When is the Best Time to Sell Your Home?

There are so many factors going into selling your house. What should you do to make your house more attractive to sellers? What price should you list your house at? Should I stage my home? One of the biggest questions to ask yourself is when to put your home on the market. It is important not to have your home linger for very long on the market, so determining when the market will be most active will assist you in selling your home faster.

When you choose to list your home will not only affect how quickly it sells but also how much money you get for your property. To help decide the best time to sell your house, consider the benefits and drawbacks of each season. We will go through each season to determine the pros and cons.

Overall, best time of year to sell a home is usually considered the beginning of May. Homes that are listed at the end of Spring/beginning of Summer not only tend to sell faster but also for higher prices. Real estate agents often try to have their listings hit the market on a Friday or Saturday between April and June, so they can maximize the number of showing they get over the weekend and the number of buyers who come to see it. During non-pandemic times, open houses are often scheduled over this first weekend. In Canada, potential buyers tend to visit properties in greater numbers when the weather is nice.

Finding the peak time to sell sometimes depends on where you live. For areas that experience all four seasons, Spring is often considered optimal because people have been cooped up indoors throughout the Winter and are anxious to explore new housing options as soon as the weather warms up. But typically, the best time to sell a house in your area will be the best time of year to enjoy it.

This general principle explains why seasonal homes follow different timetables. Since many people tend to head North in the Summer, July and August are often considered the best time to sell a house in cottage country. In ski towns, the Winter holidays are often the best time to sell homes because there’s an influx of interested visitors.

Although Spring is often considered the ultimate time to sell a house, each season brings its own advantages and disadvantages. To determine the best season for you, weigh the pros and cons against your circumstances. Let’s take a look at what each season has to offer sellers.

Selling A House In The Spring

As the weather turns warm, buyers are energized to begin searching for houses. Blooming flowers and trees increase a houses’ curb appeal and bright, sunny days flood rooms in natural sunlight. Houses tend to look their best in the Spring, and buyers don’t have to deal with the lethargy that comes with sweltering Summer afternoons.

It isn’t just the weather that makes Spring an ideal time to sell a house. Spring is also considered the start of the residential sales season. Demand is highest during the Spring, as there are more serious buyers looking to purchase homes. Since it typically takes a few months to close on a house, many families start looking in April or May. If you purchase a house in the Spring, families can move over the Summer and ensure their kids are ready for the new school year by the start of September.

With this increased demand, sellers receive more offers. Because of the heightened amount of competition, these offers roll in faster, and houses tend to end up selling for more money. Since people are aware of the increased demand, more sellers decide to list their houses during Spring.

Because of this, a drawback of selling your home in the Spring is that there’s a lot of inventory. The supply balances out the demand, so sellers are forced to compete with each other as well. Buyers have a greater selection to choose from, so sellers must take steps to make their own homes stand out on the market. To do this, they must have a greater understanding of the current market. Sellers also have to pay attention to comparable sales to make sure that their home is priced to sell and must also review current listings to make sure that their homes are not in worse condition or priced higher than the other homes available in the area.

Selling A House In The Summer

By June and July, many of the homes that were listed in the Spring will have already sold so there is slightly less competition for sellers in the Summer. During Summer, curb appeal is still high, and longer days make for more pleasant showings. Families looking to purchase homes before the school year starts are usually more desperate and willing to make more serious offers and close quickly.

The homes leftover from the Spring likely will have been overpriced and will no longer be of interest to remaining buyers. This gives Summer sellers an advantage, as long as they price their homes competitively. Given all the sales that have taken place during the Spring, pricing is more straightforward. More homes have sold recently, so there’s more data that sellers can use to ensure their pricing is based on what buyers were willing to pay for comparable homes.

The Summer does come with very hot days. Demand can drop, because buyers may be on vacation or less willing to journey to houses when it’s too hot outside. Sellers may have to spend more time and money making their houses presentable in the Summer. Since school is out, those with children may struggle to keep their homes clean and organized. Sellers also will have to crank up the AC and pay higher utility bills as a result.

The most significant drawback to selling a house in the Summer is that buyers may request more seller concessions. Buyers have more power to negotiate as the peak season comes to an end.

Selling A House In The Fall

As the leaves fall, real estate sales tend to slow down considerably. That being said, if you’re on top of raking the leaves in your yard and checking off the items on your Fall cleaning list, you may find that your curb appeal benefits from the beauty of Fall foliage.

Although the housing supply is lower in the Fall, so is the demand. While some buyers may be keen to close before the holidays, others will stay in their homes until the weather warms up again. Interested buyers will be looking for deals.

The sellers of homes that have remained on the market through the Spring and Summer will be dropping their prices to entice buyers. This means you may have to list your home just below market value to gain more interest or offer seller concessions as a negotiation tactic.

Selling A House In The Winter

Unless you live in an area with a seasonal market, demand and supply will be at its lowest during the Winter. Listing your home during this season will mean that yours is one of the few available. With the lower inventory, more buyers will see your listing come up in their searches. Some buyers may be more eager during this time because life changes, like job relocation, force them to purchase a new home quickly.

The cold weather, however, will not only hinder most buyers from touring properties but also potentially increase issues and costs for sellers. When the temperature drops below freezing, pipes can burst and reveal other unexpected problems with homes that may be challenging to repair. To keep showings pleasant, sellers will have to heat every room in the house, meaning Winter sellers will have to spend more on heating bills than they would normally.

The sharp decline in demand may cause your home to receive fewer offers and linger on the market longer. Low-ball offers tend to be even more common during this season, so you must be prepared to negotiate.