Lately, I’ve been getting the same question over and over: ‘Is now even a good time to sell?’ And honestly… the answer might surprise you.
For a lot of homeowners, the answer is actually a big yes.
Why? It really comes down to one big advantage: your equity. If you’ve been in your home for a while, you probably know you’ve built up quite a bit — but the real question is, how much? That number could completely reshape your next move.
Here’s why: you’ve got one big advantage on your side — your equity. If you’ve owned your home for a while, you probably already know you’ve built up a good amount. But the real question is, how much? That number could completely change what your next move looks like.
The Hidden Wealth of Homeownership
Here’s the basics: when you own a home, you naturally build something called equity.
Every time you make a mortgage payment, you’re slowly paying down your loan, which increases your stake in your home. On top of that, home values usually go up over time, which boosts your home’s overall value even more.
Put those two things together, and you’re basically building wealth automatically—month after month, year after year.
And together, those two factors can add up to real money—money that could make a big difference in your next move. This is especially true if you’ve been in your home for a while, which is the case for a lot of homeowners. According to Realtor.com:
“Nearly half (45.2%) of today’s homeowners have lived in their home for more than 15 years, and 1 in 4 for over 25 years.”
If that sounds like you, just think about what 15–25 years of payments plus steady home value increases could have done for your bottom line. It’s a great time to see exactly how your equity has grown.
What That Really Means in Dollars
This chart is based on research from Realtor.com and gives an estimate of how much equity homeowners have built up, depending on when they bought their home. It uses the median-priced home for each time period as a baseline, and the numbers are pretty eye-opening. According to the study, if you bought the average-priced home in…
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“Bought in the mid-90s? You might be sitting on over $400,000 in equity today.
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Early 2000s? Even after the housing crash, you could have more than $330,000.
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Bought in 2015? In just 10 years, many homeowners have already built close to $285,000 in equity.”
Of course, your exact number will depend on things like your purchase price, any updates you’ve made, the size of your original down payment, and a few other factors. The main point is…
Many homeowners are sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity—and they don’t even realize it.
Your Equity Could Power Your Next Move
This is where it gets really interesting—your equity can actually take care of almost every worry you might have about moving right now.
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Worried about higher mortgage rates? Your equity could give you a big down payment, and the more you put down, the less you’ll need to finance at today’s rates.
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Unsure if you can compete in today’s market? With your equity, you might even be able to buy your next home in cash. An all-cash offer is super appealing to sellers since they don’t have to worry about financing falling through at the last minute
Bottom Line
If you haven’t had anyone walk you through your home’s value this year, now’s a great time to take another look. You don’t have to sell—but at least you’ll know what you’re working with and just how far that number could take you
If you’d like a personalized, professional look at your equity, let’s chat.
