Real Estate is one of the largest investments you will ever make.  Some people buy and sell properties to make a profit, while others may just be starting out.

Reasons Why You May Want To Consider Selling Your Home

There are several reasons why people sell their homes. Sometimes it can be voluntarily or other times they don’t have a choice.

Home Is Too Small

When you are purchasing a house for the first time you usually focus on what you can afford at the moment This is common among young people. If you have started a family, chances are, you have outgrown the home and need to find something larger to meet your growing needs. Chances are you have built up equity in your home. One of the considerations will be is what will be your circumstances in the next five to ten years.

Job Transfer

Some are in an occupation where they can be relocated. For some, they may opt to jump on this opportunity.  So the choice to sell your home has become imminent. Many companies pay for relocation and will cover several of the costs associated with moving. They may pay real estate fees, utility disconnections, and reconnections. The fee associated with breaking your mortgage may be also covered. Sometimes they will pay if you have suffered a loss in real estate.

Too Many Renovations

Many people who have one or multiple trades, will purchase a home as a fixer-upper. But once the renovations begin, they come to realize it is more work and far more costly than they anticipated. Another issue with renovations are building permits. Many areas have certain zoning and bylaw restrictions. Sometimes it is impossible to be approved for certain things you would like to do. Some individuals are not born handymen. They choose to purchase a home that they think they can renovate to meet their needs. There are several things that can go wrong. For example, costly plumbing issues that you did not expect to happen. Poor wiring or rodent and bug infestations can be a problem. Many things can disrupt a renovation.  When people encounter some of these issues, they may choose to sell instead.

Personal Relationships

Divorce is probably the number one reason in personal relationships that your home must be sold. Usually, when applying for a mortgage both incomes are taken into consideration and are required to meet the mortgage guidelines for that financial institution. Therefore it is usually more difficult for one spouse to buy out the other spouse’s interest in the home.  Then the alternative at that point is to sell the home so the assets can be divided accordingly.

Cohabitating

Choosing to cohabitate is another common reason for one partner to sell their home and move in with the other, or sometimes they may choose to sell both homes and buy one that is more conducive to their needs.

Marriage

Marriage can also result in one or both houses being sold.

It has been known to happen that someone meets that special person while on vacation and chooses to sell their home to move to another location to be with that person.

Distance of Commuting

Some people when purchasing a home have chosen to make a long distance commute to and from work. However, once the commute has been experienced on a regular basis and in all seasons, they may decide it is not really what they want to do every day. The decision to sell and move closer to their worksite will then be made. Travelling in the nice weather is far different than travelling in snow and ice storms. The length of a commute to and from work takes away quality personal time whether you have a family or not. The common commute time to and from work is normally within the half hour range.

Neighbourhood Issues

When buying a home it is difficult to know what kind of neighbours you will have and what kind of issues living in that neighbourhood will bring. The problem causing neighbours can make life miserable. Changes in development in your neighbourhood can also result in the desire to move. Issues like halfway houses, low-income rentals, hostels, and even marijuana or porn shops can make your neighbourhood less than desirable and you would be happier being away from this neighbourhood and choose to sell your home and move.

Home Has Become Too Large

Many empty nesters choose to downsize once their children have moved out. They no longer need that four bedroom home and decide to sell their larger home and look for something much smaller.  Growing older and having a lesser ability to maintain the home inside and out may spark people to downsize from a two storey home to something like a bungalow or even a condo.

Health Issues

Major health issues or even an accident can change the needs of your living arrangements. The elderly may have to go into a nursing or retirement home and the family has to take on the duty of selling the home.  Some may be so badly injured they cannot work any longer and have to go on some sort of disability insurance and can no longer afford the expenses of their home on their current income forcing them to sell and seek more affordable accommodations.

Loss of Job

Job security can vary, some are very fortunate to have very secure jobs, while others are in industries which are less secure. Contract employees can lose their contract at any time.

Insecure Income

People who are self-employed are probably at the highest risk for job security, steady income, and business problems.  When purchasing a home most people look at today’s income and not worry about down the road. However, anything can happen to change your circumstances and income resulting in the need to sell your home.

Death

When someone dies, quite often the home becomes part of the estate and has to be sold, especially if there are children that are going to be splitting the proceeds of the estate.  Dealing with an estate sale can be very difficult and lengthy as there are many legalities and issues that can arise making the process much longer than expected.

There are numerous reasons as to what will lead homeowners to sell their homes.