More than 12 million homeowners have plans to sell their house

Hello, housing inventory

More than 12 million homeowners are planning to sell their house in the next 1.5 years. And according to new data, many of them are speeding up their initial timelines due to recent market shifts.

Inspired to sell

According to a new study from NerdWallet, 12.1 million homeowners plan to sell their homes in the next 18 months. Nearly half of those homeowners say recent shifts in the housing market have inspired them to sell sooner than they had previously planned.

Another 45 percent of homeowners say their communities have more homes for sale than a year ago.

As NerdWallet’s Holden Lewis explains, “Homeowners can see that we’re moving away from a strong seller’s market in many areas. So their feelings and motivations are shifting, too.”

Home sellers: This is the best day to sell your house (and maximize profits)

Going to great lengths

In order to ensure their homes sell, more than three-quarters of homeowners say they plan to make repairs or renovations before listing. Most plan to spend $3,000, though a small fraction plan to spend upwards of $15K on renovations.

According to Lewis, how much these sellers spend isn’t as important as what projects they spend it on.

“Homeowners preparing to sell should make their renovations count, spending where they’re most likely to increase home value and get a good return on their home improvement investments,” he said. “After that, your best return on investment comes from freshening up the kitchen and bathrooms if they’re outdated. There’s no need to go overboard. New flooring, updated fixtures and refaced cabinets might be enough.”

Home sellers made record profits in 2018; will 2019 be the same?

Though few think their home’s value is going to decrease over the next two years (just 16 percent), more than half say they’d accept a below-listing offer right now. Another 84 percent said they’d accept a low bid if they home took longer than expected to sell. Some would accept as low as 10 percent under asking price or more ($25,000 on a $250,000 home).

Get today’s mortgage rates

Are you looking to sell and take advantage of rising inventory? Then shop around and see what mortgage rates you qualify for today.