How Much Equity Should I Have In My Home Before Selling?
Owning a home is a tricky thing.
It’s likely the most expensive purchase you’ll ever make. It comes with a lot of upkeep. Oh, and buying it and selling it is a major pain that involves agents, paperwork, credit checks, and appraisals.
It’s natural that people want rules of thumb to make sure they aren’t doing anything stupid when it comes to buying or selling a house. One of the basic questions that needs to be answered is how much equity should I have in my home before selling?
There’s no perfect way to answer this, but here are some things worth thinking about.
The More The Better
The more equity you have in your home, the more you will get when you sell it. And like in many other areas, more is better.
The biggest thing is that you have enough equity that you get something. It’s possible to be “upside down” on your mortgage. This happens when you have so little equity that the market value dips below the amount that you owe on your loan.
If you for some other reason you need to sell your house, you’ll end up losing money by selling your home. Which has never happened to me but I can’t imagine is any fun.
