GA - Is it a bad time to sell my house?

You sure won’t be selling it any higher in spring. The way finances are going, people will only afford less as you move forward in 2025. You’re also competing with 3 other houses.

It sounds like it might be even harder for us since we got an extra bedroom and bathroom, which brought our price $70k higher. Our neighbors have a 2-car garage 2b/2b instead of a 1-car garage 3b/3b.

Are townhomes still going up in the subdivision? Because people will buy new before they buy used at the same price point.

Don’t take my word for it; it really just depends on your market and overall area. If it’s hot, it may sell, but you need to be realistic.

Unless you bought in 2020, you will most likely sell for a loss after owning a house for a year.

Do you mind if I ask where this is located? I’ll be in the market this spring/summer for a townhome. I have set up daily alerts to track inventory and how long they’re staying on the market. I am specifically looking at the 30324 area and have noticed they are staying on the market for a long time. You mention a 1-car garage, and I can tell you that is a hard no for a huge percent of home buyers. I only have 1 car but would never buy a one-car garage. Guest parking is another issue people look at. There is a beautiful townhome community near Lindbergh that has no driveways for people to park in, and there are probably fewer than 10 guest parking spots in the entire complex. I have no idea how they even get DoorDash delivered there; there is no room to even park quickly and run inside. I love the floor plan and the prices but would never buy there. There is probably something very specific about your subdivision that people don’t like besides price.

Parking isn’t an issue for my townhome specifically. There are plenty of parking spots in the guest area, but I can park an extra car in front of the garage since there is no other unit facing my house. My location is in Kirkwood. It’s close to Emory, GT, and O4W.

It’s a slower market because of the winter. Homes take a lot longer to sell during the winter. Just keep in mind that if you sell in May, you’ll be in competition with everyone else as well and may still take a loss if your home is deemed less desirable than the others. Also, buyers will want to know why the listing got taken down, and you can’t tell them that nobody wanted to buy the home – they’ll think something is wrong with it.

The buyer pool may have some overlap, but they’re not the same. A 2/2 is not the same as a 3/3, although a one-car garage would be a problem if the new buyers are all adults. However, if it’s a family of 4, then it might not be as big of a deal with one car in the garage and one in the driveway. I don’t know the weather where you are, but if it’s freezing, then it’s going to be slow. The drawback to listing later in spring or summer is you might compete with other 3/3s in the same area as you. I don’t know your local market, but also what is your real estate agent doing to help sell the home? He or she better not say it’s slow in the winter because he or she is supposed to be the expert.

Some things to consider: New administration causing uncertainty (not getting political) can lead to people waiting, hoping interest rates drop, or waiting because they are nervous about increasing personal debt load. In uncertain times, school is in session, and if a family wants to move, most hate moving during the school year and uprooting their kids. If you bought for $500k and sell for $520k, is that even a profit? Why are you selling? If you’re selling because you need to, then sell it; money comes, money goes. If you’re selling it because you don’t want to be in a townhouse/HOA/community, many buyers feel the same way.

520 would be close to breaking even after closing costs, interest, and window insulation upgrades. We’re selling the house due to relocation to another state.

Are you selling with a realtor?

Before 2019, nobody ever broke even on a house in a year. That’s a recent phenomenon subsidized by interest rates.

I’m seeing this happen all over. People bought for a premium in 2022-2023 and now they’re trying to resell for an even higher premium so they could break even or make a few thousand from the deal. Many of these homes are staying on the market for long periods of time simply because they’re overpriced. Buyers aren’t going to care what you personally paid for the home. I’m also noticing buyers gravitating towards homes that are not in an HOA. For $520k in many parts of GA, one could get a pretty decent house with a little bit of property around that price. Townhouses appeal to only a specific demographic of people, and they oftentimes come with hefty HOA fees. I’m not sure about your particular scenario, but high HOA fees, high listing price, and high interest rates don’t appeal to many. You can definitely pull the home off the market and relist in the springtime, but even then you may just have to bite the bullet and sell at a loss.

This thread is satire, right? Please tell me it’s satire.