Should I Sell My House?

Thinking about moving but wondering, Is now really a good time to sell my house? After all, there’s a ton of uncertainty in the housing market—and selling your home is a big decision.

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Asking this question is a good thing. It means you’re serious about making an informed decision. So, let’s get you some answers. Here’s a quick look at what you should consider when deciding if it’s the right time to sell your home.

Should I Sell My House Now or Wait?

When deciding whether to sell your home, your personal situation should take center stage. Market conditions are only part of the picture, and they’re not even the most important. Now, don’t get us wrong—market conditions do matter, but your personal situation matters a whole heck of a lot more.

What does that mean for you? It means you should only sell your house if the market and your individual situation line up. In other words, you’ll want to make sure you’re emotionally and financially prepared before pulling the trigger. But sit tight—in the next section, we’ll get to whether you’re ready to sell your home. Promise!

For now, if you’re wondering about the housing market, the key stat for sellers to keep in mind is inventory. Just like anything else that gets bought and sold, housing prices in the U.S. (or anywhere else) depend on supply and demand. And when supply is low and demand is high, prices go up.

That’s exactly where the housing market is right now. Inventory has been rising for nearly two years straight, giving buyers more options—but growth is slowing down and fewer homes are hitting the market. With homes taking longer to sell, supply is starting to rebalance with demand, but not enough to take real pressure off prices just yet. For reference, there were 24.8% more homes for sale across the country in July 2025 than the year before, but the total was still 13.4% lower than pre-pandemic levels.¹

When to Sell Your House

So, how do you know when it’s a good idea to sell based on your individual situation? Here are seven signs you’re ready to sell your house.

1. You’ve got equity on your side.

What is equity, you ask? It’s basically how much of your home you actually own. Essentially, it’s your home’s market value minus what you still owe on your mortgage. The difference is your home equity. We love easy math!

How much equity should you have before you sell your house?

At the very least, you should have enough equity to pay off your current mortgage and cover agent commissions, plus enough left over to make a 20% down payment on your next home so you can avoid paying private mortgage insurance (PMI). If you can make enough profit to also cover closing costs, moving expenses or a larger down payment, that’s even better!

You definitely don’t want to sell your home when you have negative equity, and breaking even on a home sale isn’t a whole lot better. If you’re in either situation, you shouldn’t sell your house unless you’re trying to avoid bankruptcy or foreclosure.

2. It’ll improve your financial situation.

As long as selling your house won’t hurt your financial situation, you’re probably in a good spot to sell. But wouldn’t it be nice if selling your house actually improved your financial situation?

For lots of folks, improving their financial situation is the entire reason they sell their house. A popular way to make that happen is by downsizing.

When you sell, the equity can be put toward a smaller, less expensive house—hopefully reducing your monthly payment (depending on interest rates—more on that in a second) and creating more breathing room in your budget. Sounds exciting, huh?

Other times, people get so intense about paying off their consumer debt—things like credit cards, student loans and car payments—that they sell their house to make it happen. They use their equity to pay off all their debt, and they rent while saving up a down payment to buy another house.

There are lots of ways selling your home can improve your financial situation, and that’s a great reason to sell. But if selling your house would make your financial situation worse—either by sinking you further into debt or drastically increasing your payments—stay put.

Keep this in mind too: With interest rates getting crazy high over the last couple of years, buying a new house and getting a new mortgage will likely stick you with a higher interest rate—potentially twice as high.

Here’s what we’re looking at: As of September 2025, the average 15-year fixed mortgage interest rate in the U.S. is 5.50%. While that’s only slightly higher than the average a year ago, it’s important to note that rates kicked off the year at 6.13%. And for even broader context, if you bought your home 10 years ago, you probably got a rate around 3%.²  

That means that even if you downsize, a higher interest rate could still leave you with a bigger monthly payment. Now, that trade-off can be worth it—especially if you’re saving on things like utilities, home insurance, HOA fees and taxes—but it’s important to run the numbers and make sure the move actually improves your financial situation.

3. You have a new place to live.

Before packing your bags and heading out the door of your house, you should make sure you have a new place to live.

But here’s the deal: You shouldn’t buy a new house before selling the one you currently live in. If it takes longer than you expect for your current home to sell, doubling up on mortgage payments will make your budget way too tight. Plus, qualifying for a new mortgage could be tricky when you’ve already got one outstanding.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to bridge the gap when buying and selling at the same time so you’re not stuck with two house payments (yuck!).

Here are a few solid options to consider:

• Rent on a short-term lease.
• Stay with family for a while.
• Negotiate a rent-back agreement (give the buyer a small discount so you can stay in your home longer).
• Add a contract contingency (make your new purchase dependent on selling your current home).

A good real estate agent can help you nail down (and negotiate, if needed) the best option for you.

4. You can afford the move.

Moving ain’t free, folks—unless you’re moving across the street, in which case you and some friends can probably handle everything with some elbow grease and a dolly. (You should budget for pizza, though. That’s just good moving etiquette.) But seriously, there are usually several costs involved with moving.

For example, you’ll have to pay for transportation from your current address to your new one—whether that means buying gas or a plane ticket. You also may want to hire a moving and storage service so you don’t have to shove all your stuff into the back of a minivan (bad idea).

On top of moving costs, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put a little bit of cash toward staging your home—a great way to make it sell faster and for more money. You’ll be able to do most of the home-staging work by yourself, but you may need to buy some materials.

5. You’re emotionally ready to sell.

Just because the numbers say you should sell your house, that doesn’t mean it’s the best time to actually do it. Don’t forget—selling your home is an emotional issue too. Before you plant that For Sale sign in your front yard, ask yourself these questions to be sure you’re mentally ready to sell:

• Am I ready to put in the work to get my home ready for house hunters?
• Am I committed to keeping it ready to show for possibly weeks or months?
• Am I ready for difficult negotiations over what buyers are willing to pay for my home?
• Am I ready to move out and leave the place where my family has made memories?

Don’t get us wrong—we’re not trying to talk you out of selling your home! We just want you to be completely ready when you do decide to move on to the next stage of your family’s life.

One more thing: If you’ve recently lost a loved one, it’s wise to give yourself some time—at least six months—before you decide if you should sell your house. The house will still be there, and you’ll be able to make a better decision from a clearer mental space.

6. The market works in your favor.

No one can predict how the housing market will perform with 100% accuracy, but you can get a good idea of what you might experience when selling your home. We took a look at the national real estate market earlier, but the real estate trends in your local area could be a little different from the rest of the country.

A good real estate agent will be able to help you understand all of that, especially if you ask the right questions. For example, you can ask a real estate agent if the number of homes for sale in your area has been going up or down in the past month or so.

If supply is decreasing, competition among buyers might be higher when your home goes on the market. That means you can probably sell your house for more money and have plenty of offers to choose from. On the flip side, if housing supply is increasing, you could be the one competing for buyers’ attention.

You’ll also want to consider the time of year. There are pros and cons to selling in any season of the year. But for the most part, the best time to sell a home is in the spring and summer months—which is when the highest number of homes are sold each year. For example, in 2025, the total number of existing home sales ramped up from 240,000 homes sold in January before reaching a peak of 391,000 homes in June.³ 

This annual trend is due to a dramatic increase in buyer demand. The nicer weather makes for better home showings, and family buyers are motivated to settle into a new home before their kiddos start another school year. But remember: The market and time of year are only part of the equation when deciding whether to sell, and they’re not the most important part.

7. You have a rock-star real estate agent.

Maybe all the signs are saying it’s time to get your home on the market. If so, that’s great! But there’s one more thing you need to truly be ready to sell: a real estate agent. And not just any ol’ agent. You need an absolute rock star of an agent if you want to sell for top dollar.

Why? Here are some of the ways a great real estate agent serves you:

• Gives you advice about updates or repairs that’ll make your home more attractive
• Helps you set the right price for your home
• Markets your home so it gets as much exposure as possible
• Schedules showings with potential buyers
• Advises you as you negotiate offers
• Handles all the required paperwork

That’s a lot of responsibility! And it’s why finding a top-performing agent who knows your market is a must.