Deciding to Sell
If you are thinking about selling, the first useful thing to do is sit down and get clear on why you are selling and by when. Most of what follows depends on those two answers.
Why you are selling
Maybe you need more room, or you are moving across town for a school district, or out of state for a job. The reason can seem too obvious to say out loud, but each one points to a different plan. If you are buying your next house in Bellingham, we have to think about timing two transactions. If you are leaving the state you mostly want a clean exit, and the plan looks different. Tell us the real reason, along with what it means for your finances and how you want to live, and we can build the sale around it.
When to sell
Settle on a time frame early. If you need to move quickly, say so, and we will put together a market analysis and a plan that works backward from your date. If there is no rush, we can sit down, go through what the market is doing and look for a good time to list. There is more on that in our piece on the best time to sell.
What the market is like
We watch what is listed, what is pending and what has sold around you, at what price and on what terms, and we keep you current on it from the first conversation until closing. Nobody can promise you a number, but we can show you the sales that back up the price we recommend and tell you when the market moves.
What you would walk away with
Before you decide, it helps to see an estimate of your net proceeds. That is the sale price minus your mortgage payoff, the costs of selling, and Washington’s real estate excise tax, which the seller pays at closing. We can put a rough net sheet together for you, and the escrow company can firm up the figures later.
What selling does to your taxes or your estate plan is a question for a CPA or an attorney. If you expect a sizable gain, talk to them before the house goes on the market.
Next is choosing an agent and a price.