home when I move.”
“Why must I sell my current home to purchase a new home? Because I can’t afford the payments and maintenance on two houses.”
Once you’ve determined your true motives it becomes a lot easier to explore the options available to you. We find that some of the more common overarching motives for selling are:
- Lifestyle Changes
- New Opportunities
- Financial Reasons
Whatever your motives are it helps to have them defined, as they will often influence how you make decisions on other important questions.
When should I sell?
Almost all real estate markets operate in cycles that can be either advantageous or disadvantageous to sellers. If your motives allow for a flexible timeline you should definitely take advantage of these cycles. However, if your motives constrain your options you should look for ways to mitigate effects of selling during disadvantageous periods-we have experience helping with this.
What are the current market conditions?
Understanding the current local market is important as it will give you information the will affect your sales strategy and transition planning. Information like:
- Average Days on Market
- Pricing Information
- Popular Property Features
- Community Amenities Buyers Value
- Competing Properties
- Market Norms for Transaction Terms
How can I optimize my financial situation?
For many people selling or buying a home is the largest financial transaction you will ever make involving hundreds of thousands of dollars. It definitely makes sense to think about the short term and long term impacts of this transaction. Things to consider include:
- Estimated Proceeds
- Timing of Availability of Funds
- Tax Consequences
- Estate Planning Concerns