Over the next several posts on The Cyr Team Blog, we will be focusing on planning your home sale. These articles are intended to provide some education and insight to help you make smart home selling decisions. Whether you are already getting ready to sell your house, on the fence about making a move or haven’t even seriously considered selling, we hope you find these tips helpful in getting you pointed in the right direction.
Defining Your Housing Priorities
Today, we want to focus on defining your priorities as a homeowner. COVID-19 has shaken up the lives of almost everyone in some way or another. For many of us, this pandemic has hit close to home because it has directly impacted our actual living situations. More of us are working from home. People have taken in elderly family members to get them away from nursing homes. Meanwhile, many college students and young professionals moved back in with their folks during the shelter-at-home period, and some have yet to move back out. Even kids who are back in school aren’t sure how long that will last as the learning institutions try to play it as safe as possible. You never know when things might get shut down again if there’s a viral outbreak on campus!
This situation has caused every single one of us to reconsider our priorities when it comes to family, finances and our housing situations in general. Some families need more space—or more appropriate space—and that might prompt a decision to sell their current house and move.
Family Matters
Let’s look at an example. We were working with clients recently who had elderly parents in their 90s. They wanted them to move in and be safer at their home, but their current house wasn’t exactly ideal. There wasn’t enough room. There were too many stairs. It was just not conducive to taking care of their elderly family members. The homeowners’ priorities had changed and it made sense to move to a new place as soon as possible.
They decided to put their own home on the market and look for a new property with a downstairs master suite that would be better suited for their elderly parents. This is where having a home selling and buying plan made a huge difference. They were able to find a new house that met their housing needs. During their home search, they were getting their current home ready for sale. It needed some minor repairs and updates, and then it was professionally staged. Marketing photos were taken and a 3D virtual tour was produced, all while they were still in their other home search.
Ready to Go
By the time they had an accepted offer on a new property, their other home was ready to hit the market. It is such a hot seller’s market right now with incredibly low inventory, historically low mortgage rates and high home prices. They got offers almost immediately and ended up selling quickly above the asking price.
The timing worked out well to sell one home while moving into another, and it’s all because they had a plan. They defined their priorities, evaluated their housing needs and took the necessary steps to make the move go as smoothly as possible.
Other Examples
This is just one scenario that comes to mind. Other homeowners may be in the opposite situation where they have a bigger home than they need. Maybe you are an empty nester. Someone out there really wants and needs your living space, and they are willing to pay top dollar for it. It could be the ideal time to consider your own move. You can sell while the market is red hot and move to a smaller place. You might even decide to move to a new area altogether. Even if you have to rent for a little while during your home search, you can take your time to find a new home while taking advantage of current market conditions for your existing home sale.
Other examples may include relocating for your work, including the increasing abilities to work from home. Maybe you don’t have to live as close to the city or your office anymore. You can find a more affordable house in a rural or suburban area—or even a different state with better taxes—that perfectly suits your needs. As priorities change, so you do your housing needs. Features like home offices, home gyms and private yards are more valuable to homeowners than ever. Your current home may have these features that you don’t need but someone else wants. Or, you may be looking for these things that your house doesn’t have. This is when it’s time to consider a move.
Is it Time to Make Your Move?
If you aren’t sure about selling in this market or you are waiting for the perfect time to sell when the market is at its peak (the exact topic of our next blog article in this series), you may be missing out on the opportune time to make your move. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that things are highly unpredictable. Usually, the only time we recognize we hit the peak of a market is when it’s in the rearview mirror. Sometimes, it’s best to strike while the iron is hot.
The most important thing is to go into your home sale with a plan. Just because the market is hot for sellers and you want to cash out on your property, you are still going to need to know where you are headed next. Whether you rent for awhile as you search and wait for the best opportunity or you are searching while you are preparing your current home for sale, you can get the most out of your housing situation. Just define your priorities and develop a sound home selling plan. Also, it’s a good idea to keep your home clean and fixed up, as if you were ready to sell at any given moment. If you do end up deciding to sell, you will be readier to hit the market sooner than if your house needs some more prep work.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog series, which will talk about timing. We all know that timing is everything in real estate, but it is not the only thing. We’ll focus on when it makes the most sense to sell in certain real-life scenarios.
If you are thinking about putting your home on the market or aren’t sure if you are ready to make your move, contact The Cyr Team to schedule a personal consultation. Sometimes it helps to talk out your situation and get an expert’s opinion. It may not be the ideal time for you to sell, or it may be the perfect time. Let us help you figure out where you want to be and how to get there.