When you want to sell a home, it’s essential you put it on the market at a time when you can maximize return. But when is the best time to sell your home?
A case can be made for selling a home during any of the four seasons. But each time of year offers its own unique benefits. Read on to learn more about the specific benefits of choosing to sell a home during each of the four seasons.
The Benefits of Selling a Home in Spring
Let’s start with the obvious season for selling a home: spring. Spring has a reputation as the best time for home sales, and with good reason. Here’s a look at the main reasons why spring might be the best time to put your home on the market:
•School is Ending: During spring, the light at the end of the school year begins to appear, and everyone starts thinking about summer plans. Some families want to find a home in April or May so they can be moving in as soon as summer starts. This gives kids plenty of time to make new neighborhood friends before the next school year begins.
•Everything Looks Great: Most homes enjoy their best curb appeal in spring. Lawns should be green, flowers are blooming, and even temperate weather can make a home look that much more attractive. As noted below, homes look uniquely attractive around the holidays – but nothing beats the freshness of a home’s spring exterior.
•The Days of the Holidays is Over: As anyone in the real estate industry can tell you, the world seems to shut down during the holidays. Home transactions still close in December and into the New Year, but the pace doesn’t really start accelerating until spring break. When the holidays are over, there are lots more prospective buyers for sellers to market to.
The Benefits of Selling a Home in Summer
When school’s out, homeowners have more time to prepare their properties for the market, and prospective buyers have more time to shop. It’s no wonder why summer is one of the most popular times to buy and sell homes. Here’s a look at the primary reasons why this is such a popular season for home transactions
•School is Coming: Families want to be in new homes before school starts. First, it’s easier to move and get settled in before kids need to be shuttled to and from classes, as well as before school-related activities (like sports, clubs, social events, etc.) fire up. It’s even more important for a family to move before school starts if their move is going to change the schools their children are zoned to attend.
•The Days are Long: Many agents want their clients to see homes in the daylight. That’s good news for summer, when daylight hours stretch well into the evening. During the hottest months of the year, there’s seemingly more time for prospective buyers to look at properties – which can accelerate the home-purchase process.
•More Buyers: Here’s the best reason for sellers to put their homes on the market in summer: There are more prospective buyers than at any other time of year. That’s not to say selling a home in summertime is easy. You still need to prepare and stage the home, as well as settle on a strong price. But it’s nice to have the larger pool of prospects to market to.
The Benefits of Selling a Home in Fall
Yes, many families want to move into a home before school starts, which is perfectly understandable. But not all families have that luxury, and not all buyers have school-age children. In fact, there are plenty of benefits to selling your home in fall, including these:
•Back From Vacation: Summertime is busy. Kids are at camps, families are taking vacations and even real estate agents might be less reachable than they would be otherwise. When September and October hit, everyone is back from vacation – and everyone has more time to focus on closing home sales.
•Lower Prices: Spring and summer are thought to be the best times to sell a home. The market is flooded with both homes and prospective buyers. But you’re likely to see higher prices than usual in spring and summer. Because the market is hot during these times of years, sellers begin to think they can ask for the moon – and they do. Prices begin to come back down after school starts and fall begins.
•Holidays at Home: Most buyers want to be in their new homes for the holiday season. If the holiday season officially begins with Thanksgiving, that means buyers are going to be motivated to close on homes no later than October or early November. That motivation makes selling a home in fall easier than it would be otherwise.
The Benefits of Selling a Home in Winter
Selling a home in winter has a bad reputation. Ask most agents if it’s a good idea to sell in December or January, and they’ll most likely tell you to wait until spring.
But it’s not always that simple: Sometimes you need to sell your home to take a new job in a different city – or for some other compelling reason. And here’s a secret: There are some strong benefits to selling in winter. Here are just a few of them:
•Appearance: Your home can look really nice in winter. No, your lawn isn’t likely to be green, unless you live in Florida. But homes are often nicely decorated in winter, and homeowners have typically taken good care of homes during winter months as they expect family and other guests. A little bit of snowfall helps, too.
•Buyer Motivation: There may be fewer buyers around the holidays, but the ones who are looking are often very motivated. If you can stage your home appropriately and price it right, a motived buyer is going to leap at the opportunity to put in an offer.
•Less Competition: There are fewer buyers in winter, but there are also fewer homes on the market – which means less competition. Again, if you spend the time, energy and effort to prepare a home for the market, it’s certainly going to stand out in a small crowd.
What Time of Year is Best for You to Sell?
Here’s the good news: You can successfully sell a home no matter the season. Yes, spring and summer are the most attractive times to put your home on the market for the reasons mentioned above. But the right agent and the right listing can definitely fetch a strong offer in fall and winter.
Curious to learn more about successfully selling your home at different times of year? I’m always here to answer your real estate-related questions. Get in touch with me at pthessen1@gmail.com.
-submitted by Perry Thessen
