Julie carrying moving boxes up to our *almost* finished bedroom that we still need to paint!
Despite what many expected during the pandemic, the Pittsburgh real estate market is currently a seller’s market, especially for those looking to sell their homes for around $300,000. These sellers are benefiting from plenty of competition and are even able to raise their prices through the process, with approximately 10% appreciation in 2020 (according to West Penn MLS data).
While that may seem promising, selling your home is a big change and a big commitment. For us, it’s been a full year since we started renovations on our new home and began preparing our old home for sale. It’s been a long journey, and we know as well as anyone how much work moving is! Even now, we have walls to paint and boxes to unpack. As you wrestle with the cost and work involved in selling your home to move to a new one, there’s a lot to consider.
3 Reasons You May Want to Wait to Sell Your Home
The circumstances surrounding your home and the reasons you want to leave it are likely completely unique to you and your family. Still, there are a variety of reasons you may want to hold onto your home a little longer:
1. You don’t have enough home equity. What is home equity? The shortest answer is the amount of money you have in the home after you pay off everything you owe on it. If you bought your home recently with just a few thousand down, you may not get too much out of it after you pay back the bank, and pay any closing fees. Closing fees in Pittsburgh are about 10% after you pay the 2.5% transfer tax, realtor fees, and title costs.
Right now, homes valued between $200,000 - 350,000 are in extremely high demand, and home values have increased beyond our best expectations in the last year. Homes in higher price ranges, especially over $600,000 are seeing less competition and more conservative growth.
We also expect the market could shift quickly from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market as we navigate local and national economic changes. If you’re considering selling your home, make sure you have some flexibility to go down on price if the market dips before you sell.
2. You recently refinanced. Interest rates have plummeted in recent months, and many have taken advantage of this moment by refinancing to lower their monthly payments. If refinancing has given you a little more financial breathing room every month, you may want to hold onto the property a little longer so you don’t miss out on those lower payments. You’ll also need some time to pay back the closing costs and title fees that get rolled into your refinanced loan before you see the financial benefits.
Although you may have a great deal now, it’s possible that you won’t secure a similar deal on a new house. Always do all of your research before committing to searching for a new home.
3. You’re interested in remodeling. Remodeling is an incredibly viable (and oftentimes productive!) alternative to moving. By strategically remodeling your home, you can improve its functionality while increasing its value—something that could ultimately benefit the entire family.
If you’re weighing the pros and cons of conducting a remodel, check out our own remodeling story and learn from our experiences. A remodeling project can be extremely affordable or become prohibitively expensive, so consider every possibility before taking the first step.
Weighing Your Options
There are many factors involved in selling a home. While it is fun and easy to browse houses on your favorite home search app and imagine how great it would be to move, the reality is there are a lot of competing priorities to consider.
It is our joy to help homeowners navigate their options and priorities to find the move that’s right for them. Whether it is a major life transition to a new home, or just a few small improvements to make their current space work better for you and your family. If you have questions, contact us at theblocks@blocksintheburgh.com or 412.926.7976. We’ll help you sort through your options and arrive at the best decision.
Cheers,
Julie & Ted