Whenever we get involved with real estate, there is always one concern on our minds: Cost. Knowing the price of what we are about to buy or sell is usually the first priority in our minds, and certainly when you bought your house, you were thinking about how much it would cost. However, not many of us consider the cost of selling a house when you’ve only lived in it for a few years. In general practice, there is a 5 year rule to buying a house. If you plan to buy a property, you should plan to stay there for at least 5 years or you could lose money. This is due to closing costs, agent fees, down payments, and home equity playing against you.
On occasion, homeowners may find themselves in a unique situation where they need to sell before they’ve made a return investment on their home — and Sierra Vista is certainly a part of this culture (as we have many military servicemen who need to sell when stationed elsewhere). If you plan on selling your house before you’ve lived in it for at least 5 years, here are some helpful tips to saving money and keeping your bank accounts from being emptied:
Carefully Consider Your Mortgage
If you don’t plan to stay in your house for a longer period, carefully consider the mortgage you choose to buy the house. A lot of times, home buyers pick homes for as much as they can afford, which means you’ll be on the upper end of what you can financially manage. Instead, focus on the lower end of what you can buy and make extra payments towards your house (to pay off a bigger chunk of the principal). The reason you should do this is because in the first few months of buying a house, most of your mortgage payments are going towards the interest on your loan. By choosing a lower priced home, you can make extra payments toward the principal of the loan (i.e. towards the cost of the house).
Think About Renting Your House
If you’ve run the numbers and you’ve already bought a house at your maximum financially capability, consider renting your house out. If you can’t sell for a profit at the moment, finding someone to rent your property for a couple years can help you balance out your costs. However, make sure that you can afford buying a second home. Sierra Vista does have a strong rental market, as many military servicemen get stationed nearby and need a home to live in for a few years (before being re-stationed elsewhere).
Using Perception to Increase Your Home’s Value
Home sales are often dictated by the local market and the current economy. By choosing the right time and the right price, you can easily grab a lot of buyer attention. However, if you want to get the most value from your home, you will need to shape a buyer’s perception of your house. Techniques like home staging and added renovations are just two ways of creating a positive experience for buyers. As they look around and see that the home reflects their lifestyle (and their goals), they’ll be more inclined to make an offer. And if you have a number of buyers making offers, you can easily pick the highest one.
Selling Your Home Quickly
To learn more on how we can help sell your house, schedule a consultation with us or read more on the home selling process with our downloadable seller eBook:
