The problem with selling these days is not just the well-documented “lock-in” effect of not wanting to give up a sub-3% mortgage, it’s paying taxes on your proceeds.

 

Selling a home is a taxable event. Even if you're buying another home! You get $250K tax-free ($500K married, if you've lived there two of the last five years), but the rest hits you with long-term capital gains (up to 20% federal, plus our state, which taxes proceeds as ordinary income, up to 13%). Consult your CPA, this is not tax advice.

 

The real killer? Sellers can't find replacement homes in one of the lowest-inventory markets on record. People aren’t selling homes because there's nothing to buy… because people aren’t selling homes.

 

Chicken, egg, nowhere to go.

 

 

There are people who buy homes for a living. They're called flippers. Most people think flipping is about the renovation, but that's not the hard part; that's easy, standardized, and often fun. That's the part they put on TV. The real skill is buying low and buying low consistently. That's hard.

 

What I'm seeing right now is smart flippers picking up houses for a song that have been sitting on the market with one or two major issues. These are the "girls with glasses" from every 80s rom-com: glasses come off, and suddenly you're looking at a movie star.

 

Anything that's not “bread-and-butter” is getting passed up – if you have the imagination and means to solve some problems, the market will pay you to do so.

 

No one wants to do expensive renovations anymore, but remember, you don't have to do everything. Floors, paint, move in, then do the rest in five years. Don't overlook the Ugly Bettys.