5 Reasons You Should Consider Selling Now

The Real Story…

News and commentary about the real estate market and related topics.

Dave Parrish, ABR®, CSP, GRI, ePRO®,REALTOR ®, RE/MAX MarketPlace

The opinions expressed here are my own and don’t necessarily represent those of RE/MAX International.

5 Reasons You Should Consider Selling Now

The decision to sell right now has been a difficult one for many. Seems everyone is waiting on the bottom… Waiting on a return of the housing market. The truth of the matter is that while we may well be bumping along the bottom of the market now, we are still a long way away from the recovery of the market and we will see further declines in housing prices, as inventory levels continue to rise. As you have read here before, I don’t believe that we will see a true stabilization of the market before 2016 at the earliest… and it could be even longer perhaps 2020. So if you plan on moving anytime in 2011 or perhaps even the next couple of years, you may want to strongly consider selling your house now rather than waiting. Here are five reasons why:

1. Increased Buyer Activity…

There is currently an increase in the number of buyers attending open houses and searching online for a home. This surge dramatically increases the exposure for your house. The best chance of getting quality offers (perhaps even multiple offers) is RIGHT NOW!

2. Distressed Property Sales will continue to increase for the near term.

The good news is that the number of people paying their mortgage on time is increasing. This will lead to fewer new distressed property listings once the current backlog is put on the market. The not-so-good news is that there is still a large inventory of existing foreclosures and short sales that will still be coming to market.

The Wall Street Journal:

Why It’s Time to Buy

“Despite all the gloom, there are growing indications that it is a good time to buy… The long-term benefits of home ownership remain very much intact. For now, at least, you can deduct the mortgage interest on your taxes—a big perk for people in higher tax brackets. You get to paint your walls any color you wish, without having to clear it with a landlord. And assuming you can buy a home for about the same price as you can rent one, buying will give you the ability one day to live rent-free. Come retirement time, a paid-off mortgage means your monthly expenses are significantly reduced, and you have a chunk of equity to play with.”

LPS (Lender Processing Services) reported in their latest Mortgage Monitor that:

• There are still twice as many loans going 90+ days delinquent as are starting foreclosure (pointing to a growing back log – future foreclosures).
• There are almost three times more foreclosure starts as there are foreclosure sales (indicating a still growing inventory of foreclosures).
• Distressed property inventory levels are almost 45 times the rate of monthly foreclosure sales (current sales levels are unable to absorb the current level of foreclosures and short-sales).

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