When is the best time to sell a house?

 sellmycastle.com

 

 

You may have read or heard from friends and experts alike that there is a specific "best" time of year to sell a house. However, this advice can be contradictory. For example, one expert may advise you to sell in spring when the flowers are in bloom and the weather will entice buyers to come outside, while another will tell you to sell in winter when there is a lower level of competition. Summer also has its advocates, because families have more free time over the summer holidays before kids go back to school.

If you're planning on selling your property, this advice can be quite confusing. It may have even led you to put your sale off in order to wait for the "perfect" time. Who should you believe? What do the facts and data say? To start planning the right time to sell your property, it's helpful to speak to a good real estate agent who knows your local market well.

The best time a sell a house will depend on local market trends as well as your personal life situation. The following are a few of the main factors that will play into this decision.

Reasons for Selling 

 

One of the first factors to consider is whether or not you need to move immediately. Your reason for selling is a major issue. Do you have circumstances that require you to sell your home, such as a job transfer or an ailing parent? These could be life situations that give you limited choice when it comes time to sell your property. However, you can still take a look at your finances and the equity that you have built in your home.

If you have built a considerable level of equity or you work for a company that's willing to pay for the cost of relocation, you could rent out your home until you are ready to put it on the market. Because selling a house and changing jobs are both stressful life events, it may be a better idea to wait until you are already settled in the new location if you can afford to do so.

 

Your Location's Impact 

 

The location of your property will also have an impact on the best time to sell. Are you going to be selling your residence in an urban location, or an investment property in a beachside town? A beachside property may be more appealing to the buyer who views it during a summer trip, for example. However, with the use of the internet to screen properties these days, many buyers will actually look for their ideal holiday home at other points of the year. This traditional advice may not always work in all situations.

You can sit down for a chat with your real estate agent to discuss the time frame when buyers will be most likely to view your property. The internet is often used for primary research, but most buyers will still want to see the property in person. Open houses during these peak times of year can become an extremely important part of your sales process. This could generate serious interest in buyers who initially were only casually thinking about purchasing a beachfront property. You will not want to miss out on this opportunity.

Online Searches 

 

With the prevalence of the internet around the world, home selling and buying has become far more sophisticated. Buyers can search for potential properties at any time of the day, from anywhere in the world.

While out of state or overseas investors may have missed out on viewings due to long distances in the past, they can look at your house anytime they please. This means that there is no longer the best time to sell a property when you take the internet into account.

 

Market Conditions 

 

If you're thinking about selling your house in a buyer's market, you may wish to hold off and wait until the market warms up. However, at the same time you'll want to take a look at interest rates. If rates and property prices are low, this could work out in your favour if you need to buy a new property. If you wait until the prices start to go higher, you will also be buying in a seller's market. Predicting the timing of these markets is difficult, even for professionals. You should speak to a real estate agent who is an expert in timing the market to get a better idea of what might work for you. Compare agent qualifications using the handy online dashboard at sellmycastle.com.au.  It's important to take your own situation into account to see how long you can afford to wait on the market.

 

Season or Time of Year 

 

Traditionally, spring has been considered the best selling season for properties. This is the time of year when homes and gardens look their finest, and everyone is out and about to enjoy the weather. Families often prefer to buy a new home before the dog days of summer set in and the chaos of a new school year starts up in autumn. However, because this is the favoured time to sell it means there is more competition on the market. You'll need to work extra hard to ensure that your home stands out from the local competition, in terms of both appeal and price.

Yet autumn is also a time when some of the strongest sales occur. March in particular seems to be a strong month for property sales, according to RPData.com. This could be due to its timing right after the holidays, when focus on buying starts to pick up again.

Don't rely solely on data to choose the best time to sell a property. You need to take all of the above factors into account along with your own unique needs and circumstances. Be sure to discuss this issue thoroughly with a qualified real estate agent to find the right time to fit your needs.