Selling in a Strong Market

While your personal and financial situation is clearly an important factor in deciding whether and when to sell your house, the state of your local housing market may also influence your decision.

Be happy if you're selling your house during a time of rising or already elevated home prices. If you can afford the transaction costs of selling your current house and buying another home, and if the costs of the new home fit within your budget and financial goals, go for it. Just be careful of two things:

Don't get greedy and grossly overprice your house. You may end up getting less from the sale than you expected, and the sale is likely to take much longer than it would have if you'd priced the property fairly. If you price your house too high, when you finally drop the price to the right range, you may face lower offers because your house has the stigma of being old on the market.

Be careful about timing the sale of your current house and the purchase of your next one, if you're staying in your current strong market or moving to another strong market. For example, you probably don't want to sell and then spend months bidding unsuccessfully on other homes. You may get stuck renting for a while and need to make an additional move; such costs can eat up the cash from your recent sale and interfere with your ability to afford your next home.