Selling your house to buy a new one can be a very stressful time, for both yourself and your wallet. If you’re on a budget, moving to a new house can be detrimental if you’re not careful about the process. Luckily, there are many things that you have control of to ensure that you end up in a financial spot that is beneficial to you and your family. Here are three things to keep in mind when considering selling your house and buying a new one.
Find a Good Real Estate Agent
There are 28.8 million small businesses in the United States, making up 99.7% of all businesses in the United States. Quite a few of these small businesses are real estate agencies. Finding that diamond of an agent can be difficult, but well worth the effort, as a good real estate agent will make sure the process is as stress-free as possible for you and your family. On top of this, a good agent will work to get you the best deal and find the right area for you. Choosing an area can be trickier than you might think. If you choose the wrong area, you may end up spending your time looking at houses that are way outside of your budget. Take New York, for example. If you spend all of your time looking for houses in Suffolk county, you’d find that the median price for a home is $415,000, which may be out of your budget range. Be sure to interview multiple real estate agents to see how they respond, how professional they are, at what times they’re available to look at houses, and how they like to communicate.
Increase the Value of Your Current Home
When making the big move, it can be easy to go in with the mindset of constraining how much you spend. This is a great plan, but this might limit you from seeing other areas where you can actually make more money. Increasing the value of the house your selling is a great example. There are a few ways that you can increase the value of your current home on the market to get more money for selling it.
Increase the Attractiveness
One of the best things you can do to increase the value of your home is to make it more attractive to potential buyers. This includes both the exterior of the house and the interior. This can range from a new coat of paint to an entire addition to the house. In fact, the Census Bureau provides some data on the most common types of remodeling done to homes. 40 percent of remodeling activity was from minor alterations and additions, followed up by 30 percent being major versions of those activities, and another 30 percent towards maintenance and repair. Take a look at the areas of your house which may not be as attractive, and ask yourself what you can do to turn that around.
Increase the Efficiency
Many home buyers care about the efficiency of the home before buying it. This can include how well your house is insulated, how well your HVAC system works, and how much energy your home normally consumes. It’s important to have regular maintenance of your house’s energy systems to keep their efficiency in top shape. For instance, your HVAC recirculates dander, dust, and various chemicals five to seven times a day. Over time, this can build up can cause inefficiencies and even harm the health of those living there. Ensure that all of the working systems such as HVAC, plumbing, and general energy are at their best before showing the house to prospective buyers. You could even take this further and install more efficient systems into your house, such as solar panels. 39 percent of real estate agents said that installing solar panels in your house will increase its perceived property value.
Consider Downsizing
When looking for a new house, it can be tempting to want to take a step up and get a bigger house than you had previously. However, if you’re on a budget, it could be worth it to explore downsizing.
Downsizing is becoming an increasingly popular path, with the rise of minimalism and tiny homes. You get to save in quite a few areas from doing this, from selling off some of the things you don’t need, decreasing your moving expenses with less stuff to move, to decreasing the initial price of your new home and energy costs thereafter.
There are a few ways of going about this. One is through a regular “tiny home.” These can either be custom built on a piece of land, or you can buy a pre-built one (you can even buy it on Amazon). You could also invest in a shipping container house too. Designers turn these used shipping containers into beautiful, modern tiny homes for you to enjoy. These are also a great idea for those who are environmentally conscious, as repurposing a shipping container reuses around 3,500kg worth of steel, putting a good use to that and saving the building materials that otherwise would have been used. Finally, if you’re someone who likes to travel a lot, you could consider living out of a van or RV. This way, you don’t have to pay for a property and can travel to wherever you’d like.
Moving to a new house is always exciting, and saving your wallet during this time is always a good idea. Take these tips and see how you can apply them to your own situation, looking at what you really value in your new home, how you can get the best deal for your current one, and finding a real estate agent with your best interests in mind.