4 Big Incentives for Homeowners to Sell Now - Thursday, May 13, 2021
Ian Walterhouse
Thursday, May 13, 2021
4 Big Incentives for Homeowners to Sell Now
“It’s clear that the historic demand for housing experienced in the second half of last year has carried forward,” Lisa Patel, president of the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. “The supply of listings is not keeping up with demand, which could present an even larger problem once population growth picks up following widespread vaccinations later this year.”
The key to continued success in the residential housing market is for more listings to come on the market. However, many homeowners are concerned that selling their homes could be challenging for several reasons.
Recently, Homes.com released the findings of a survey that identified these concerns, as well as what it will take for homeowners to feel comfortable selling their houses. Here are the four major homeowner concerns and a quick explanation of what’s actually happening in the housing market today.
1. Homeowners don’t know if they’ll be able to secure their next home before selling.
In negotiations, leverage is the power that one side may have to influence the other side while moving closer to their negotiating position. A party’s leverage is based on the ability to award benefits or eliminate costs on the other side.
In today’s market, buyers have compelling reasons to purchase a home now:
To own a home of their own
To buy before prices continue to appreciate
To secure a mortgage at a historically low rate, while they last
These buyer needs give the seller tremendous leverage. Most already realize this leverage enables the homeowner to sell at a good price. However, this leverage may also be used to negotiate time to find their next home. The homeowner could sell their home to the buyer at today’s price, which will enable the purchaser to take advantage of current mortgage rates. In return, the buyer might lease the house back to the seller for a pre-determined length of time while the seller finds a new home or has one built.
This gives the buyer what they want while also giving the seller what they need. It’s a true win-win negotiation.
2. Homeowners don’t know if their current home will sell for the asking price or top market price.
This is the perfect time to maximize profits while selling a house. Statistics indicate that bidding wars are at an all-time high in the Greater Toronto Area.
Whenever there’s a bidding war, the price of the item for sale escalates. TREBB just reported that the average selling price of $1,090,992 was up by 33 per cent compared to April 2020. If a seller is looking for a top-dollar sale, there’s no better time to sell than right now.
3. Homeowners don’t know if they will get an offer without their home requiring work or updates.
Again, leverage is the greatest strength a seller has in this market. Due to the lack of homes for sale, many buyers are more willing to take on home improvement projects themselves in order to get the home they’re after.
If a seller is worried about doing work or updates on their home, they must realize that today’s historically low inventory likely renders these projects less critical to the sale of the house. It may be wise to let future homeowners remodel the bathroom or the kitchen to make design decisions that are best for their specific taste and lifestyle.
4. Homeowners don’t know if they can have a quick closing process.
When speed is important, there are two points sellers should look at:
The time it takes to find a buyer for the home
The time it takes to close the transaction
The most recent statistics show that the average number of days a home is on the market before it sells was 10, whereas the average was 19 days in April 2020 - down 47 per cent. 10 days is fast, and it’s a new record. If you’re looking for a quick closing process, there’s never been a market in which the two-step process (finding a buyer and closing the deal) has taken less time.
Bottom Line
Selling your house can be daunting, especially in a fast-paced market. However, the fact that we’re in such a strong sellers’ market clearly eliminates many common concerns. Let’s connect today so you can learn more about the opportunities for homeowners who are ready to sell. Give me a call to talk about your options ay 416-522-1112.
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