If you are like so many homeowners today, you are not living in your "forever home" right at the moment. Rather, the home you currently reside in is a stepping stone to get you just that much closer to your dream house.
It is likely that you are always keeping one eye on your home and the other eye on the housing market, trying to figure out when the time is ripe to sell and move to the next stepping stone home on your list. Here's how to know for sure when it is a good time to sell your home.
When your current home is no longer a good fit for your needs.
Stepping stone homes are bought for a specific reason at a specific time in life. Maybe you move because you are expecting a baby and you need more room. Conversely, maybe your "baby" just went off to college and suddenly your formerly cozy home feels like an echoing cavern. Perhaps you just got a job on the other side of town and the commute is killing you, or now you work from home and you discover you hate your neighborhood. Regardless of why, when your home no longer works for your situation in life, this is a clear sign it is a good time to think about selling.
Related: 5 Signs it’s Time to List Your Home
When the market favors the seller.
If there is one thing you can count on the real estate market to reliably deliver, it is shifting trends. Some years, it will be a buyer's market and in other years, it will be a seller's market. If you've been feeling like a move might be welcome and the real estate market just happens to be favoring sellers at the moment, you might as well throw your house in the ring and see what you reel in!
Your mortgage is paid.
Once your mortgage is paid off in full, every dollar you earn over what you paid for it is pure profit. Very few people in this country today get to enjoy the great feeling of being debt free, but if you sell your home after it is paid off and pocket the profits, you can be one of them.
Your current interest rate is high.
Right now, interest rates on mortgage loans are at historic lows. If you are currently carrying a mortgage on a home that has a high interest rate attached (and especially if even a refinance won't fix this adequately) then you can know for sure that now is a good time to sell.
At this point in time, real estate is scarce and homes are in demand. Interest rates are low and the market is strong overall. Whether you choose to sell and just rent for awhile or you decide to turn around and buy another home at a low interest rate, it is a win-win to sell and get out of that higher rate.
Every single day, homeowners become former homeowners for all kinds of different reasons. There are no invalid reasons to sell your home; there are only the reasons why now is the right time for you.
Seattle is currently a seller’s market. But I question the logic of Selling into this market – and so do many potential sellers. They receive great money upon sale but shortly become Buyers and must suffer the same multi-offer environment as Buyers that they benefited from as Sellers.
Many can not Buy first then sell or rent out the old place. Most are not planning on moving to calmer markets. It’s tough!