If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the Fed and what has been happening with real estate, you’ve probably heard about how interest rates are rising. While it isn’t unusual for rates to fluctuate periodically, they don’t usually rise quite this high this fast. The impact is obvious. Higher rates have buyers thinking twice about purchasing a home. That can make selling more difficult, though there are things you can do to help ensure that your home still sells.
Make Your Home More Presentable
Just because buyers may be more reluctant to make an offer on a home doesn’t mean that they’ll abandon home buying altogether. There are still plenty of compelling reasons to move. You’ll just have more competition in terms of the supply of houses buyers have to choose from. Give yourself a leg up by making your home more presentable. Feature this in high-quality photos in your listing to entice more buyers to come see your home for themselves.
Sell to a Cash Buyer
Not all buyers are traditional buyers who are paying with a mortgage. Some buyers pay for homes in cash. These buyers, commonly referred to as cash buyers, may be a valuable resource to anyone who needs to sell their home in a rising rate environment. Interest rates don’t apply to them, since they don’t need financing to purchase a home. That makes them more willing to see a sale through, regardless of what interest rates are doing. That’s not their only advantage though. Selling to a cash buyer lets you reduce the fees associated with selling. Cash buyers may sometimes help with closing costs. Additionally, not all of them use real estate agents, which allows you to avoid having to pay a commission.
Price It to Sell
One of the ways to offset rising interest rates is to make sure your home is priced to sell. That may mean selling your home for a bit less than you thought you would be able to. Still, it’s better to price your home a bit lower so that it will still be attractive to buyers despite rising interest rates. The alternative could very well be not finding a buyer willing to pay for your home because your asking price combined with rising interest rates is simply too high.
Rising interest rates translate to a greater reluctance to buy a home. After all, interest rates can increase the total money put towards a home by thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars. This rising rate environment isn’t likely to change as the Fed tries desperately to curb inflation. Don’t let that stop you from doing what you can to ensure that your home sells anyway.
Check out this article on the three stages to selling your home!