BreakThru Realty

Should I Sell My Home Now or Wait Until Next Year?

Reviewed by Tyson E. Sam, Founder and Broker of Record, BreakThru Realty, Florida License 3565210

The Short Answer

Decide from the market you can see and the year you can count, not from a forecast. If homes like yours are going under contract in weeks and inventory is tight, the market is giving you its best terms now; if inventory is building and sellers are cutting prices, waiting rarely gets you more and costs you a year of carrying the home. Your own reasons, the next home, a job, the family, usually matter more than squeezing the last few percent out of timing.

Read the Market That Exists Today

Three figures tell you where your city stands, and the county and city market reports on this site update them daily from the MLS: months of inventory (under four months favours sellers, over six favours buyers), average days to go under contract, and the change in the median sold price from a year ago. Look at the segment that matches your home, single-family or condo, because the two can move in opposite directions in the same city.

What Waiting a Year Costs

A year of mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance, association dues and upkeep, plus the repairs that come due, is the price of waiting, and in South Florida the insurance line alone has made that price higher than many owners expect. Set it against the gain you are hoping for. Prices would have to rise by more than your carrying cost for waiting to pay, and that is before the risk that they do not.

Season Matters Less Than Price

Buyer traffic in South Florida is strongest from January through April, when seasonal residents and northern buyers are here, and softer in late summer. But homes sell in every month, and a correctly priced home in August draws more serious buyers than an overpriced one in February. If your timing is flexible, list for the winter market; if it is not, price for the season you are in.

Signals That Favour Selling Now

Months of inventory in your segment under about four. Homes like yours under contract in the first few weeks. Sale prices at or above asking. A home that is in good condition today and will need money next year. A life reason with its own clock: the next home, a job, a move closer to family. Any two of these and the market is unlikely to offer better terms by waiting.

Signals That Favour Waiting

A home that needs visible work you can afford to do and that buyers in your price range expect done. A pending event that will lift the home's value: a completed building repair, a closed permit, a renovation under way. Or a market where you would be competing with a wave of similar listings right now that will have cleared in a season. Waiting is a decision to carry the home for a reason, not a hope that prices rise.

How BreakThru Answers It for Your Home

A written pricing analysis from the closed sales that match your home, the live figures for your city and segment, and a side-by-side of what you would net selling now against carrying the home for a year. No upfront fee, no obligation, and if the answer is wait, we tell you what to do in the meantime so the home is ready when you are.

Talk It Through With a Broker

Every sale is its own set of numbers. Request a free valuation built from the closed sales that match your home, or read the market figures for your county on BreakThru Realty Research.

Should I sell now or wait: Questions

Should I sell my home now or wait until next year?
Decide from the market you can see and the year you can count, not from a forecast. If homes like yours are going under contract in weeks and inventory is tight, the market is giving you its best terms now; if inventory is building and sellers are cutting prices, waiting rarely gets you more and costs you a year of carrying the home. Your own reasons, the next home, a job, the family, usually matter more than squeezing the last few percent out of timing.
Will prices be higher next year?
Nobody can promise that, and we do not forecast prices. What we can show you is the direction the median sold price and inventory have moved in your city over the last year, which is the best evidence available.
Is winter really the best time to sell in South Florida?
It brings the most buyers, especially from out of state. Spring and early summer are strong too. Pricing decides more than the month: well-priced homes sell year-round.
What if I need to buy my next home first?
Read the guide on selling before you buy. The market reports show how long homes like yours take to sell, which is what the timing of the two contracts turns on.

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