Top 10 Reasons for Selling – by Graham Farran

Let’s Talk Real Estate – June 2021

According to the National Association of Realtors, the average homeowner stays in their home for about 10 years before selling. Do you think this sounds short? Or maybe too long? Well, there are lots of reason homeowners sell, but here are the top 10 reasons:

1. Retire Earlier—It’s great if you bought your home years ago and your equity has piled up. For many, it’s even better when you use that equity to enjoy life. We have had many clients sell their family home and use their equity to accelerate their retirement date. Some have even bought an RV and traveled around the US, returning in a couple of years to buy a smaller, more modest home filed with souvenirs and memories of their adventure. Whether they use their equity to retire earlier, or to just enjoy their life, it’s a great use of their equity.
2. Cash-out for financial gain—Jackson County has seen a 62.4% price growth in home prices in the last 5 years, also meaning home equity has drastically increased. Some of our sellers have used that equity to better their financial position. One couple sold their home and used their equity to start their own business, which I’m glad to report, is doing well today. Another couple subdivided their land, sold their home and used their equity to build a second home on their new lot with cash.

Yet another couple, who put in thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours improving their incredible home, sold it, and bought a smaller home in a cheaper area while investing the rest of their equity into rental homes. The end result is that today they are in the best financial position they have ever been in.

3. Outgrown their home—Many of our clients outgrew the starter homes they moved into when they were expecting their first child. Now that they have multiple kids, and a few are even working from home, they need more space. Living quarters can cause stress rather than comfort and working from home in cramped quarters with your family can be taxing on the best of relationships, so many took the leap and moved up.
4. Move Closer to Family—Life is easier when you have family around you, and many of our sellers have moved to be closer to family. We see parents and kids move closer to each other to help with grandkids, or because the parents are getting older and need help. It really does take a village.
5. Tired of feeling financially stressed—Not all of our sellers have sold their real estate in order to pad their bank account. Some of our clients have underestimated their ability to pay their mortgage, HOA fees and taxes and keep their homes up. For some, the best recourse was to sell and find another home that was more affordable. For them, selling their home was better than the stress of struggling monthly with a big mortgage.
6. Death, serious illness, divorce—Unfortunately, these are all emotionally-draining experiences that have caused our clients to sell. It’s always hard to deal with these situations but often this is when our clients need our help the most.
7. Convenience of commute—Many homeowners get tired of commutes and want to move closer to work, their kids’ school, friends or family. We all want to be closer to where we are spending all our time and to avoid time commuting.
8. Downsizing their house and lifestyle—We deal with many empty nesters who, after raising their families in a huge home, want to move to a home that fits their current needs, not their past needs. They are rattling around in a two story, four-bedroom home with a living room, family room and huge back yard that doesn’t appeal to them anymore. They want to move to a smaller, easy to clean, open floor plan home, with a small yard that is easy to take care of.

We have sold many dream rural properties to retirees, who thought that would be their last home, but after 15 years of living there they chose to downsize to a smaller home that is easier to take care of and is close to all the shopping and medical conveniences of town.

9. The need for change—Last summer, one of our clients said, “We have one more adventure left in us.” Retired for years in Jacksonville, they wanted a change, so after we sold their house, they took off to Santa Fe to spend the remaining part of their retirement in a new setting and enjoy the new, big adventure in their lives. Another client had lived in the suburbs too long; they just wanted to get out of the city and onto a house with land. No neighbors, no street lights, just the sounds of nature. A couple of other clients always wanted to move to Jacksonville, so they did it, sold their homes in Medford and bought in Jacksonville, the town they loved the most.
10. Live where you want to live—The new trend is that families are moving to where they want to live, where they love to recreate, where it’s less crowed, more rural and lower cost. This is all made possible by corporations allowing their office workers to work from home, and home can be anywhere.

So, whatever the reasons for moving—financial, convenience, family, divorce or just to embark on a new adventure—moving can be both financially and emotionally rewarding.