They say home is where the heart is. And in many cases, this is true. But sometimes you just want to sell your house and be done with it. In this article, we’ll discuss several of the top reasons you should consider selling your house and closing this current chapter in your life.
6 Reasons to Sell
The average person moves 11 or 12 times in their life. In other words, it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to continue to live in the home you’re currently in for the rest of your life. There will come a time when you need to sell and move on. The question is, when is the time right?
Here are several situations where it makes sense to sell:
1. Growing Family
Families grow. Spaces do not. If you bought a house when it was just you and your spouse, but you now have three kids, two dogs, and all of the stuff that comes with having three kids and two dogs…well, you’re going to need some more space.
The same can be said for a shrinking family. If you bought a house when you had five children living at home, but you’re now empty-nesters, you probably don’t need all of that square footage. Selling the house and downsizing into something more manageable can reduce your monthly costs and help accelerate your pursuit of retirement.
2. High Stress
Sometimes a house is just stressful. This is often the case with large homes, old homes, or properties with lots of acreage and landscaping.
If you find that much of your time is being spent fixing or maintaining things (and you don’t enjoy doing either), selling is a logical choice. It can provide instantaneous relief from stress and give you some freedom to find a property that’s less resource-intensive.
3. Changing Jobs
You might love your house, but factors outside of your control are compelling you to move. A common example is a job change. Here are some examples:
- You were given a promotion and are being forced to relocate to a different branch that is no longer near your current home.
- Your employer is changing offices, which means your commute will now be 45 minutes (instead of 10 minutes).
- You’ve recently been forced to take a lower-paying job and can no longer continue to afford the home you’re currently in.
Selling your house in order to accommodate a job change isn’t always fun, but it can be necessary. Make sure you’re disciplined enough to know when to move on.
4. Nearing Retirement
As you near retirement, it’s important that you really get your finances in order and make wise decisions that position you well for the next 20 to 30 years. For some people, selling a home makes sense.
Selling your home in the years leading up to retirement can make sense for several reasons. First off, it may allow you to access a large amount of cash to fund investments or ongoing personal expenses. Secondly, you may no longer want or need to own a home. Renting could provide a less stressful and more cost-effective option. Thirdly, not owning a home means less to tie you down (making travel, visiting grandkids, and other desires more realistic).
5. Possibility of Foreclosure
Are you having financial difficulties that are making paying your monthly mortgage difficult or impossible? Rather than waiting for foreclosure to wreck your credit and put you in an even more challenging situation, you can go ahead and sell your house. This may allow you to move on completely and find a fresh start.
6. Need Quick Cash
Life happens. Sometimes you need quick cash more than you need to own a house. This cash can be used for things like paying down debt, paying for a medical procedure, starting a new business, funding retirement, paying for college, or any number of other things.
How to Sell Your House
It might be time to sell, but how do you do it? In other words, what’s the best approach? The answer – which you may not like – is that it depends. The way we see it, there are a couple of options.
Option 1: If you have plenty of time, don’t need the money right now, and want to test out the competitive marketplace, you can list your house the traditional way. This involves hiring a real estate agent, running a competitive analysis of the market, setting a list price, and fielding offers.
This option is great if you want the flexibility to move at a slower pace. It’s also the best way to extract maximum value at resale. However, there are some challenges associated with this method. For example, you’ll probably need to fix a few things prior to listing. You’ll also have to deal with inspections and appraisals. Plus, there’s a good chance that the eventual buyer will be financing the property, which introduces additional layers of complexity.
Option 2: Sell your house to a quick cash buyer. A cash buyer is an individual or company that makes an offer (usually sight unseen) and buys the house with cash in as little as a week.
The benefit of working with a cash buyer is that there are typically no contingencies. This means you don’t have to deal with inspections, appraisals, financing, and all of the other problematic issues that make deals fall through. Plus, with no fees, commissions, and closing costs, you get to keep more money in your pocket.
Get a Quick Cash Offer From Light Street
While you can certainly list your house the traditional way and wait for the right offer to come along, remember that there’s time, stress, and resources involved in this approach. By getting a quick cash offer from Light Street, you don’t have to worry about any of these things.
Our process is as easy as 1-2-3. Just provide us with a few details and we’ll send you a no-obligation offer in as little as 24 hours. If you agree to the terms, we’ll sign a contract and you’ll have cash in hand within a few days.