So, you’ve decided to cash in on this seller’s market and you’ve decided that it is time for you to make a move on to bigger and better things.
…But, how fast is your home going to sell? And, what do you do if you sell your home faster than you find a home to buy?
Well, I'm going to answer that for you today my name is Lynea Carver and I am with Choice Gallery Homes. I have had the honor of helping dozens of people throughout King and Pierce County seamlessly sell their home and buy another home simultaneously, and I have a system that I’ve put in place to make this happen for you.
Let me first answer the question of how fast will my home sell? Well, that really depends on whether it's a buyer’s market or a seller’s market. Here in the Pierce County area, we have been seeing a seller’s market for quite some time. That means there are more buyers than there is inventory so if you want a black and white answer of how quickly your home is going to sell, I'm going to tell you what we call the absorption rate or days on market.
The absorption rate is calculated by dividing the average number of sales per month by the current number of active homes per sale. According to Investopedia, it is considered a seller’s market when the absorption rate is greater than 20% and a buyer’s market when the absorption rate is lower than 15%. In the Pierce County area, we are seeing homes sell in about 6 days. We all hear those success stories of homes selling within one day. Here's what selling your home in one day means to me: it means that the marketing really didn't go into the home to get the most money so selling it in one day is highly likely that there was money left on the table, and I can share more of that with you later. On the contrary, if a home took longer than 60 days to sell it is highly likely that it was overpriced. Check out some of my upcoming videos to talk about things to consider when pricing your home.
OK let's answer the second question, what happens if you sell your home faster than you can find a home to buy? After all it is a seller’s market. Homes are selling really fast; we are seeing multiple offers and typically a buyer in today's market does have to write more than one offer in order to get one accepted. Let me give you some considerations to think about when trying to answer this question. Number one, do you have equity in your primary residence, could you take out a home equity loan, could you use that for the down payment on a new home? The second thing to think about is, do you have friends or family that you could stay with in the meantime? I mean it's likely that that wouldn't be a long-term thing. Do you have the funds in the bank to pay for an AirBnB or a hotel for a couple of weeks if that were to happen? Or another option, and personally one of my favorite options, is what we call the rent-back option. The rent back option is when you as a seller tell the new buyer that you will need to stay in your home for a certain amount of time after closing and typically the buyer can come and ask you for a rent or per diem payment for that. A rent back is something that is typically negotiated on the front end of a contract.
All of these considerations are things that I can help you answer more in a one-on-one setting. If you're thinking about selling your home and you want to know how fast it's going to sell and you want to know what to do if you sell before you can find one to buy just click the link below or connect with me on lyneacarver.com and we can put together your customized moving plan. There's no obligation to call me and it's obligation free to get started. Remember whether you're buying a home or selling a home it all starts with a dream. Let's dream together!