Vital facts you must know before that ‘For Sale’ sign goes on your home

It’s a good time to be a home seller – homes are selling fast and for a premium – but that doesn’t mean you can jump into the market ill-prepared. Knowing what to expect can position you to make the most of this seller’s market.

About one in six (17 per cent) homeowners in the US plan on selling their home in the next 18 months, according to a new Nerd-Wallet survey conducted by The Harris Poll among 2,127 homeowners. Those listings will be a welcome sight to buyers currently competing for a limited number of homes commanding top dollar.

The March survey found that this current market is playing a role in many of these home sellers’ motivations. In fact, 45 per cent of those planning to sell in the next 18 months say recent changes to the housing market, including higher asking prices, have spurred them to sell earlier than initially planned. If you are among the homeowners preparing to be on the favoured side of this strong seller’s market, here’s what you need to know.

In addition to cleaning your house for showings, preparing to sell your home often means doing minor (or major) repairs and upgrades. But homebuyers are stalking real estate listings and jumping on those that even get close to checking all the boxes, so sellers are likely to save some money by limiting or doing without expensive projects altogether.

More than four in five (81 per cent) homeowners planning to sell in the next 18 months say they plan to spend money on major repairs or renovations to make their home more appealing to potential buyers before selling, typically expecting to spend $2,000. But 17 per cent of those planning to sell in the next 18 months who will spend money on repairs and renovations say they will spend $15,000 or more.

“You really can get away without doing renovations and minor repairs,” said Holden Lewis, a mortgages expert with Nerd-Wallet. “Unless the house has a major problem like a leaky roof, you’re probably better off selling as is. Make it a priority to declutter and depersonalise the home so it’s easy for buyers to imagine themselves living there. The buyers can fix it up and renovate it on their own schedule.”

If you list your home in this market, there is little question of the outcome. Barring any significant defaults or dramatic overpricing, you will sell your home. It will happen quickly and you could receive many offers over listing price.

Nearly half (45 per cent) of homeowners planning to sell in the next 18 months said recent changes to the housing market have spurred them to sell earlier than initially planned, according to the survey. Single-family homes are in high demand, so selling now means you will sell faster and for a higher price than you would under other conditions.

Existing homes are only on the market for an average of 20 days, according to the most recent data from the US National Association of Realtors. So be prepared to sell the moment you hang up that “For Sale” sign. Try to have your next home already lined up, but that may be easier said than done.

The very things that make it a good time to sell make it a tough time to buy a house. Only 10 per cent of those planning to sell in the next 18 months said one of their primary motivations for selling is that they no longer want to be a homeowner, according to the survey. For the rest of these sellers, entering the crowded pool of homebuyers will present challenges.

Whether it’s the location – such as moving closer to family, outside the city or for a new job – or the home features, every item on your list of musthaves will make finding your next home a greater challenge.

“The trickiest part of navigating today’s market is finding a home to replace the one you’re selling,” Mr Lewis said.

“You can make the buyer’s purchase contingent on your finding suitable housing. In other words, you can make your buyer wait. Normally, buyers are reluctant to accept that condition, but we’re in a seller’s market and sellers make the rules.”

Homebuyers are stalking real estate listings and jumping on those that even get close to checking all the boxes