Diablo Gazette March 2021
When is a good time to put your home on the market? Consider this…
Does it sound simplistic to say “when the most buyers are looking”? For the layperson they would think that is synonymous with the busiest months for real estate maybe between Easter and Summertime before school starts. Let me explain why the busiest months may not be the optimum months to sell a home.
In a recent quote, Past President of the National Association of Realtors Dorcas Helfant said, “Too few sellers consider inventory levels before timing their sale.” This can make a 1 to 5% or more difference in your final sale price. SO, the busiest months may be the best months for buyers to buy when there is a surge of homes coming on the market for them to choose from. Whereas for sellers having fewer homes on the market for buyers to choose from can increase their number of offers and result in high sale prices. Ahh that makes sense you say.
In addition, Helfant recommends you “wait until repairs are done to put your home up for sale”. To this Realtor (my opinion, not that of all of my colleagues) that means no Coming Soon, where the buyers drive by watching you work on the home and wonder what is wrong that it’s being worked on, or why they can’t see the inside if it’s for sale. In my buyer representation experiences, in a ‘tough to be a buyer’ market, this only adds to buyer frustration and feelings of manipulation.
IF you review the statistics for your area and see what months have the highest sold prices and lowest DOM (days on market), you would see a trend. You might think that June through August is optimum. But take a moment and see if the highest prices are gained during that timeframe? You might find that the highest sale prices and highest price per square foot occur when there are fewer other homes on the market. Less competition means more buyers bidding for fewer homes resulting in higher prices. You might also see months that everything that came on the market sold indicating a good time for sellers to sell.
When I present sellers with their market analysis of neighborhood comparable sales, I include the market statistics data, reviewing the number of sales, days on market, and sale prices, so that we can include those factors and make adjustments in our market strategy. If it is the time to sell and you have to move, you will strategize given the market you are in at the time. Many retirees or planners though, have the ability to time their sales, when the market might be more optimum for a higher return. In some cases, we start early (as much as a year) to plan, budget and strategize. Whatever your timing, adding in some data to the myopic neighborhood data, can broaden your appeal and reach.
