If you currently owe money on your home loan and are ready to move, you may be grappling with whether you can sell the home before paying it off. What happens when you sell a home with a mortgage? Do you need to pay it off before you sell?

To cut right to the chase: You can absolutely sell a home with a mortgage. In fact, it happens all the time. Most mortgages come with 15- or 30-year terms, while the average time people lived in their homes before selling in 2023 was 10 years, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

“Here’s the big thing to understand: Most people have mortgages on their home,” says Kevin Bartlett, a top real estate agent in Southwest Florida who sells homes 48% quicker than other agents in his market. “And since the average person stays in their home for less than ten years, it’s extremely common to sell a home with a mortgage.”

So thankfully, you are not stuck in a home until you pay off every last dollar. Read on for what you need to know about what happens when you sell a mortgage, plus insights on how to gauge the right time to sell and set the perfect asking price when you still owe on the home.

Can you sell a house with a mortgage?

You can absolutely sell your home if you have a mortgage. Much of the process of selling a home with a mortgage is the same as selling a home you owe free and clear. The key difference is that the money you still owe your mortgage lender will come out of your sale proceeds.