Last Month we discussed the reasons RIGHT now is a great time to buy a home. This month, we will approach the same topic from the perspective of a seller.

1) Tremendous Equity
With the market conditions of the past several years, your home has appreciated rapidly. If you bought 3 or more years ago, you could easily have appreciated 25+%. This makes upgrading your home much much easier. Bonus—smaller homes have appreciated more/faster than larger ones so the move-up is easier than a lateral or move down.

2) Ability to get the best deal with the least headache
Everyone keeps saying we have a shortage of houses. What we actually have is an abundance of demand. This has buyers competing for your home. When they compete, you win. We are seeing appraisals and inspections (again, especially on first time buyer type homes). waived or severely limited. We are seeing larger amounts of cash being used (takes away the uncertainty of financing). We are seeing seller occupancy after closing.

3) Rentals are available —temporary solution buys time
The number one hesitation right now is “what if I can’t find a place?” Legitimate question!! We have seen tremendous growth in the rental market and with that, there are more options for shorter term lease than ever before. This makes it easier to sell, move somewhere while you look and not have to have a home sale contingency.

4) Construction costs are a wildcard right now
Lumber prices are up, labor prices are up. It is more expensive now than ever before to build something. That something might be a new home or it might be an addition on your home. Because of these factors, prices on existing homes keep going up and demand keeps going up. Some builders aren’t even doing presales—makes the existing home even more attractive. If you’ve outgrown your space, it likely makes more financial sense to sell and buy a bigger home than it does to add on.

5) Volatility is the name of the game
Take advantage of the volatility. Appraisers are more generous because they know the state of the market. Rates are low but are rising. If they hit a certain point—and we aren’t sure what that point is, I think mid 5s—the market will stall a bit. This is the time when the frenzy has started because of a small bump. Great opportunity.