How Soon Is Too Soon To Sell A House? (2024)

As a major financial transaction (and quite possibly one of the largest purchases and sales of an asset that you’ll ever make in your life), it’s important to understand some of the costs and fees associated with selling a home. You’ll want to account for each so as to minimize the chances that you’ll lose money and maximize your odds of turning a profit when you buy and sell your home within certain timeframes.

You Might Pay Less In Capital Gains Tax

Capital gains tax refers to fees that are levied by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on assets that you make a profit on when you sell them. Put simply, if an asset – like a piece of real estate – is bought at a certain price, then sold at a higher one, the difference in the amount of the purchase and sales price is subject to capital gains tax. If you’re a U.S. citizen, you will be required to pay capital gains taxes on these profits.

For instance: Say Max, age 70, purchases a home for $300,000 and sells it for $400,000. The profit of $100,000 (the difference between the two selling prices) represents the capital gains and is subject to the tax.

Capital tax gains rates are currently set at 0%, 15% and 20% depending on your individual income and tax filing status. Be aware that capital gains taxes are only paid after the asset is sold, so you won’t have to pay them until you sell your home. Also be advised that there are two types of capital gains: short-term and long-term. Both are subject to different taxation rates. In general, if you’ve lived in a property for less than a year before selling it, it will be taxed as a short-term gain. If you’ve occupied a piece of real estate for longer than a year, any profits are considered long-term capital gains.

You Could Cover Your Closing Costs

It’s not uncommon for home values to appreciate by 3.5% – 3.8% of their final purchase price per year. By way of contrast, closing costs can generally add up to around 3% – 6% of your loan amount. Bearing this in mind, it could easily take a couple years of staying in your home just to accrue enough appreciation to pay off closing costs alone.

Taking these and other factors into account, you’ll want to crunch some numbers and see how long it makes sense for you to stay in your house before selling. If your goal is to turn a profit and make money on the sale of a home (especially a first home), it helps to have a better sense of where you stand financially before putting your house on the market.

You Can Save On Financing Fees

If you hold a personal loan or home mortgage, you’re no doubt familiar with the concepts of principal and interest.

Principal refers to the actual amount of money that you have borrowed – to calculate it, all you have to do is subtract your down payment from your home’s final purchase price. Interest payments do not go toward paying off this principal loan amount – rather, they’re put toward paying mortgage interest rate fees and charges that you pay on your loan each year.

It generally takes several years for you to begin building equity in your home and for payments to start applying toward your loan’s principal balance in significant amounts. Bearing this in mind, when reviewing loan options, make a point to consider interest payments and the total cost over time of obtaining a specific home mortgage. Different lenders will present different financing options – some of which will prove more favorable to you than others in the end.

You’ll Position Yourself To Market Conditions

Real estate markets are in constant flux, due to changes in market demand. For instance, you may have heard the terms buyer’s and seller’s markets. These refer to times when the market swings in favor of buyers and sellers, respectively, due to too little or too much demand for housing.

Many external factors outside of your control can influence the value of your home – such as the sudden and unexpected rise of a global pandemic. Sometimes, it’s better to wait until market conditions become more favorable before seeking to sell your home.

Ideally, you would have high housing demand in your area along with low inventory. Conversely, you’ll likely wish to avoid buying a home in a seller’s market when prices are going upward. After all, real estate is a classic example of a “buy low, sell high” investment – you don’t want to make a purchase if prices are likely to go downward, not upward in the future.

Note that having a look at housing market predictions and forecasts can help you get a better sense of where the market sits at present.