It’s a fantastic time to sell your home right now – all the economic indicators that drive the value of property are in your favor.
Buyers are literally fighting over homes thanks to cheap mortgage rates, a sharp downturn in the number of properties on the market and increasing economic confidence as we deliver the Covid vaccine coast to coast.
Prices are up around 10% year-on-year across most categories of property – houses, condos and apartments. Leading industry researcher CoreLogic says we’ve not seen this acceleration of values for nearly 17 years.
The average American homeowner has seen their property rise $26,300 in value in the past 18 months, according to CoreLogic.
Translated into a national number, that means the collective value of residential property in America has increased by an incredible $1.5 trillion.
As an experienced local agent, I know many owners who have done even better than these figures suggest. That’s because they’ve met two of the biggest buyer demands currently by adding a home office or creating a modern kitchen.
Many owners used equity in their mortgage to finance these remodeling projects and made good money from the investments.
But if you want to make the most of this boom, you need to move quickly. Heated markets don’t last forever, and America is not one giant housing market but tens of thousands of micro-markets. If you’d like to understand how our local market is performing, please reach out.
In the meantime, here are five actions you might take before putting your home up for sale.
- Talk to your favorite local agent about the supply of properties coming on to the market in your neighborhood. If they say supply is tight, this is good news for you. Weak supply should mean strong prices and quick sales.
- Find out recent sale prices for homes similar to yours. This way, you’re going to get a sense of your financial position once the deal is done.
- Get advice from your agent on fast and easy home improvements that will boost the value but not delay the time it takes to put your home on the market. I’d be happy to help in this regard.
- Be clear on the location and type of home you want next. Check-out price trends for your desired property and be confident it’s still within reach.
- Have your finances ready. In a hot market, you’ll probably need to move quickly against other prospective buyers.