Selling Your Home in the Spring

The springtime is the busiest season for house hunters for multiple reasons. Some people are optimistic with the change of seasons and others are ready to spend their tax refunds. Plus, since families are major homebuyers, you have to keep track of school schedules. No one wants to be moving in August, because then they have to deal with a home purchase while attempting to keep track of school registrations and back-to-school preparations.

Curb appeal is the key to sales, and your house is much more likely to look appealing in the spring than in the winter when everything is grey and likely appears slightly unkempt—even if it is in great condition.

In fact, buyers pay an estimated 9.5% premium on the purchase price just because they are buying in April. Additionally, 60% of annual moves occur during the summer by buyers who purchased a property in the spring.

Selling Your Home in the Summer

Listing your home for the summer can be difficult because families and luxury home buyers are often on vacation and don’t want to bother with looking for a home at this time. If your home is in the upper price range or caters to families (e.g., three or more bedrooms), the summer months are likely to be slow.

However, this is a good time to be selling vacation properties since people are keen on visiting these areas during their time off. No one wants to look at a summer home whose pool has been cleaned up for the winter.

Selling Your Home in the Fall

Early-to-mid autumn home sales can pick up since it’s still warm and children are back in school. Curb appeal also works to your advantage at this time, but make sure that you keep on top of the landscaping so that the leaves don’t take over your lawn or rain gutters. Don’t list your house too late, however, because then the closing date will land within the wintertime and people are unlikely to want to move in the cold.

Selling Your Home in the Winter

There is data to suggest that the winter months are the worst time of the year to be selling a home since people often have other priorities and don’t want to be moving their belongings through colder weather. Often selling during this season means a sacrifice in the value of your home.

Nevertheless, in some areas, the supply of houses is low in the wintertime. Some people may have no choice but to be buying a home during this time of the year, and the diminished supply during this season may allow you to demand a higher price from these types of buyers.