Is Now a Good Time to Sell My Home?

In deciding whether to sell your home in today’s real estate market, it is important to understand your goals and evaluate whether they can be met by selling your home now.

1. Is your home too small for your family? If so, now may be a good time to sell your home. In a down market, the savings you get from purchasing a larger home in a down market is typically much greater than the money you would lose by selling your smaller home in a down market. In other words, you have nothing to lose by selling your home today!
2. Are you getting married or divorced? A change in marital status is one of the most common reasons for selling a home. If you are getting married, now may be the time to sell your home and upgrade to a larger one. If you are getting divorced, it may make sense to sell your home and downgrade to a smaller one; selling your home may also be necessary to complete the financial division of assets that takes place during a divorce.
3. Is your job being transferred? If your job is being relocated to another office or area, it may be a good time to sell your home. If your commute time is more than 2 hours a day, it can really cut into your quality of life, not to mention your pocketbook. Now may be the time to explore the neighborhoods around your new job location to see whether you would be interested in moving closer to work.
4. Are you retiring? If so, now may be a good time to sell your home and move to a community with amenities that cater to the 55+ crowd. Retirement communities are designed with their residents’ needs in mind and typically include club houses, exercise facilities, transportation to and from doctor’s appointments and grocery stores, golf courses, social events, and overnight trips.
5. Do you have equity in your home that you would like to put to use? If so, now may be a good time to sell your home. Some people would prefer to have their cash on hand to invest or spend now, as opposed to having that money sit in their home. If so, selling your home is one way to get access to that cash now.
6. Do you want to live closer to family? Living closer to family can become more of a priority as parents begin to age and grandchildren are added to the family. The next time you visit your family, you may want to check out nearby neighborhoods to see whether you would consider living there.
7. Do you want to upgrade your home? Sometimes people move to upgrade their neighborhood or upgrade the home itself. If so, the best way to do that is to sell your current home and move into a new one. Although you may need to sacrifice a little on the selling price if you want to sell your home now, you should be able to find a good bargain when you trade places and become the home buyer.

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