When it comes time to sell your home you have a lot of decisions to make, not the least of which will be when to put your home on the market. Many first-time sellers go into selling their home blindly without knowing the vital information that will help them sell their home faster and get the best price possible. One of those pieces of vital information is the best time of year to put your home on the real estate market, and it might make the difference between selling your home quickly and waiting several months to get the price you want. Before we discuss the seasons in detail, there are a couple of factors that you should get right before you even decide when to list your home, because without taking care of these issues, you could choose the best possible time of year to sell and still not have any results.
The Condition of Your Home Matters
Remember that you need to ensure your home is in the best condition possible before you list it. If you want to sell your home in three months, you should begin working on it right away. Even if you want to move out in six months, you should start immediately because you want to give buyers the impression of a home that is ready to move into. That means that maintenance and repairs that you have been putting off should be done as soon a possible so that the buyer doesn’t have to think about the work that they will have to do if they buy your home. In addition, your home needs to be stripped of your family’s identity before you start showing it to potential buyers. That means giving every single surface the white glove treatment, removing personal items and furniture that clutter up a room and possibly even bringing in different furniture to make a room look larger or to accent it better.
Pricing is Very Important Too
If you don’t price your home right, it won’t matter what time of the year you list your home because buyers aren’t going to be interested when there are many other competing homes that are priced correctly. Your real estate agent is your best source of information when it comes to pricing. They can tell you what your home is valued at, what similar homes in your area have sold for and which price range is the “sweet spot” for customers in this market. Remember that if you overprice your home at first, even if you lower the price later, buyers will wonder why the home was on the market so long without selling.
Spring & Fall Season
Spring has traditionally been touted as the best time of year to sell your home, but that is a generalization that might cost you because new market research has shown that your best time of year to sell depends very much on where your home is located. Trulia conducted a study in 2012 that May and June are both great months for peak prices, in general, but if you’re in the southern U.S. March and April are the best two months. So, while Spring is general is probably the best time to list your home, you should also include your location in deciding when to list. However, fall is also a great time to list, as prices are at their peak and you can take advantage of the seasonal theme and show off your fall colors.
Summer & Winter Season
Sales tend to be best in spring and fall, but they drop off during the summer. This could be for any number of reasons, but it is important to keep in mind that while not as many homes are sold in the summer that could be a good thing. You will have very little competition if you choose to list in the summer rather than the spring and that could mean that you sell your home more quickly than if you had listed a few months earlier.
Winter is also one of the low points in selling homes. Buyers tend not to want to house hunt during the winter but if you decide to list during the coldest season anyway you can always take advantage of holiday decorating to make your home sell faster and at a better price.