6 Good Reasons to Consider Selling Your House

Humans are risk averse and usually avoid making big, sweeping changes. Because of that, it’s not uncommon for homeowners to stick with a house even if selling it makes much more sense. Especially if that house is already fully paid up and has been their home for decades. However, there are often good reasons to consider selling a house, even if you don’t strictly speak need to. Here are some things you should consider when deciding whether or not you should sell your home.

1 – Uptick in housing prices

Sometimes the housing market is just spending a few months being unusually favorable for sellers. And if you are closely monitoring the estimated value of your home, it can be a good idea to capitalize on those upticks. For example, you may be able to sell while the market is warm, spend a few months living off rent, buy a bigger house after the market cools down, and still make a profit in the process. Or you can use it as an opportunity to downsize.

2 – Change in size requirements

A good reason to sell the house is when the size of the house isn’t a good match for your family anymore. Maybe you need more space to accommodate growing kids, or you need less space because the kids have left for college. Either way, while it can be tempting to stay in the same house your family is familiar with, a mismatch between house size and family needs can cause various problems.

This is especially true for houses that are too big. It’s not uncommon for couples to try to stay in the same house after the kids leave the nest, only to figure out that maintaining an unnecessarily large house is too much of a hassle. And it only becomes more difficult as you grow older.

3 – The neighborhood isn’t the same

Neighborhoods tend to change as the years go by, and that change isn’t always for the best. Problems such as dirty streets, loud neighbors, graffitied walls, and a concerning number of abandoned cars or houses can all pile up to make a neighborhood much less pleasant to live in. Especially if the local homeowner’s association is either not helping or actively making things worse.

Neighborhood troubles are a particularly strong reason to sell a house as soon as possible. The decay of the local community will invariably reduce the sale value of the home. Luckily there are ways to sell houses fast, as this guide on trusted home buyers in Chattanooga shows.

4 – You want to reduce your commute

Once a commute becomes a habit, it’s easy to accept it as a fact of life, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Moving closer to your workplace — even if it means moving into an apartment — can save you a lot of time and money over the years. It may even allow you to use the car less, trading it for walking or biking to work every day.

And the move doesn’t have to be closer strictly; you can just move to an area with a more direct route to your workplace, making driving through and from easier. Or moving to a spot that makes it easier to get to work through public transportation.

5 – The house is getting old

There is a reason why newer houses are often sold for more. However, looking after and maintaining an older house can be quite a lot of work. Even if you can easily afford the repairs, dealing with plumbing, electrical, and insulation problems several times a year can be an unnecessary source of frustration.

Because of that, it often makes sense to sell an older house in exchange for a new one, even if the trade requires taking on a new mortgage or going for a smaller house. Especially since home insurance is more expensive for older houses. Newer homes are usually safer and more energy-efficient.

Newer homes also hold their value for longer. And while the land an old home occupies will probably keep increasing in value, the house itself will only be worthless and less as the years go by.

6 – You want better amenities

While some amenities are easy to renovate or install, others can be quite a hassle to fit into an existing home. So it can often be easier to upgrade into a house that already has those amenities. Or move into a building or gated community that offers those amenities in shared areas for residents.