What You Should Know About Tax Season Home Sales
Timing can have a direct impact on how long it takes to sell your home. While most people realize that winter holidays can affect home sales, few realize that tax season affects the real estate market. Find out how tax season home sales can affect you, and what you can do to prepare for it.
Tax Season Home Sales
If you’re trying to sell your home, you need to consider your timing. During certain times of the year, homes are difficult to sell. For instance, people tend to avoid buying during the holiday season. They have many other expenses that prevent them from focusing on their home-buying. As a result, houses sit on the market longer. You could have a desirable house, but little interest in it.
Most people realize that and wait to list their homes after the holiday season. “Many listings come on the market after the holidays which happens to coincide with tax refund season.”
With so many listings available, home buyers have many options from which to choose. Tax season could be a great time to buy a new home.
The prevalence of tax season home sales makes it important for sellers to prepare themselves. If you are thinking about buying or selling you should be ready to move quickly. There are a few steps you can take to plan for the buying or selling of a home:
1. Come Up with a Plan
If you don’t already have a plan of what to do after you buy or sell your home, it’s time to create one. Think about all of the details. What loose ends do you need to tie? How will you move your belongings?
If you’re moving to a new home, you should do some shopping around. Pick your neighborhood and look at some houses. As tax season approaches, get more serious about buying your new home.
By having a plan in place, you can have a smoother transition. You won’t need to rush to figure out your next move. Best of all, you can enjoy the process of buying or selling instead of being anxious about it.
2. Ready Your Finances
Most people plan on moving into a new home after they sell their old one. However, this involves planning. You need to prepare for your move by getting your finances in order.
If you plan on buying your new home, you should look into mortgage options. You can apply for pre-approval to learn more about your price range.
“First time homebuyers utilizing down payment assistance programs can often get into their dream home with very little out of pocket while this great inventory is available. New first time homebuyer programs are coming available during the spring, namely one that will offer $15K in closing cost/down payment assistance! Getting a jump on the preapproval process is beneficial to taking advantage of these programs.” (Mortgage Company Amerifirst)
3. Get Your Home Ready
Although there is a greater interest in buying after tax season, you still need to work to sell your home. You want your to home to stand out from other listings. By staging your home, you can make it more appealing to buyers. You can also make minor improvements to it. Give it a fresh coat of paint or do some landscaping.
It’s worth noting that you don’t need to handle all of the preparations on your own. If you contact a mortgage broker, you can learn more about the financial aspects of buying a home. Call our office if you need help in finding a Mortgage Broker or have questions on buying a home in Naples.
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Thanks to Dani Gallagher