Deciding If Now is the Time to Sell Your Home

Are you getting ready to sell your home? If so, you might be concerned about whether or not you really own the home that you are selling. After all, if you owe money, the bank still owns an interest in the home. Nonetheless, though you still owe money, the home is yours to sell and to do as you please with it. At the same time, you will still owe the money to the bank. Therefore, you need to take that under consideration when selling your home.

Deciding Your Selling Price

Obviously, the selling price of your home is going to be largely dependent upon its appraised value. After all, no one is going to pay you more than what the home is worth – and no bank is going to approve a loan that is for more than the home’s value. Therefore, the first step you need to take in order to determine the selling price of your home is to have it appraised.

Once your home has been appraised, you need to compare the appraised value of your home to the amount that you still owe on the property. If the appraised value is less than what you owe, selling the home now might be a mistake. After all, you will be without a home, but you will still have to pay on your mortgage. If you owe $75,000 and the home is valued at $50,000, for example, you will still have to pay the remaining $25,000 balance after you sell your home.

Making Money from Your Home

If you have had your home for a few years or so, its value will likely be more than what you paid for the home in the first place. If you did not care for the home properly or if your neighborhood has really gone downhill, however, the value of your home may actually go down.

If the value of your home has gone up, you might think that you are making a profit when you sell your home. While this may be true, there are several things you need to keep in mind when determining whether or not you have really made a profit. For example, if you had to spend a lot of money in order to renovate the home or in order to increase its value, the money you spent on these renovations needs to be subtracted from the selling price when determining your profit.

There are other expenses associated with owning and selling a home as well. Obviously, you will have had to pay property taxes on the home while you owned it. In addition, if you still owe taxes on the property, you will have to pay those expenses before you can sell the home. By selling your home on your own, you can avoid having to pay a commission to a Realtor. Nonetheless, you might still want to hire an attorney to draw up the papers in order to make certain the sell is in proper legal order.

So, before you decide to sell your home, make certain you will gain money rather than lose money if at all possible. That way, you will have the cash available for your new home, whether you decide to rent or to own.


About the Author:
Shannon Kietzman is a well known author and trusted resource. Shannon regularly writes for www.ByOwnerMLS.com, a For Sale By Owner MLS service, the leading real estate search engine of homes for sale by owner (FSBO). For more information, please visit www.byownermls.com.