In this post, we’ll cover the 4 big incentives for homeowners to sell now.
The housing market keeps skyrocketing rapidly. The only thing that could take it off course is the lack of houses for sale. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that there are fewer single-family homes for sale this year than last year. The key to continued success in the residential housing market is for more listings to come on the market. However, many homeowners are concerned that selling their homes could be challenging for several reasons.
4 Big Incentives for Homeowners to Sell Now
Recently, Homes.com released the findings of a survey that identified these concerns, as well as what it will take for homeowners to feel comfortable selling their houses. Here are the four major homeowner concerns and a quick explanation of what’s actually happening in the housing market today.
1. Homeowners don’t know if they’ll be able to get their next home before selling.
In negotiations, leverage is the power that one side may have to influence the other side while moving closer to their negotiating position.
Buyers compelling reasons to purchase a home now:
- To own a home of their own, and not have to pay rent
- To buy before prices continue to grow
- To secure a mortgage at a historically low rate, while they last
These buyers’ needs give the seller huge leverage.
Most are probably aware of the fact that this leverage enables the homeowner to sell at a good price, and at great terms.
However, this leverage may also be used to negotiate time to find their next home. The seller can take this leverage and turn it into a win-win situation, for both parties.
The homeowner could sell their home to the buyer at today’s price, which will enable the buyer to take advantage of current mortgage rates.
In return, the buyer might lease the house back to the seller for a pre-determined length of time while the seller finds a new home or has one built.
This gives the buyer what they want while also giving the seller what they need. It’s a true win-win negotiation.
2. Homeowners don’t know if their current home will sell for the asking price or top market price.
This is the perfect time to maximize profits while selling a house and get a bidding war.
NAR just released a study showing that bidding wars are at an all-time high. The study reveals that when comparing the first quarter of last year to the first quarter of this year, the number of offers on homes for sale doubled from an average of 2.4 to 4.8 offers.
Whenever there’s a bidding war, the price of the item for sale escalates.
If a seller is looking for a top-dollar sale, there’s no better time to sell than right now.
3. Homeowners don’t know if they will get an offer without their home requiring work or updates.
Again, leverage is the greatest strength a seller has in this market. Due to the lack of homes for sale, many buyers are more willing to take on home improvement projects themselves in order to get the home they’re after.
If a seller is worried about doing work or updates on their home, they must realize that today’s historically low inventory likely renders these projects less critical to the sale of the house.
4. Homeowners don’t know if they can have a quick closing process.
When speed is important, there are two points sellers should look at:
- The time it takes to find a buyer for the home
- The time it takes to close the transaction
Here are the days the average house is on the market in each state:
Regarding the time it will take to close the transaction, all-cash sales accounted for 23% of all home purchase transactions in March. All-cash sales can usually be closed in thirty days.
If you’re looking for a quick closing process, there’s never been a market in which the two-step process (finding a buyer and closing the deal) has taken less time.
Bottom Line
Selling your house can be daunting, especially in a fast-paced market. However, the fact that we’re in such a strong sellers’ market clearly eliminates many common concerns.
To review, here are the 4 big incentives for homeowners to sell now:
- they don’t know if they’ll be able to secure their next home before selling,
- they don’t know if their current home will sell for the asking price or top market price,
- they don’t know if they will get an offer without their home requiring work or updates,
- they don’t know if they can have a quick closing process.
But, as we explained, right now is an amazing time for selling a house, and you should definitely take advantage of that, even though you probably have some concerns.
Also, check out the best tips to maximize the sale of your house!
