Does it really matter which month you list your house? (recommendation, mortgages)
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Houses do tend to sell at the most optimum price here, when listed in April or June.
My reason for waiting a bit longer is that I am an Air BnB host and I average $1,200/month. If I wait, I will reach a goal I have for savings. But, in the grand scheme of things, I don't know if another $1,200 for a couple months is worth the wait if listing earlier means a hotter market. Also, other than some paint touch up, I am pretty much ready to list. My job is virtual and I have no children, so as far as my timing for moving, I'm totally flexible.
My house is a family home, 3 bed, 2.5 baths, fenced in back yard. It will only list around $168,000.
Certainly the ideal time to list a house is April-June. People with school-aged children understandably don't want to uproot them to a new school after the school year has already started. Of course, there are lots of buyers out there without children, with children too young to be in school, or who are looking for a new house in the district they're already living in, so moving in after school starts would make less difference to them. At least in my market, listing a house in July or August is hardly a death-sentence to selling. You may get a bit less traffic, but there are also less houses being listed, so it sort of evens out.
Now, if you wanted to list in October/November, there'd be a real problem. Between the holidays and wicked weather, no house move around here in winter, and by the time spring buying season starts they've been listed so long people do that silly "I wonder what's wrong with it" thing.
If your market is like mine, there is an extreme shortage of inventory right now and houses are selling in days for full asking price (assuming they are priced accurately). So the upside to selling now is that you will sell for the price the house is really worth. The chance you take by waiting is whether the market will crash (or even just drop off) between now and then and either prices or demand will decline, or whether prices will continue to rise because of demand, and you will get more for it in the autumn.
If you can make it work to sell now, I probably would, if it were me. Bird in the hand, and all that. However, my crystal ball doesn't think prices are going to decline substantially this year, so if you HAVE to wait until autumn, you'll probably be ok with that too.
I could list my house next month, but ultimately it would be better for me if I waited until July or August. My question is... My realtor recommends I list as soon as possible due to the seasons and the thought that the most number of buyers are starting to look now. Will it really make a difference between listing asap or waiting until late summer/early fall?
-Thanks in advance from Indiana!
Spring is - historically - the best time to list your house for sale.
Realtors always tell you to list ASAP. And realtors on here will always tell you to listen to your realtor, so you're going to get a bunch of replies saying to just trust what your realtor told you, just FYI.
All real estate is local. You've heard, "location, location, location..."
In my market where I have some investment rentals my Realtor says there is really no slow part of the year, and I believe her except that I suspect many people are reluctant to interfere with the holidays (December) so that might slow the market a bit.
My market is not affected by snow which is part of why it's a year round market. I intend to list the houses when the leases terminate.
Your market may have good and bad parts of the year. Mine doesn't. If you are selling a primary residence I suggest you list it whenever it's ready to show. Of course you will have to be prepared to move. It would be good to have a plan on where to live if your house sells. Next house?
Here's another idea: If you are moving out of town then you have two markets to compare. If you are staying in the same market then slow for seller is slow for buyer, so you're making a lateral move to a more or less expensive property. The seasonal effect should balance out in that case.
Realtors always tell you to list ASAP. And realtors on here will always tell you to listen to your realtor, so you're going to get a bunch of replies saying to just trust what your realtor told you, just FYI.
well, I'd agree the 2nd part should "be a sticky". But I wouldn't typically assign everyone in a group as doing anything "always" except "breathe".
As has been posted following this, the seasonality of your local market is what matters. Of course, it is a truism that whenever your school year ends and starts, the summer gap will be the most active for school families. You'll see/feel similarities in the "starter home" market only because young folks most frequently start their job in the summer after college and thus have leases that expire in summer. But a starter home itself isn't affected by the school calendar.
But each locale could have individual influences on activity. I don't know, but maybe Indy "shuts down" for the 500. If so, I could see where listing during that ~ 10 day period would do you no good. But any good Realtor will indeed be able to show you graphically the ebb and flow of your market. And whether you really do need to "list ASAP" or not.
OP--I live in Bloomington. I saw a story on one of the local news stations in the past couple of weeks that the Indy area market is hot right now. It's apparently a seller's market. Now is the time to list.
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