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The Easiest Way to Buy and Sell Homes in 2022

In the past few years, the real estate market has been one of the most profitable investments. With record-high home prices in 2021, many are buying and selling homes. Whether you’re looking for your first investment property or want to find your dream home, navigating the world of real estate can be intimidating.

Luckily, we’re here to help! This guide breaks down everything you need to know about the easiest way to buy and sell homes in 2022. Keep reading to learn more.

Start With The Basics:

If you feel intimidated by the real estate market and the prospect of selling your home or buying a home, don’t panic. Simply start with the basics. Here are four easy steps to begin the process of buying and selling your home in 2022.

1. Analyze the Current Market

The real estate market goes up and down based on the stock market, world events, and more. Since the onset of the pandemic, the real estate market has skyrocketed, only slowing down in recent months. Many wonder whether the real estate market will sustain a crash in the upcoming year or two, but experts predict it will continue to rise, though at a slower rate.

This is partially because of an expected increase in interest rates through 2022. Interest rates are expected to increase as many as four times this year, which will likely slow down how quickly buyers make home buying decisions.

Analyzing the current market will help you determine when the best time to buy or sell your home is, how long to wait, and when to get started. For instance, if you’re looking to buy a house, it can help to make an offer and lock in an interest rate before the next increase. Alternatively, if you are looking to sell, checking out websites like Property Rescue will give you a good idea of how to sell your property quickly if this is something you are trying to do in a tight time frame!

If you don’t know much about the real estate market, that’s okay, too! Don’t hesitate to talk to a professional about the market and when it may be the best time to make a move.

2. Determine a Timeline

Once you’ve taken a look at the real estate market, it’s time to set a timeline. Set a specific day you want to sell your house. If you’re working with a specific timeline of when you need to move, you can work around this date. Once you set the date you want to sell or buy your house by, you can work backward and make a date to list your house, make or accept offers, and bring your home to the closing table.

Of course, your specific timeline likely won’t work out detail by detail, but planning can make a big difference. Having a timeline in place will also help you tell your listing agent when you’d like to have your house listed and sold.

3. Set a Budget

This step applies to those buying a house in 2022. If you're buying a house, be sure to set a budget. You can talk to a mortgage lender about a good home buying budget for you, or factor in your income, monthly expenses, debt payments, and credit score to determine how much home you can afford.

4. Get Your Home Ready

Once you’ve determined the state of the market and the timeline you’d like to work with, it’s time to get your home ready to sell. If you’re buying a house, you can skip this step! If you’re selling your home, you may want to consider doing upgrades or renovations to your home to increase the value and cash that you get at the closing table.

The best upgrades to focus on are in the kitchen, master bathroom, and master bedroom. These are priorities for most buyers, so if you’re wanting to spend time and money on upgrades, these are excellent areas to begin.

5. Assess the Right Price

If you’re selling your home, it’s also important to choose the right selling price. If you choose a price that’s too high, you may have trouble making the sale. If you choose a price that’s too low, you’ll miss out on cash. Plus, choosing the right price can result in bidding wars and competition, which can end up bringing more cash and perks to the closing table.

You can have a professional help you with assessing the right price to list your home, too! How can you choose a professional listing agent, and are there any alternatives? Let’s take a look below.

Choosing a Real Estate Agent

Once you complete the five steps listed above, it’s time to choose how you’d like to list your home. You can list it yourself and represent your house as for sale by owner, you can use a listing agent, or you can use an online listing tool.

Here is a quick breakdown of each of these options so you can determine which is right for your needs.

A Professional Agent

The most common option when listing your home is to use a listing agent. Listing agents come with many advantages, from making the process simple to understanding the market and helping you get the most out of selling or buying a home.

Listing agents charge a commission fee and can make the process more complicated if they’re not experienced or have too much on their plate. It’s important to interview agents to choose the best agent.

Representing Yourself

You can also represent yourself as the buyer or seller. Though this comes with more work, red tape, and effort. On the other hand, you also save yourself the expense of paying an agent commission when selling your home.

Using an Online Tool

Many assume using a professional agent is the only way to sell your home, but there are alternatives! Using an online platform like HomeLister is easy, convenient, and affordable, with the same professional expertise as using a listing agent. Plus, with perks like professional photography, listings on multiple platforms, and serious financial savings, there’s no better tool to get the most from the market and the most from your home.