8 Reasons Why it might make sense to sell your home right now, even though it wasn’t initially in the plan.

8 Reasons Why it might make sense to sell your home right now, even though it wasn’t initially in the plan.

1. 27.7% – April 2020- April 2021 Average Increase
   Prices typically don’t go up 27.7%  a year. But they did for the average single-family home in Palm Beach County.  If anyone told you your home value would be up 25% from what it was a year ago, would you have believed them?  We don’t have the excess investor inventory and fraudulent mortgage market that we did in 2005……but 27.7???

2. Interest rates are low

Once interest rates rise, it’s going to be hard for homeowners in homes with low rates to want to move.  Some today have rates in the 2%’s.  If inflation pushes rates up to 4-6% in future years, lots of today’s homeowners aren’t going to want to move.

3. Stage – Market – Create Auction Atmosphere and add 15-35%

Some Sellers are giving their homes away by shortcutting all the traditional selling steps because homes are selling so quickly. SLOW IT DOWN.  Go back to basics. This market is the opposite. If you do everything right, stage properly, market aggressively, there is a fortune to be made.

Hyper-extreme low inventory is causing an extra 15-35% bump in prices on top of 25% appreciation in our market in particular situations.

This is fairly new.  We took a home that without staging, was probably a $799k – $825 sale off market.  We brought in a stager and spent $30—40k.  Decided to put it on at $899k.  We then went all out in marketing with drones, night phots, full VR and ads bringing 10+ Buyers and creating a bidding war atmosphere.  Got a $900 cash offer. Then a $950. Then a 951k.  Then the $900k offer bumped it up to $1,30m.  Then did an open house $1,050,000. That’s 35% more by marketing properly.  *** This 15-35% bump on top of the 27.7% appreciation in our market is occurring if inventory is around a ½% in a community and a home is staged properly or shows like a model.  This bump and some of the already appreciated prices will go away if the market were to go to 1%.

4. Irving’s – Pent up Sellers

There are lots of “Irving’s” out there.  Irving lost his wife a year ago after 50+ years. Irving was ready to sell 6 months ago but the pandemic hit.  Now, Irving is ready to move on.  There are lots of Irving’s out there that will increase supply.

5. Pent up building = Increased Supply in 2022

Some builders have stopped building to catch up.  What this means is further pressure on the supply of resales. A year from now, the building will resume plus all the added projects that are in the works.

6. Trading Down Savings

If you sell a home for a million and made an extra 25%, you pocket $250,000.  If you downsize to a $500,000 that also appreciated 25%, it costs you $125,000.  Thus a $125,000 savings.

7. Moving from 1 region or 1 type of home to another.

Our market in the Northern Palm Beaches of Florida has appreciated way more than say Buffalo. In Buffalo, you have high taxes, nippy weather, and ice scraping exercises but the appreciation will be less and bigger savings.  Also, within markets there are differences. Our condo market hasn’t appreciated at the same rate as the single-family home market.  Taking advantage of those variances can pocket you some savings.

8. Ugly Homes

In a downturn market, homes that are not updated, have outdated floor plans, or backup to a noisy road will depreciate at a much greater rate and take longer to sell than updated homes in prime spots. Now, they are moving fast.  Take advantage of it if you are on the fence.

Jeff Lichtenstein is owner and broker of Echo Fine Properties, a luxury real estate brokerage selling real estate in Jupiter  and homes in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has 20 years of real estate experience, has closed over a 1,000 transactions, and manages over 50 agents in a non-traditional model of real estate that mimics a traditional business model.  Some publications he has been quoted in.

Feel free to ask him a question directly at jeff@EchoFineProperties.com.