The flip side of the question “should I buy now?” is: “should I sell now?”
In the previous article titled Should I Buy now? the question was broken down into 3 parts to identify the definition behind each word in the question. The question “should I sell now?” might be a bit more straightforward.
Before diving into the question, consider this: people believe that their home will keep rising in value the longer they own it. I should hope so. With few exceptions, you can make more money on the value of your property if you wait 5 more years before you sell. Imagine what you can make after 10 years and so on. If you maintain the home, invest in it, and keep the home current, yes, the property will continue to appreciate. So why should you sell at all? If you can afford to live in your home, pay the expenses, and it is safe for you and your family to live in, don’t sell. Refinance the home. Renovate. Make some upgrades, fix those small nagging things, and enjoy. With that, I’m now out of a job!
I think you can appreciate the irony in this. Selling is a choice, a want. Either a lifestyle change, a change in your income or financial situation, or you have simply outgrown the home and want to upgrade. Maybe even downsizing as the kids move out and the needs change. The decision you make on whether to sell is based on your personal needs, not the market. If you believe you can sell high, consider you will be buying high. Thus, those profit margins would be negated by market conditions.
Back to the question of should I sell now?
When considering now for the seller, it is typically going to be more advantageous. The negative points for a buyer are the positive points for the seller. Low inventory, high prices, and bidding wars. Now is the best time to sell. The now was also great in 2019, 2018 and 2017 and so on…are you starting to get my drift? It is always a good time to sell. Having good information to make an informed decision will always mean right now is the absolute best time to sell. There is a buyer for every house at every price point in every market condition. So, if the best market conditions are right now, then the answer is yes, now is the best time to sell.
Also consider this: when asking the question, should I sell now? when I referred to the now, I referenced the current market conditions. I believe the now for a seller should focus on the seller’s lifestyle and wants as well. Is now a good time in your life to sell? Maybe ask a different question entirely, Am I ready to sell now?
The three basic human needs are food, shelter, and clothing – thank you to my grade 10 History teacher, Mr. Hillman, for that. Once you have acquired shelter, then selling that shelter for another one, is a want, not a need. A luxury, a choice, a privilege. As this is not grade 10 history class nor a University Poli-Sci 201 introduction to Philosophy, lets talk about real estate.
Why should I sell?
Selling your home, a home you have lived in for a few years, or the family home where your children have grown up, is never easy. We sell our homes to get access to the equity tied up in it. We sell our homes to get more space and we even sell our homes to get rid of problems.
Equity is the difference between the sale price and the remaining balance on the mortgage. When you refinance your home, you have access to a maximum of 80 percent of the property value that was established by the bank. When you sell you have access to 100 percent of the market value established by the buyers, and in todays market, the price can be lucrative and more than expected. That is the first reason to get your money out.
The second reason you should sell your home is to buy a larger home with more space. Space is not limited to square footage. Space can be a backyard, space can be an additional bedroom, space can be a 2-storey home from a 1 floor bungalow and lastly, my personal favorite, a garage. The past year has showed us that the home is now, an office, a gym, a classroom, a school, a playground, a business centre, and vacation spot. For a number of years there has been somewhat of an exodus from our major city centers to the suburbs and more rural neighborhoods looking for more space.
The third reason you should sell your home is to get out of a bad situation. It has happened where a property owner has inherited problems with the home. Unforeseen expenses, high maintenance, expensive repair costs, and unreversible structural issues can be too much to handle and can cost too much to fix. A sale is the only reasonable solution.
These of course are not the only reasons why you should sell your home. However, selling unlike buying, is an emotional decision, your home is more than bricks and mortar. As your needs change, the needs of your home change with you. As your finances change, then your expenses change with it. We all want to find our forever home, our dream home, or fortress of solitude. It may take a few sales to move up to that, either way, and for whatever your reasons are, selling your home is never easy but can absolutely change your life.
Richard Sholzberg