Selling Your Home to Relocate

As the Great Resignation causes many Americans to reassess their work situations, career exploration is on the rise and that sometimes means relocating within the country or seeking out global options. A dream job with Netflix in Paris or Microsoft in Seattle could be enticing enough to sell your house and seize the opportunity of an amazing career move.

But packing up your belongings and starting a new life in a different state, coast, or overseas on a tight deadline is no easy task. Relocating for a job when you own a house can be especially challenging.(1) If you are planning to sell your home and relocate, there are a few things you should consider before putting your home on the market:

1. Determine the value of your home: It is essential to understand how much your home is worth before you start the selling process. You can do this by looking at recent home sales in your area or getting a professional appraisal.
2. Find a real estate agent: A real estate agent can help you navigate the process of selling your home and assist you in finding a buyer. It is a good idea to interview a few agents and choose one who you feel comfortable working with and who has a track record of success.
3. Make necessary repairs: Before you list your home, making any necessary repairs or updates is a good idea. This can help improve the value of your home and make it more attractive to potential buyers.
4. Stage your home: Staging your home can help it appeal to a wider range of buyers. This may involve rearranging furniture, decluttering, and making small repairs.
5. Set a price: Work with your real estate agent to determine the right asking price for your home. It is essential to price your home competitively but not too low.
6. Market your home: Your real estate agent will help you market your home to potential buyers. This may involve listing it on MLS, hosting open houses, and utilizing social media and other marketing channels.
7. Negotiate with buyers: When you receive an offer on your home, your agent will help you negotiate with the buyer to agree on price and other terms.
8. Close the sale: Once you have accepted an offer and the buyer has completed any necessary inspections, your real estate agent will help you close the sale and complete the necessary paperwork.

We buy houses in Pennsylvania, and we can help you get a fast cash offer to enable you relocate fast.

Relocating for a job can mean moving sooner than intended. If you purchased the home recently, such as a year or two ago, you might haven’t built up much equity. (Home equity is a homeowner’s financial stake in their property, free of their mortgage loan obligation.)

When you sell, you’ll need to ensure that the value of your home will cover your outstanding mortgage balance in addition to selling expenses amounting to around 6%-10%. Otherwise, it’s possible that you would need to pay money at closing to settle up.

Moving expenses related to a job relocation are not tax deductible unless you are an active member of the Armed Forces permanently relocating due to a military order.

If you’re thinking, “Wait, I thought any job relocation qualified for this” — your memory serves you correctly. You used to be able to deduct moving expenses if your new home was at least 50 miles closer to your new job than your old home was (the distance test), and you’d been working that job full-time for 39 weeks within the first year after you moved (the time test).

But the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of January 2018 excluded all but active military from the opportunity to claim this deduction. So unless you’re military, do not budget using this tax break. We buy houses in Pennsylvania, and our expert guidance will help you gain a reasonable profit on your sale.

Your timeline for starting your new job, combined with market conditions, will determine whether you could sell your home within days, weeks, or months — or if you’re better off renting it out for a bit. 

If the demand for housing outpaces supply, as it has for the past year or so, you can breathe a little easier, knowing that your home likely won’t sit on the market for long. Nationwide, properties in January stayed on the market for 19 days, with 79% of listings on the market less than a month, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

What’s more, every home sold received 3.9 offers; 46% of respondents said buyers’ offers were above list price, NAR statistics show. Escape these challenges and sell my house fast Pennsylvania.

When you’re selling a house for a job relocation, you also need to plot out where you’ll live next. Some homeowners become so frazzled that they focus solely on the former and wind up with their homes under contract without knowing whether they’re going to buy or rent in their new location, Arledge says.

“You don’t want to find yourself homeless,” she says. “You also want to give yourself a reasonable amount of time to get out of the house.

Have a realistic conversation with your real estate agent about the best way to handle the changeover. Consider a sale-leaseback agreement for a few weeks, she suggests.

Also known as a seller rent-back agreement or a holdover, this allows you to stay in your home for a designated period ‌of time after you sell. Essentially, it makes the buyer your landlord so you have time to rent or buy a new home and arrange for the movers to collect your belongings.



Anne Sena, a real estate agent with a combined 24 years of experience in New York and Tennessee, says that rent-back situations have become more common during the current market because houses sell so fast, sellers need more time to transition.