Spring Time = Selling Time?

If I've been asked once, I've been asked a few dozen times... "When is the best time to put your home on the market?"

Well, if you have that luxury of a choice... In other words you aren't being transferred or forced to sell.... you'll need to do some thinking.

Many people... in the real estate business and out of the real estate business point to spring. This hypothesis has many supporting factors.
The snow is gone.
It's easier for buyers to get around.
The properties show better.
People's attitudes improve.
Pools look better when they are open.
The sale would conclude in sync with the end of school...

Any other ideas? There are tons of "reasons" we can collectively come up with.

Now, it is true, around the Capital District, we see more houses come on the market in the spring. So, often we will meet with sellers who are anxious to embrace the method of getting their house on the market, before the spring rush. So as to avoid a higher number of competing properties.

Ideally, I guess you would like to be the only house for sale, right ? That way the buyers would only have one choice! And if there were many buyers, like we would hope there would be, they would fight over it! Drive the price up.

Of course, this is rarely the case! More accurately, never the case! So sellers, or potential sellers, if you will, need to be savvy and figure out when to put their house on the market. But, more importantly they need to research the current conditions. They need to be informed as to how many houses, reasonably similar to theirs, are out there right now. They need to be brutally honest and consider how their house measures up to those houses. They have to think like a buyer. "Hmmm... if I had xxxxxxxx number of dollars to spend, I wanted to buy a house like this one... why should I buy this one, instead of that one?

So really, the answer is, you need to put your home on the market when it suits your situation and timing. Whether it is spring, summer, fall, or winter. But more important is that you need to have your real estate rep research the market. Place your property into the existing inventory in such a way that it will look like, if not THE BEST, one of the best deals available right now! See, you need to realize, that how your price your home and place it in the buyer's sites is going to do one of two things. It will help other homes to get sold. Or it will sell itself, because it appears to be the best deal out there! I have often re-assured sellers who might call me and point out that, "such and such a house just went on the market... very similar to ours.... and they are asking xxxxx dollars more than we are!" Well, we should call them up and thank them shouldn't we? They are going to help the buyers to make a decision.... our house is a better deal!

Crazy business this real estate, isn't it?

Stay in touch. Keep looking at market conditions. Make smart, not emotional, decisions.

Questions? Call me 518-438-4511 or email me at sstaples@RealtyUSA.com