Sell Or Stay Put? That Is The $64,000 Question!!!

Many homeowners are trying to decide whether or not this is the market they should sell their home, or if they should just stay put! On the one hand, in this market where prices are rising and rising and many sellers are getting top dollar and multiple offers, there is a lot of temptation to go ahead and sell their home and make a huge profit! But, if you are thinking of doing this, you need to also think about where you will want to go once you do sell! Will you go into an apartment? Do you want to buy another house?

When I talk to sellers, one of the things we will usually discuss is just what the real estate market is doing in THEIR area! Market conditions will change day to day, week to week, month to month and even neighborhood to neighborhood! So you definitely want to know what are the market conditions in your area when you are thinking whether it is the right time to sell or stay put!

So what are the market conditions as of today, September 17, 2021!

For the Richmond areas that I normally work in (City of Richmond, Chesterfield County & Henrico County), there were 1,408 single family homes sold in August 2021 (per the Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing Service). These homes were only on the market a total of 12 days before a seller accepted an offer! And they sold for an average of 103% of the asking price! And sellers only contributed an average of $2,126 towards the buyers closing costs!

County	August 2021 Average Sales Price	August 2020 Average Sales Price	August 2021 # Homes Sold	August 2021 Average Days on Market	# Active Listings on 9/17/2021
Henrico County	$385,521	$362,354	416 Homes	10 Days	188 Homes
Chesterfield County	$386,552	$337,085	701 Homes	12 Days	363 Homes
City of Richmond	$395,566	$375,826	291 Homes	14 Days	264 Homes

As you can see, prices are still continuing to rise, with homes going under contract in less than 2 weeks! And when you look at how many active listings there are, compared to the number of homes that actually sold last month, you see why the real estate market continues to be exceedingly tight!

What does this mean for you? If you are thinking about selling your home, you need to know that you will most likely be competing with other offers on the house! This means that you most likely won't be able to make the purchase of a home contingent upon the sale of your current home! If you need the equity out of your current home to buy the next home, you need to first talk to your lender to see how comfortable you are with buying a home first before you put your current home up for sale!

It also means that if you do decide to put your home on the market, you will need a place to move to! That means you need to have a game plan on where you will be going to next before you even put your home on the market! Whether that means you are going to move into a rental until the market cools down, or you plan to buy a home, it is important that you have already decided your next step even before you put your current home on the market!

This market is a crazy market - unlike any other real estate market I have seen in my 25 years of selling real estate in Richmond! It is possible to navigate this market, but you need to know what your road map looks like! You need to talk to a Realtor you trust to help guide you through this market!

Feel free to call me or email me if you have any questions on selling your home in this market! I am happy to help! Have a great day!