What is the Best Time of Year to Sell Your House?

It has long been believed that springtime is the optimal time to put your existing home on the market and move on to the next phase of your life. In a perfect world, that might be the ideal scenario. In the real world, the timing for selling your home is not always a matter of personal choice. Changes in employment opportunities, family circumstances or finances can alter your present reality and dictate the need to sell your home at any time of year.

In reality, people buy and sell houses every day and under every imaginable circumstance. If you find yourself preparing to sell your house on the open market in the middle of winter or at the end of the summer home buying season, you can optimize your chances of quick success with a little advanced preparation.

• Remember, just as you may be forced to sell your home at a less than ideal time, there are always people out there being forced to purchase a new home at a less than ideal time. For every house that is up for sale, there is a buyer hoping to buy. Always believe there is someone out there looking for exactly what you have to offer.
• Don’t slack off with your home upkeep just because you think you’re in the off-season. Keep your landscaping as pristine as possible. Rake up fallen branches, shovel sidewalks and driveways and try to add a splash of color to improve the curb appeal of your property.
• Enlist the services of a vibrant, active real estate agent. Don’t be satisfied with someone who simply lists your property to sell your house. Now, in the low cycle of home buying, you need a proactive sales agent more than ever. A good agent will find that potential buyer, wherever they may be lurking.
• Be realistic in your expectations. You may know the hidden virtues of your home, but buyers are looking for a reasonable deal. You may lose more in the long run by trying to overprice your home than by being a bit forgiving in your pricing. Keep in mind that the cost of continuing ownership could far outweigh the extra few thousand dollars you want to hold out for on the initial selling price.
• Neutralize your home. Remove as many items of your personal taste as possible. Your mementos and souvenirs reflect your life, not your buyer’s. Let them envision their own decorating scheme as they view your well-staged and neatly appointed rooms. Make your home as neutral as possible. Repaint if necessary to provide an unrestricted vision of what your home has to offer.
• Spread the word among friends, family and acquaintances that you are in the market to sell. People who may be waiting until spring to start looking may jump at the chance to make a deal sooner rather than later if they know about an opportunity. Try to get the word out to latent buyers that the time may be right for them.

Depending on your point of view, there is either no perfect time to Sell Your House or every time has the potential to get you the perfect deal. Some aspects of selling your home may be out of your control, such as the economy, the location of your property or the current tastes and trends in real estate.

You can’t worry yourself over things you can’t control. If the time has come for you to sell your home, work with what you can control and make the most of every opportunity. You will be able to sell your home, regardless of the time of year.