If you’re thinking, “I can’t sell my house in Edmonton Alberta,” this article has been written just for you. Maybe you’ve been trying to sell your Edmonton house for a while now and haven’t received any offers. or maybe you need some guidance to stop foreclosure. There’s no reason to panic! You still have several options at your disposal to help you sell your house for a fair price.
You’ve probably already tried this first option at least once: Lowering the asking price.
Everybody wants to sell their house for more than they paid for it. However, as we know housing prices in Alberta have been decreasing for some time now. For starters, the oil price has been dropping for some time and by extension, the local economy has suffered. And now we are dealing with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and all of its adverse effects. One positive in all this is that banks have been reducing their fixed and variable mortgage rates. But despite that, the banks are tightening up their financing requirements making it more difficult for buyers to qualify for a purchase. These situations have just added to the complexity of selling your home; never mind whether or not your home has some sort of structural or location issue. The result of all this uncertainty is you may have to reduce your asking price.
So…..What are my options if I can’t sell my house in Edmonton?
Here are five other things you can try when you can’t sell your house in Edmonton:
1) Take It Off the Market
Trying to sell your home at a difficult time such as this, when there is so much economic uncertainty, tightened bank lending, increasing mobility restrictions, and a winter that just won’t end, may just not make sense.
If this is the case, you may be best served by taking your home off the market for a few months – if you can afford to keep paying your mortgage – and wait until market conditions improve.
2) Take Out a HELOC or Second Mortgage
If you have built a lot of equity in your home, you may want to take out a home equity loan — if you can afford to pay the higher monthly payment, that is. If not, you may be able to renegotiate a loan modification plan with your lender. Perhaps if your mortgage is up for renewal you could convert to a variable rate mortgage? That may free up some money in the near term because as i write this, variable rates are lower than fixed. But you would have the risk of rising fixed rates when the economy eventually recovers. And signing up for a new, albeit less expensive mortgage, while decreasing your payment in the short term, may lock you in for an extended period ultimately limiting your options. It can be confusing! Feel free to call us and discuss your options. SUNRISE HOME BUYERS…we are here to help.
3) Rent Out Your Home
If you can’t sell your home and don’t want to hold two mortgages (your old home and your new home) one option may be to rent out your home at or near the price of your monthly mortgage payment. That allows you to apply the rent to your mortgage without having to incur any additional expense – other than upkeep, maintenance and repairs.
4) Consider a Short Sale
“I can’t sell my house in Edmonton because I owe too much!” This can happen if you purchased your home within the past few years and currently owe more than the home is worth ( this is called being upside down).
In some instances, you can negotiate with your lender to accept less than what you owe on your mortgage. As I am sure you have heard, in many cases, Canadian banks are currently deferring mortgage payments for up to six months. If it looks like the other option for you is foreclosure, your lender probably will accept a short sale.
To do this, you’ll need to have a buyer on board who can close quickly. Fortunately, we can! Give us a call today at (587) 982-7576 for a no-hassle offer on your house.
Keep in mind, however, that short sales CAN affect your credit. Redeeming a pre-foreclosure on your credit history might disqualify you from getting another mortgage, at least in the short term.
5) Offer a “Rent to Own” Option
A rent to own option is when you rent your house to somebody with the option to purchase your home at or before the agreed upon contract expires. This is a good option if you can’t find qualified buyers because you can collect rent plus a lease option fee from a tenant while giving them time to save up for a down payment and establish their credit so they can get a mortgage to buy your home in the future, usually one to two years.
You also can add a lease premium to their monthly rent that can either be applied to the down payment later or – if they don’t end up exercising their option to buy your home – you can keep it as income. However, it is HIGHLY recommended to get experienced help with setting up a complex contract such as this. Without proper safeguards this option can end up creating predicaments for both the buyer and seller. GET HELP!
I Can’t Sell My House in Edmonton Alberta!
If you are interested in learning about more options to stop foreclosure or simply selling your home in Edmonton, St Albert, Sherwood Park, or Spruce Grove, Alberta, call us at (587) 982-7576 to discuss these and other alternatives or fill out the form on this page to get more information sent to you right away.