Tuesday, January 20, 2015

When is the "Best" Time to List Your Home For Sale?



"When is the best time to list my home?" I get asked this question on a pretty regular basis throughout each year. My answer is usually, "It doesn't matter when you list your home as long as it's spruced up and it's priced well." It's true that real estate listings and sales follow yearly trends fairly consistently, e.g. more homes are listed in April and May than in November and December. But consider the following argument for listing your home in November instead of May.

Listing your home in April and May can statistically hurt your chances at getting top-dollar for your home due to the increasing spring inventory and stiff competition. There is also the added inconvenience of having a large number of unqualified buyers traipse through your home with an unsuspecting agent, aka "tire-kickers" and "looky-loos." Alternatively, listing your home in November and December, a time when many sellers take their homes off the market if it didn't sell over the summer, can increase your chances of a quick sale due to decreased competition. Not to mention that buyers who take the time to look at homes around the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays are typically very qualified buyers.

As you can see, there are pros and cons no matter what month of the year you choose to list your home. But the fact remains that homes in all price ranges sell all year round...when you hire the right agent, that is. Happy selling!