Selling your home is a big decision, and the fears are real. Here are the ten most common reasons Vancouver homeowners hesitate - and honest advice for each one.
I’ve been selling homes in Vancouver for 20 years, and in that time I’ve heard every reason not to sell. Some of them are perfectly rational. Some of them are fear dressed up as logic. Most are a mix of both.
Here’s the thing: selling your home is one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll make. Being nervous about it doesn’t make you indecisive. It makes you human. But there’s a difference between healthy caution and paralysis, and too many Vancouver homeowners are stuck on the wrong side of that line.
These are the ten fears I hear most often---and what I tell people when they bring them up. No spin. No sales pitch. Just what I’d say to a friend sitting across the table.
1. “I Won’t Find Anything to Buy”
I hear this one at least twice a week. And honestly? It’s the most legitimate fear on this list.
Vancouver inventory has been tight for years. You’ve got a great place, you know what you want next, and you’re terrified of selling into a market where you’ll be fighting 15 other buyers for every halfway decent home. That fear isn’t irrational. It’s based on real experience.
What to do about it
Start your search before you list. Seriously. Spend two or three months actively looking---not casually browsing Realtor.ca at midnight, but actually going to open houses, getting a feel for what’s out there and what things cost. You’ll either find that the market is more active than you thought, or you’ll confirm that timing matters and you need a strategy.
The other option is a subject-to-sale offer or a long completion. In Vancouver, 60- to 90-day completions are common, and a good agent can negotiate terms that give you time to find your next home after you’ve locked in a sale. Some sellers also use bridge financing to buy first, then sell. It’s not free money, but it solves the “homeless between homes” problem.
The worst thing you can do is wait for inventory to magically increase. If you need to move, build a plan with your agent. If you don’t need to move, that’s fine too---but be honest about which camp you’re in. For more strategies around timing, check out our 2026 Sellers Guide.
2. “I’ll Lose My Low Mortgage Rate”
This is the modern version of golden handcuffs. You locked in at 1.8% during COVID, or maybe you renewed at 2.5% in early 2022, and the idea of taking on a mortgage at today’s rates makes your stomach turn. I get it.
But here’s what most people don’t calculate: the cost of staying.
What to do about it
Run the actual numbers. If your current home is worth $1.8M and you’re sitting on $600K in equity, but the home you actually want costs $1.2M, you might be carrying a much smaller mortgage at the higher rate. Your monthly payment could stay the same---or even drop.
Also, rates aren’t static. The Bank of Canada has been adjusting throughout 2025, and most economists expect further movement in 2026. You’re not signing up for today’s rate forever. You’re signing up for a five-year term, and within that term, you can explore variable options or renegotiate.
The rate lock-in effect has kept thousands of Vancouver homeowners in homes that no longer fit their lives. Spare bedrooms sitting empty. Commutes that don’t make sense anymore. Neighbourhoods their kids have long since left. Sometimes the math works out better than you think. Sometimes it doesn’t. But you owe it to yourself to actually do the math instead of assuming the worst.
3. “The Market Might Go Up After I Sell”
FOMO. The classic. What if your house is worth $200K more next year?
It might be. It also might not. I’ve watched people hold through the 2022 correction and lose more on paper in six months than they would have paid in commission twice over. Nobody has a crystal ball---not you, not me, not the guy at your dinner party who bought Bitcoin in 2013 and thinks he can time every market.
What to do about it
Remember that when you sell and buy in the same market, you’re both a seller and a buyer. If prices go up 10% after you sell, your next home also went up 10% in value. It’s roughly a wash unless you’re cashing out entirely and moving to a cheaper market.
The question isn’t “will prices go up?” The question is “does selling right now serve my life goals?” If you’re downsizing, moving for work, splitting up, or restructuring your finances, the market’s direction six months from now is noise. Make decisions based on your circumstances, not on hypothetical future prices.
4. “My Home Isn’t Ready to Show”
Perfection paralysis. The kitchen is from 2003. The master bathroom has that tile you’ve been meaning to replace since Harper was PM. The backyard looks like a before photo on a landscaping show.
You’d be amazed how many people stay frozen in this loop for years. “We’ll sell once we finish the reno.” The reno never finishes.
What to do about it
Most homes don’t need a full renovation before listing. What they need is a strategic cleanup. A weekend of decluttering, a coat of fresh paint on the main walls, maybe some new hardware on those kitchen cabinets. A professional stager can transform a tired-looking home for $3,000 to $5,000, and that investment almost always comes back tenfold.
The 80/20 rule of pre-sale prep
Focus on the 20% of work that creates 80% of the visual impact. That means: clean windows, fresh grout, a tidy front entrance, and clear countertops. Buyers can handle dated finishes. What they can’t handle is a home that feels neglected.
If your home genuinely needs major work---a failing roof, knob-and-tube wiring, structural issues---price accordingly and market to the right buyer. Not every home has to be magazine-ready. Some of the best sales I’ve done were “as-is” properties priced correctly for buyers who wanted to do it their way.
5. “I’ll Have to Pay Too Much in Capital Gains”
This one scares people because the numbers sound enormous. And look, on a $2M Vancouver property that you bought for $800K, the math can feel brutal.
But here’s what a lot of homeowners don’t realize: if this is your principal residence, you likely owe zero capital gains tax. None. The principal residence exemption in Canada shelters your primary home from capital gains entirely.
What to do about it
The exemption applies to your principal residence for every year you designate it as such. One property per family per year. If this has been your main home the entire time you’ve owned it, your gain is fully sheltered.
Where it gets complicated is if you’ve been renting part of it out, if you own a second property, or if you’ve been non-resident for part of the time. In those cases, talk to a tax accountant---not your neighbour, not a forum, an actual CPA who deals with real estate. A one-hour consultation can save you from either overpaying or, worse, getting a nasty surprise from CRA two years later.
For most Vancouver homeowners selling their family home, capital gains tax is a non-issue. Don’t let a misunderstood tax rule keep you stuck in a house that no longer works for you.
6. “The Market Is Too Uncertain Right Now”
This is the catch-all fear. Interest rates, elections, global economics, the price of lumber---there’s always something to worry about. I’ve been doing this since 2005, and I cannot remember a single year when someone didn’t tell me “the market feels uncertain.”
You know when the market felt certain? Never. It has literally never felt certain.
What to do about it
Uncertainty is the permanent state of real estate. What changes is the type of uncertainty. In 2026, Vancouver’s market has specific dynamics: multiplex zoning is reshaping land values, immigration policy is shifting demand patterns, and interest rate trajectories are clearer than they were 18 months ago. None of that is “certain,” but it’s a workable environment.
The real question is whether your personal situation calls for a change. If you’re holding off on a move that would improve your life because you’re waiting for some magical moment of market certainty, you’ll be waiting forever. Markets reward people who make decisions with good information, not people who wait for perfect information that never arrives.
7. “I’ll Get Lowballed”
The fear of leaving money on the table. Somebody’s going to swoop in with an insulting offer, and you’ll either accept it out of desperation or watch your home sit on the market for months.
This fear usually comes from one of two places: either you’ve heard horror stories from friends, or you’ve been burned by a bad agent in the past. Both are fair.
What to do about it
Lowball offers are a feature of any market. You will probably get one. The correct response is simple: say no, or counter. A lowball offer tells you someone is interested but testing your resolve. That’s information you can use.
The real protection against lowball offers is accurate pricing from the start. When a home is priced right based on recent comparable sales---not your gut feeling, not what your neighbour got in 2021, but what’s actually happening in your sub-market this month---it attracts serious buyers who’ve done their homework. Those buyers make reasonable offers.
A home priced $150K above market to “leave room for negotiation” will sit, and sitting is what actually invites lowball offers. Price it right. Market it well. Let the market respond.
8. “I Don’t Want Strangers in My House”
This one is more common than you’d think, and I respect it. Your home is your private space. The idea of random people opening your closets, peering into your medicine cabinet, and judging your furniture choices is genuinely uncomfortable for a lot of homeowners.
What to do about it
A few practical things help. First, your agent should always be present or have another licensed agent present at every showing. No unaccompanied tours. Second, remove or secure anything personal---medications, financial documents, small valuables. Not because most buyers are dishonest, but because peace of mind matters.
Managing the disruption
You can also limit showing times to specific windows. Evening-only showings. Weekend blocks. Appointment-only with 24-hour notice. You don’t have to turn your life upside down for six weeks. A structured showing schedule reduces the chaos and gives you control.
Some sellers leave the property during listing and stay with family or rent short-term. Others just block off certain rooms. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but the discomfort is manageable with a plan.
9. “My Kids Grew Up Here”
Now we’re past the money stuff and into the real stuff.
That pencil-mark height chart on the doorframe of the hallway. The dent in the baseboard from where your kid learned to ride a bike indoors (bad idea, great memory). The backyard where every birthday party happened from ages three through thirteen.
This isn’t a fear you can spreadsheet your way out of.
What to do about it
I won’t pretend this doesn’t matter. It matters a lot. I’ve sat at kitchen tables with people who teared up talking about leaving a house, and every single time, that emotion was completely valid.
What I will say is this: the memories live in you, not in the walls. That sounds like something from a greeting card, and I apologize for that, but it happens to be true. Your kids don’t want to inherit a house that’s become a burden. They want you to be happy and comfortable in your next chapter.
Give yourself permission to grieve the change while also planning for it. Take photos. Walk through every room. Tell the stories out loud. Then decide what your next chapter looks like, and build toward it. Selling a home is not erasing a history. It’s closing one chapter and opening another.
10. “I’ll End Up Worse Off Financially”
The big one. The fear that wraps all the other fears into a single knot in your stomach. What if I sell, buy something else, and end up with less equity, higher payments, and regret?
What to do about it
This is the one fear that actually requires math instead of feelings. And the math is surprisingly straightforward.
Start with what you’ll net from the sale after commissions, legal fees, and any outstanding mortgage balance. Use a commission calculator to get realistic numbers. Then model what your purchase costs will be---including property transfer tax, legal fees, moving costs, and your new mortgage payment at current rates.
Build three scenarios
Run the numbers for a best case, an expected case, and a worst case. What if you sell for 5% less than you hope? What if the home you buy costs 5% more? Even in the worst case, most Vancouver homeowners who’ve held for five or more years are sitting on substantial equity gains. You’re almost certainly not going to end up worse off. You might just end up differently off---and that’s okay.
If the numbers don’t work, then waiting is the right call. No shame in that. But let the decision come from real math, not from a vague sense of dread. If you want help running those numbers, get in touch and we’ll walk through them together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 2026 a good time to sell a house in Vancouver?
It depends entirely on your personal situation. Vancouver’s market in 2026 is balanced in most segments, with strong demand in family-oriented neighbourhoods and increasing buyer interest tied to multiplex zoning potential. If your home sits on a lot with development upside, you may be in an especially strong position. But “good time to sell” is always relative to your financial goals, your timeline, and where you’re going next. There’s no universal answer---only your answer.
How do I sell my Vancouver home if I haven’t found a new one yet?
You have several options. You can negotiate a long completion period (60 to 90 days) that gives you time to find and close on your next home. You can make your offer on a new home subject to the sale of your current property. Or you can use bridge financing to buy first and sell second, carrying two properties briefly. Each approach has trade-offs, and the right one depends on your risk tolerance and cash reserves. We walk through these strategies in detail in our 2026 Sellers Guide.
Do I pay capital gains tax when selling my principal residence in BC?
In most cases, no. Canada’s principal residence exemption allows you to shelter the entire capital gain on your primary home from tax. You must designate the property as your principal residence for the years you owned it, and you must report the sale on your tax return even though no tax is owed. Exceptions apply if you rented part of the home, owned multiple properties, or were a non-resident during part of your ownership. Always confirm with a tax professional for your specific situation.
What’s the biggest mistake sellers make in Vancouver?
Overpricing. Hands down. The second biggest mistake is waiting too long to adjust when a home isn’t getting offers. A well-priced home in Vancouver will generate showing activity and offers within the first two to three weeks. If that’s not happening, the price is wrong---not the market. For more on pricing strategy, read our Sellers Guide for 2026.
Ready to Talk It Through?
If any of these fears hit close to home, let’s have an honest conversation. No pressure, no pitch. I’ll give you my read on your specific situation, run the numbers with you, and help you figure out whether selling makes sense right now---or whether waiting is the smarter move.
Greyden Douglas Founder & Principal Agent, Rain City Properties 20 years of Vancouver real estate experience
Call or text: (604) 218-2289
Or send us a message and we’ll set up a time to chat.
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