How to Choose the Best Time to Sell a House
The majority of us buy our homes expecting to pass it off onto our loved ones eventually, but sometimes, life can get in the way. Maybe our job relocates us, we need to upgrade, downgrade, or every scenario in between. You will need to know when the best time to sell a house is.
If you’re looking for the best time to list a house, then you need to consider your specific circumstances. Choosing the wrong time for your area can cost you thousands of dollars.
To help you get the most value out of your house, we’ve put together this handy guide to show you when it’s the best time of year to sell a house. Learn more and make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck.
The Best Season to Sell a House
So, when is house selling season?
It’s easy to go with the old adage that you should sell in the spring market, but the area of the country that you live in plays a huge factor.
Below, we’re going to discuss the pros and cons of the seasons, but you always need to keep your unique circumstances in mind when listing a house for sale.
Selling Your House in the Spring
When does the housing market pick up? For most people, early May is the best month to sell a house. Tax refunds have been saved to make major purchases and the weather has lightened up, it's more enjoyable for people to browse for homes. Homes also benefit in curb appeal around this time as the flowers bloom and the trees fill out.
Keep in mind that with the housing market picking up, homes for sale face more competition, and less urgent buyers. Your house may have better curb appeal and gain attention from numerous buyers, but chances are those buyers have a wide variety of equally appealing listings to choose from, making your chances of selling a little slimmer.
Selling Your House in the Summer
Spring isn’t the only time to sell, still, it does offer prime market opportunities. In fact, for some areas, June is the best time of year if you want to sell a house fast.
With summer days come summer daylight hours, extending the time you have to show your home to prospective buyers. People also usually take vacation time this season, allowing you and home shoppers more opportunity to meet.
Summer also lends a sense of urgency to home buyers. Many need to get into a home before their kids begin school, causing them to make more competitive offers to secure a deal. The summer market also allows you to use the spring sales data to gauge the best listing price.
if you live in areas where the heat becomes unbearable, then the summer months may not be the best time to sell a house.
In the summer, you may also find yourself in a seller’s market, as the number of offers on homes increases. You may also have to spend more on making your home show-ready, since this is usually the busiest time for landscapers and contractors.
Selling Your House in the Fall
Fall usually sees a dip in the housing market. However, if you live in an area where spring and summer bring terrible weather or autumn colors enhance your curb appeal, then fall may be the best time to sell a house.
Even if the prime market is during the warmer weather months, there are some advantages to listing your home in the fall.
You can easily find yourself in a buyer’s market since many people are settling in for the upcoming winter. Look out to weed out the buyers who are just window shopping.
By listing in the fall, you also have more access to home renovation professionals and landscapers at a discount, since they’re coming off of larger summer jobs and will be looking for work.
Of course, there is a reason that fall isn’t the prime selling season. The market slows as schools open and the weather begins to turn. Some homes lose their curb appeal as the foliage and plants begin to wither.
In the fall, you may have to appease more demands due to the decrease in competition between buyers.
Selling Your House in the Winter
Winter, especially December, sees the largest decrease in home sales for most of the United States. The inclement weather is enough to keep most buyers at bay, and even if it’s not, most buyers are spending their money on the holidays.
However, if you live in a southern state, such as Florida or Arizona, then the winter can be the best time to sell a house.
When selling during the winter months, you normally come across only the most serious buyers. This benefit is two-fold since your house will have significantly fewer competing homes on the market.
The winter season definitely comes with its drawbacks. If you’re desperate to sell your home, you can be at the mercy of the buyer, making deals and concessions to which you wouldn’t normally agree. You may also have a hard time showing off your beautiful yard if it’s buried underneath a pile of snow.
If you do sell your home, then you have to deal with moving during the coldest time of the year—an unpleasant task, to say the least.
Timing the Housing Market
The season isn’t the only consideration that you have to take into account when deciding to list your home on the market. One of the biggest factors that will decide if you’ll profit or if you’ll falter is your local housing market.
Selling in a Buyer’s Market
The first thing you want to analyze is your local market conditions, specifically to see if you’re in a buyer’s market. A buyer’s market is when there are more homes up for sale than there are buyers looking for them.
In these market conditions, you can expect buyers to be pickier, for your home to stay on the market for longer, and for prices to flatline. A buyer’s market can be extremely difficult for home sellers to sit through.
To make sure that you don’t take too large of a hit to your bottom line, you want to safeguard yourself as best as you can.
First, you want to study your local competition. By understanding what’s on the market in your surrounding area, you can try and leverage any additional features that you have to edge out the competition. If you have a larger yard, a pool, or are closer to a school, then you need to make sure these are highlighted. Whatever little advantage you have over another seller needs to be emphasized.
Selling in a Seller’s Market
Finding yourself in a seller’s market can be a huge boon. A seller’s market is when there are more home buyers than there are listings. During a seller’s market, you can expect to receive more offers and a chance to sell at the price that you want.
But just because supply and demand are in your favor doesn’t mean that there won’t be obstacles to selling. You still have to set a reasonable price for your area, and you still have to invest in staging your home.
If you have trouble making decisions, you might have trouble with the multiple offers that you receive to determine which offer is the best for you. You may also have to sell and vacate your home before you’ve established another house. This could lead you into renting a place and having to enter the market as a buyer in a seller’s market.
You Determine the Best Time to Sell
You don’t always have the option of choosing when is the best time to sell a house. But ultimately, the best time to sell depends on many different factors. Maybe you’ve been offered a new job too far to commute to, or your family is growing, or your kids have left the house and you just don’t feel like cleaning such a large space.
You might be prepared for the move, or it might be a sudden decision forced on you. But selling your home doesn’t have to be a daunting endeavor. If you want to sell your home quickly and without having to hire a real estate agent, landscapers, and major repairs, then you will want the look into a company like House Buyers of America. With the help of a professional home buyer, like House Buyers of America, selling your home can be a quick, easy and hassle-free task.
At House Buyers of America, we offer you a way to escape the need to research the best time to sell a house. Unlike the traditional method of selling your house, we buy houses for cash!
Call us today at 855-659-3289 or use our online form to get started! We’ll get you a cash offer within 10 minutes and walk you through the process of selling your house for cash.
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Unlike traditional real estate agencies, we do not require you to: Clean or prepare your home for sale Be present for viewings or open houses Wait until a potential buyer receives loan approval Complete costly repairs Pay a commission fee Instead, we make the house selling process easy by: Providing you with a fair cash offer in just a few minutes Buying your property AS IS, no matter the size or condition Paying you cash upon settlement of your house Providing outstanding customer experience with our real estate team Offering cutting-edge technology to simplify the home selling process How We Make A Quick House Sale Possible If you are hoping to “sell house for cash quickly” or “sell house for cash fast”, we’re here to help. We make it possible for you to: Move forward with your life in a matter of days (not months or a year) Sell your home without cleaning or renovating Save money by avoiding commission fees and closing costs Walk away with cash in your pocket Why Sell Your House to House Buyers of America? In business since 2001, thousands of homes purchased We close on time You never pay any commissions (yep, none!) We work with your schedule If you sell your house to us, you have no worries, no commissions, and no delays. Why deal with the headache of staging a home, scheduling open houses and maintaining listings? Contact us now to sell your house fast and save time and money. We have bought thousands of homes since 2001. When you sell your house to us, you are dealing with a local, established company. You can visit our office and talk with us any time if you have questions or concerns. We even provide you with a real estate consultant to help you through every step of the process. 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After you answer just a few questions, you’ll have the option to accept a fair cash offer, sign a sales agreement, and close the deal. We know it’s hard to believe, but really, that’s it! Sell Home Fast and Fast House Buying House Buyers of America is one of the leading services for people looking for companies promising a cash offer for their homes in Maryland. Are you looking to sell your home? Do you want your home bought now? Rely on House Buyers of America to buy your house fast, AS IS for cash without the hassle of commissions or a lengthy sales process. If you need more convincing, check out these customer sold homes stories. Call us now at 855-336-7167 or fill out our online form to get a cash offer in 10 minutes! Cities and Counties in Maryland Where We Buy Houses Aberdeen Adelphi Annapolis Baltimore Bel-Air Beltsville Bowie Burtonsville Bushwood Catonsville Chesapeake Beach Chevy Chase Chillum Clinton Colesville College Park Columbia Crofton Darnestown Edgewater Eldersburg Elkton Essex Fells Point Fort Washington Frederick Gaithersburg Glen Burnie Greenbelt Gwynn Oak Halethorpe Havre De Grace Hyattsville Indian Head Lanham Leonardtown Lexington Park Lochearn Marlow Heights Mechanicsville Milford Mill Monkton Monrovia Montgomery County Mount Rainier Nanjemoy Olney Oxon Hill Pikesville Potomac Prince George's County Randallstown Rockville Rosedale Walkersville West River White Plains And more! We’ve worked hard to establish the best platform for quickly selling your home in Maryland. With our “We Buy Maryland Houses” program, you can quickly get your home off your hands, all for a very fair price. We’d love to chat more about finding ways to sell your Maryland property and help you achieve your long-term financial goals. Why You Should Use House Buyers of America Selling a house is stressful enough, even if you live in a very competitive state for housing like Maryland. When you add in the trials of trying to sell your house during a personal financial emergency or the emotions of an estate sale, it can be overwhelming. Let House Buyers of America buy your house; as suggested, we buy houses in Maryland and we put a lot of pride into our work. Here are just a few ways House Buyers of America can make a real difference: No Commission Yes, you read that right. House Buyers of America takes no commission when buying your home. This frees up at least 6% in the value of your home, significant savings that you can apply to your next home. With Maryland’s high real estate values, that means you could potentially save tens of thousands of dollars. With no commissions, you can be assured that you get a fair price for your home. Related: Three Tips to Sell Your House Fast for Cash Fast House Buying House Buyers of America promises to get you an offer within 10 minutes over the phone. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to sell a home in Maryland, Virginia, D.C., or any of our other markets. That means no more waiting on real estate agents to list your home and then receiving an offer from a potential buyer in weeks or months. Close in as Little as 7 Days Some companies will tell you “We buy Maryland houses in 7 days,” but they don’t have adequate capital or a fully staffed office to accomplish this. House Buyers of America’s goal is to buy houses in Maryland in as little as 7 days because we try hard to ensure we buy it as quickly as possible. We have plenty of capital—enough to buy many more houses than we’re buying now. Plus, we have a fully staffed office ready to handle any new deals. Our commitment to a speedy sale is a hallmark of House Buyers of America. Any Condition, AS IS This is not a gimmick. We buy houses AS IS in Maryland, in any condition—from a tear-down to relatively new houses. Whether it needs tons of repairs or no repairs at all, our purchases are not made based on the condition of the home. Our offers are made in cash for any condition and on an AS IS basis. When Should You Use House Buyers of America? Clients of House Buyers of America range across demographics, ages, and financial situations. We help make it possible for Maryland homeowners to achieve their financial dreams. As a result, there are certain reasons why our customers tell us why they sell their houses to us. Job Transfer Did you just get a promotion that requires you to relocate? Or maybe your local office is closing down and you have to relocate to another city quickly in order to keep your job. Whatever your job transfer needs are, we offer cash for your home and we can close quickly. Buying a New House Perhaps the thought of juggling the sale of your current home and purchasing a new one at the same time in the same local market might be creating a lot of stress. Have you considered having to have your home staged and then factor in coordinating where to live after you sell? What should you do? Put a home sale contingency in an offer to purchase a new house and risk making your offer much less competitive. Or should you buy a house first and then risk not being able to sell your current house, leaving you stuck with two mortgages? This is the age-old real estate dilemma. If you’re in this situation, you’ve come to the right place! With House Buyers of America, you get a guaranteed sale of your house and we’re flexible on the closing date (and no closing costs). After the purchase agreement is signed, your home sale is covered and you can start looking for a new home without worrying about selling your existing home. Divorce Divorce can be a huge disruptor, emotionally and financially. In most cases, the divorced couple needs to sell their house fast so they can divvy up the assets and make a clean break. Many in a divorce situation look for a “sell my house fast Maryland” company so they can sell their house without having to go through the arduous process of a traditional sale. Finding a real estate agent, renovating, cleaning, and staging the house, agreeing on a list price, negotiating the terms of the contract, etc. This is normally a stressful enough task, but if you add divorce into the mix, it feels impossible. Why not pick up the phone and get an offer in 10 minutes? Or simply fill out our online form and get an offer quickly. No need to renovate, stage, select a Realtor, and deal with people traipsing through your house and losing all of your privacy for 6-12 months. Real solutions are well within reach. There is an alternative: House Buyers of America! Financial Distress Are you in a financial bind with thousands of dollars locked away in your home? Most people do not realize they can directly access the accumulated equity of their home in their hands in as little as 7 days until they contact House Buyers of America. We offer fair prices for when you need an immediate cash infusion to stave off foreclosure, bankruptcy, or whatever life throws at you. Medical Emergency, Retired, Downsizing Some of our clients are elderly and have stayed in their homes for years, but have stumbled into a medical emergency and need the equity in their homes to pay for hospital bills. When this is the case, whether you are a homeowner or a care provider, you might need to sell your Maryland home quite quickly. Others simply want a hassle-free solution for downsizing into a smaller home and want equity in their legacy home. Estate Sales House Buyers of America have also helped thousands of people who have suddenly inherited an unwanted or unneeded property. When dealing with an estate, many heirs can’t decide or agree on when to sell the house or who will take care of the paperwork, so the house is left sitting vacant and deteriorating for months or years. Estate sales can bring out the worst in people and families often get torn apart in the process. The traditional real estate process can be complicated and often doesn’t work well for estate sales. The unique estate laws that apply in Maryland can also create some additional complications. So why not try a simple, fast, and hassle-free solution that all of your family members can agree on? Get an all-cash offer in as little as 10 minutes by contacting House Buyers of America. A Fresh Start We’ve talked about several reasons you might want to sell your Maryland house to a cash buyer. Then there are those unfortunate circumstances in life that require a complete and total liquidation of your assets when you need a speedy exit from your current home and town. By getting an all-cash, guaranteed offer from House Buyers of America and getting your house sold in as little as 7 days, you get that fresh start without waiting. That’s why we continue to be the choice of people looking to “sell house fast in Maryland,” as well as other nearby states.