What Is the Best Time of Year to Sell My House?
Are you considering selling your home? Like most of us, you probably don’t take on an enormous life change very often—so it’s normal to feel a bit overwhelmed by your choices when deciding to cash in on your home’s value.
Step one? Choose your timing wisely.
Choosing the best month to sell your home might not seem like a huge consideration compared to other items on your to-do list. But that choice can mean the difference between a frustrating, complicated move-out and a quick, relatively pain-free sale process. Carefully considered timing will not only maximize your profit, but it can minimize the amount of time it takes to sell and (huge!) the impact on your family’s routine.
REALTOR®s generally report that the worst month to sell your house in December when sellers’ home showings fade to zero because families are tied up with holiday plans. After that, the numbers increase, ticking steadily up as warm weather approaches. In fact, according to online home-selling platform Zillow, “Homes sold in the first half of May sell 6 days faster and for $1,600 more than the average listing.”
Conventional wisdom indicates that spring is the best time of year to list a property. But why?
Help from Uncle Sam
Spring is typically the time when taxpayers have received their income tax refunds and have extra cash to dish out for mortgage financing.
School’s Out
Families with schoolchildren are constrained by a school’s calendar, so they usually want to buy a home with an early summer move-in date—meaning spring is house-hunting time for them. If you’ve got schoolchildren, plan for your home’s sale to take about 45 days after you’ve accepted an offer, so you can work backwards to predict when you need to put your house on the market.
Lookin’ Fine
Sojourn REALTOR® Charlsie Barfield offers this advice about home sale seasonality, “Home-sellers benefit from spring’s warmer weather because front yards are coming to life, adding to a home’s curb appeal. When your house is photographed, it always looks more appealing in spring than winter.”
Military Market
Barfield also points out that Central Texas has a fresh influx of homebuyers every year in late spring and summer when the military moves hundreds of families to Fort Hood—every one of them are looking for a home nearby.
No Time Like the Present
“Right now in Central Texas, it’s a great time to pull out your home’s equity by selling and taking advantage of the area’s low inventory—meaning there’s less competition for sellers,” says Kirbi Barbosa, a Sojourn Real Estate REALTOR®. “Spring is usually a very strong market here, to begin with, but extraordinarily low-interest rates right now have really pushed buyers to explore home-buying options they might not have had before.”
Quick Tips
Vie for Weekend Buyers
Most buyers tend to check out listings on Thursdays and Fridays in order to line up showings for the weekend. No matter what time of year you decide to sell your home, aim to officially list it as close to the weekend as possible.
Spruce It Up
If you want to maximize your home’s ability to sell for top dollar, download our checklist of easy fixes that will prep your property for sale.
Predicting Behavior
For help tracking mortgage rate trends to help predict when buyers are on the move, try this tracker by Realtor.com.
Find an Expert Guide
Remember, Sojourn Real Estate agents have years of experience selling homes in Bell County. We can help you decide on the best time to sell your home and maximize its profit potential.
