It’s important to know the best time of year to sell a house. After all, the goal when it comes to selling your home is to earn as much money as possible on your investment. Since homes are a large investment, it’s best to understand how to maximize your home value and when to sell your house. For example, window replacement helps to increase the sale price, while selling during the best times can help increase the number of people interested in your home.
Additionally, selling a home can be a stressful process. It involves a lot of planning and expense to get your home ready to put on the market. You might even have to spend money on repairs, painting, and more. It’s possible you’ll spend hours holding a garage sale, emptying your garage, and giving away things you no longer need. You’ll likely stage your home and deep clean it. This can be hard to maintain in between showings, coordinating with real estate agents, and answering questions from interested buyers.
So, it’s good to know the best time to sell a home so you can sell it quickly after only a few days on the market rather than have it sit while you wait for a real estate agent to call and book a showing.
So when should you sell your house? The best time to sell your house is usually during springtime, with summer a close second.
May
This is the best time to sell a house for the highest price. If you’re looking for advice on a specific month to list your house to get the best sale price, choose May. Research shows houses sell at more of a premium in June, and there is more competition. If you live in a hot real estate market where houses go fast, listing your house in June will give you the best chance of getting the best sale price for your home.
April
This is the best time to sell a house if you want to sell fast. There’s no doubt spring is when properties shine. The flowers are in bloom, and buyers are out. Daylight saving time also gives buyers more time to look at houses, which means your property can be seen by more buyers during the day. That means a bigger chance for more interested buyers. In April, sellers are more likely to list and sell their homes after finishing their spring cleaning or remodeling. Not to mention, this gives them ample time for the home buyers to get settled in for the summer before the next school year begins.
The Worst Months to Sell Your House
It’s also important to know when it’s a bad time to sell your home. The worst month to sell a house is in October, December, and January. These months make fewer sales in real estate compared to listings from April until June. This is likely because of their relation to the holidays.
During this time of year, most potential buyers are wrapped up in holiday plans and travel. People are focused on buying Christmas gifts, not on saving for a down payment for a house.
The cold weather makes it prohibitive for people to tour many houses, and there are not many other houses on the market. This means it’s unlikely for you to get into a multiple bidding situation where so many buyers are interested in your home; it drives up the sales price of your home.
Additionally, in the winter months, you have to take so many extra precautions to welcome prospective buyers to tour your home. If you live in an icy or snowy area, you have to be careful to keep your steps and sidewalks clear of snow and ice at all times to prevent injuries.
There are fewer buyers during the busy holiday season and fewer homes on the market; while this can make for lower competition, most sellers are best to wait and sell outside of the winter months if they want to get the most money for their home.
Also, because you can’t showcase beautiful spring flowers or summer lawns, you are not showing your house with its curb appeal looking its best.
Other Times to Sell Your Home
If you truly want to sell your home at the right time, look at the local market’s conditions and check if there are many buyers in the area. The best time of the year to sell your house depends heavily on the location of your home. Many buyers shopping in the early fall may be trying to move in time to get settled before the school year picks up or before the weather gets bad, and that feeling of urgency can be a benefit to sellers. However, many off-season shoppers are moving because of a job transfer, layoff, short sale, or family issue, so they can also be more sensitive to price. While winter is traditionally the slowest season for home sales, San Diego is warm year-round, meaning your window for selling may even be better.
Sell When You Are Ready
When it comes down to it, the best time to sell is the best time for you. All kinds of personal factors can play into your decision to sell, from job changes to family changes to just generally feeling ready. Keep the following factors in mind:
- Lifestyle changes: Job changes, relocations, a growing family, and downsizing are the most common reasons people decide to sell. Job-related moves often require a stricter timeline, whereas family-related moves can sometimes be timed to take advantage of beneficial market factors.
- Emotional preparedness: No matter the reason for your move, it’s important to make sure you’re emotionally prepared. Even if you’re moving for a logical reason — for example, you’re a recent empty-nester downsizing after your kids are grown — it can be hard to let go of the memories associated with your family home. Give yourself time.
- Financial benefits: If your home has gained substantial equity, the value you’ve built may be enough to get you a healthy down payment on your dream home or give you a comfortable cushion for retirement.
Why Spring is the Perfect Time to Sell Your House
The best time of year to sell a house is late spring to early summer. There are a few reasons why it’s best to sell your house in the spring. First, after the winter, people are typically ready to emerge from their cocoons and tour homes, go to open houses, and change their surroundings.
Secondly, houses show better in the spring. Think about it. In the spring, you can do landscaping, plant flowers, complete a nice spring cleaning, and showcase your house at its best with amazing curb appeal. The sky is brighter and free from the dark gray colors of winter. You can open your windows, air out the house, and welcome people into your home with confidence.
Additionally, many people also get tax refunds in the spring, allowing them to have more cash on hand. They can use that cash for down payments or to pay down debt and improve their credit scores, which can enable them to qualify for a mortgage.
For families, buying your house in the late spring to early summer typically means they’ll close on the home sometime in the summer. This means their children can finish out the school year at their current schools and have the summer to readjust to a new neighborhood before potentially attending a new school in the fall.
There is also more time to show houses in the spring and summer. The days are longer and sunnier, which means you can fit in more time slots for real estate agents to show their potential buyers your home. For all these reasons and more, houses that real estate agents list in June typically have the fewest median days on the market and the highest median sales price.
Knowing the Market Conditions
A buyer’s market usually lasts about two to three years, when there are more houses for sale than there are house hunters. As a seller, you’ll need to offer more incentives to compete with buyers and be willing to adjust your price down if needed.
Tips for selling in a buyer's market:
- Plan on paying for repairs. When there are more houses for sale than buyers, your home will have to be in tip-top shape to compete. If repair issues come up during the home inspection process, be prepared to fix them.
- Offer to pay closing costs. Mortgage programs may allow you to pay up to 9% of a buyer’s closing costs, depending on the loan type and the buyer’s down payment amount.
A seller’s market is when there are more home buyers than there are available homes for sale. Sellers have more control to demand premiums and may even require buyers to offer more than the sales price in a very competitive market. Seller’s markets typically last 15 to 16 years.
Tips for selling in a seller’s market:
- Prepare for appraised value issues. If you receive an offer that requires mortgage financing, have a plan if the home appraisal comes in lower than the sales price you accept. You can either lower your price to match the appraisal, reject it outright, or ask the buyer to pay the difference.
- Be ready to move fast. You may find buyers willing to make all-cash offers, which means you could be moving out in weeks, not months. Make sure your move-out plans are set before you list your home in a hot market.
There you have it; now you know the best and worst months to sell a house in the local housing market. Make sure you check with your real estate professionals and their market data to ensure that this is when the most home-buying occurs, as all markets have their unique situations.
Of course, other factors can influence the sale of a home, but if you are looking to get at least your asking price and perhaps multiple offers, then it’s a good idea to sell when there are plenty of buyers looking for houses and ready to move.
If you’re looking to sell your home, you may want to remodel your home. For those in search of a window replacement company in San Diego, look no further than US Window & Door. We offer premium replacement Milgard products that are highly energy-efficient and instantly boost curb appeal. Schedule an in-home estimate* today and see how we can improve your home value.
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