Should we sell now or wait another year?

Three numbers, then decide

1. 1What comparable houses in your subdivision closed at in the last 90 days. Closed, not listed — list prices are opinions.
2. 2What you owe today, including any second mortgage or line of credit.
3. 3Your rate, and what a replacement mortgage would cost on the house you would buy.

Those three turn a mood into an arithmetic problem. I will pull the first for your street if you ask; it takes a few minutes and it is the number most people are guessing at.

If the move is optional

A sub-4% mortgage is an asset. Giving it up to buy a similar house at today rates is a large, permanent increase in your monthly cost for a lateral move. Unless the house no longer fits your life, the arithmetic usually says stay and spend some of the difference making the house work — which is a conversation I can price, because I build as well as sell.

If you are moving regardless

Then the market you sell into and the one you buy into largely cancel out. A softer market costs you on the sale and pays you back on the purchase. The real variable is your carrying cost while the house sits: mortgage, insurance, taxes and utilities on an empty property, plus any contingency you have to accept.

The silent discount sellers forget

Roof age and HVAC age are pricing your house now, because they price the buyer insurance. A buyer who cannot get an affordable quote does not negotiate, they withdraw. That is the biggest quiet discount I see, and it is often cheaper to address than to absorb.

Before you list, work through what is actually worth fixing and, for a bigger project, which renovations add value. The full sequence is on the seller guide.

If you decide to wait

Waiting is a decision rather than a pause, so use the time. The work that shortens a future listing is the work that would otherwise become a buyer objection: the roof if it is near the end, the exterior paint, the drainage at the foundation, and anything with an open permit against it.

Keep the paperwork as you go. A closed permit, a wind mitigation report after a re-roof and the insurance declaration page are three documents that shorten negotiation later, and they cost nothing to keep in a folder.