How Soon Can You Sell a House After Buying?
Very few buyers are thinking about selling when they purchase a property, but the need to sell your home soon after purchasing it can arise for various reasons.
If you recently purchased a home and have passed the cooling-off period but now need to sell the property, you’re probably wondering, “how soon can you sell a house after buying?”
In this article, we’ll explain the rules around selling after buying as well as the impact it will have on your financial situation, so you can make an informed decision about whether selling is a smart move.
How Soon Can You Sell a House After Buying—What Are the Rules?
The short answer is that there are no rules around how quickly a homeowner can sell a property after they take ownership of it.
If you want to put your home on the market for sale immediately after purchasing it, you’re well within your rights to do so. However, it doesn’t typically make very good financial sense to sell too quickly.
The Costs Associated with Selling Soon After Buying
Generally, unless you’ve owned a property for more than two years, you’re almost sure to lose money if you were to sell. Even if you were able to achieve a similar price to what you purchased the property for, you’d likely lose out because of the costs associated with buying and selling property and would struggle to recoup your costs.
Even if you could achieve the same price you purchased the property for (or even a little more), you also need to consider other costs such as:
- the initial deposit you paid to purchase the property
- how much you spent on mortgage repayments
- the interest paid on your loan
- any loan establishment fees
- mortgage insurance premiums
- the stamp duty you paid when you purchased the property
- any mortgage early repayment penalties you may need to cover
- any capital gains tax you might be liable to pay, and
- any agent fees and other costs associated with selling your property (which you can of course avoid if you decide to sell your home yourself).
When It Can Make Sense to Sell Quickly After Buying
While selling soon after buying isn’t usually ideal, there are a few scenarios where it can make better sense to sell rather than hold onto the property, such as:
- Market conditions have changed or are changing rapidly in your area (for example, prices have recently skyrocketed or are rapidly decreasing).
- You’ve made significant improvements to the property to increase its value.
- You got a bargain when you initially purchased the house and you think you could achieve the actual market value of the property.
- The home no longer suits your family or lifestyle.
- You’ve got no choice but to sell because you can’t afford to keep the property.
While selling soon after buying isn’t always ideal, if you’re in this situation and are considering selling up, selling your house yourself is a great way to avoid paying costly agent fees—and it’s easier than you think!
Read our five steps to selling a house to find out how.