The Key to Selling Your Home in 2022

Are you planning to sell your home in the next year? We have watched the housing market boom in the past six months and many homeowners are looking to list their property. However, you may be wondering if now is the right time, or what the best way to list your home is in 2022. Before you start stressing about realtors and interest rates, here’s some things to consider while trying to sell your home in a seller’s market.

Once you’ve decided that you would like to sell your home, the first step you should take is following the housing market predictions 2022. Knowing when to list your house can be tricky and depends on a variety of factors. Let’s look at the Florida housing market for example. Over the past couple years, we have watched the housing market in Florida gain a demand that outweighs the supply. It is no secret that the real estate market is hot in Florida right now, but if you were planning to sell a home in Florida in the next couple years, here are a few factors that will determine if you should sell now or later.

· How many people are moving to your area?

Essentially, you need to know what the demand is for housing in the area where you want to sell. In Florida, for example, the state has averaged 770 domestic migrants per day. This number has recently increased to almost 1,000 per day. Look into the number of domestic migrants coming into your state per day and compare how this has changed and is expected to change during the period of time you are looking to sell your home. It is also important to factor in the fixed things that won’t fluctuate like the presence of a state income tax, weather conditions and livability. Some areas have inherently more desirable traits that buyers will pay more for. Although these things are not in your control, they do factor in so keep them in mind.

· What are the interest rates?

Interest rates can fluctuate for several reasons. In recent years the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout that has resulted from it have kept interest rates lower. It is expected that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low though at least 2023. This leads to buyers having higher purchasing power with interest rates at around only 3%. Low interest rates not only motivate buyers to purchase property but will also be beneficial if you are planning to purchase new property once your home is sold.

· Will demand continue to outpace supply?

Property demand is at an all-time high right now and we are truly in a seller’s market. This happens for a couple reasons, like a new generation entering the housing market for the first time. Additionally existing homeowners are becoming more reluctant to sell knowing that the nature of the market can be competitive. The supply chain issues related to the pandemic also play a factor as there has been a shortage of new construction homes that usually make up some of the supply and demand gaps.

Listing your home

Once you have made the choice to put your home on the market, you’ll need resources to list your home. You may only know of the standard realtor or sell by owner listing methods, but fortunately there are now many different ways to sell my home. Just like about everything else nowadays, there are ways to list, show, and sell your home entirely online. These online services cover listings on your local MLS, Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Redfin, Remax, Homes.com and more and allows you to set up showings through the app or through text message. You can even do live virtual tours with potential buyers through the app. Many online home listings have different pricing tiers which include things like professional photography, paperwork management, custom flyers, offer review and counter offer negotiation, and staging consultations.

The main advantage to using a home listing service is the savings. Realtor commission rates average between 4.5% to 6.5%. For a $250,000 home sale you are looking at over $12,000 in commission that you pay to your realtor. Some of the highest pricing tiers for these online services go up to $2,700 for the sale and as low as $600 for the basic packages. Using an online home lister can end up saving you thousands of dollars in realtor costs without sacrificing the expertise.

What will you pay in taxes?

If you are a first-time seller, you may be wondering if you have to pay taxes on the sale of your home. This will depend on a few factors, however there is a good chance that you may end up paying very little or even nothing in taxes for your home sale. Firstly, taxes will be determined on profit rather than total value of the sale and this will typically cap at $250,000 for singles and $500,000 for married couples that file a joint tax return. Therefore if you are married and you sold your home for less than $500,000 more than you paid for it, then you will owe nothing. It is important to note that the amount of time you have lived in your home will factor in as well. In order for these rules to apply to you, you have to have lived in your home for two of the five years prior to the sale of the home.

If you already owe back taxes or are struggling to manage your money, check out Coast One. Coast One is a full-service tax relief firm composed of expert tax attorneys. Any tax issues can put a tremendous burden on your household and can affect how (or even if) you profit from your home sale. If this is you make sure to speak to a tax advisor before you plan to list your home.

Bonus Tip

An extra tip for anyone who is in the process of selling their home is to hire someone to clean your home for you. Selling a home can be one of the most stressful events in a person’s life and this is not just due to actual moving of their possessions. There are countless amounts of paperwork and people that you will be dealing with on a day-to-day basis and not to mention the stress of trying to purchase a new home while you’re selling your old one. It can be massively helpful to have someone doing tedious things like keeping your home clean. No matter if you are doing in person or virtual showings, your house needs to be kept clean as potential buyers view it. If you are having open houses on a weekly basis, this can get time consuming. Not to mention move out and move in cleaning tasks once your home is sold. This is the one thing that we recommend taking off your plate so you can focus on the important stuff.

Most importantly, try to stay calm during the process. Selling a home is never completely stress free but following some of these tips will help to make the process as seamless as possible.