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Looking for a general rule of thumb and strictly talking about the month where it would be best to buy for the lowest price and best to sell for the highest price.
Of course it might not be a universally held truth for whatever the answer is but I’m just looking for a general rule of thumb.
I’m looking into buying right now. Particularly in Massachusetts or possibly Rhode Island if that makes a difference to your answer. The areas I am most interested in right now are Lowell, Salem/Danvers, Waltham, Providence, and Cumberland (pretty much my interest is in that order).
We were advised to put our house on the market the first week of November in NY last year. I was skeptical as it went against everything I thought I knew about selling a house. Waiting to sell in early spring seemed to be the better time to me.
The house sold 18K over our asking price as two cash buyers got in a bidding war within days after it was listed. The closing was the week before Christmas with the new owners moving in with snow and very cold weather. I obviously knew nothing about when it was best to sell a house or the current market in that area.
For a suburban house in cold country, best to buy between Thanksgiving and New Years. Only eager sellers are advertising then IMHO. Best to sell? Maybe mid spring when all the trees look nice and the people with kids would like to know the house would close before the new school year. Of course there would be tons of competition so you better have something special. But really, you cannot guess where the market will be in the future. What if you wait 6 months only to find that mortgage interest rates have gone up a bunch? Unless folks are buying for cash that is a big ouch.
The best time in Florida would be summer because less competition, but the best time to buy is before the new year if it will be your primary home because then you can apply for the Homestead exemption on your taxes for the next year.
The market is very cyclical. I run a lot of market reports and at least here in CT - the best time to sell is Spring - If given no timing restrictions list in March to April.
Buying is the opposite. October to Novemberish is when you are likely to find the best deals.
Best time to buy is when there are less buyers and sellers want to ensure they capture one of them so they price lower, and that's in the Winter. When is Winter in your market?
The best time to sell as a seller is when there are the most amount of buyers out looking so there is more of a sure thing that the right buyer sees your house... That's typically Spring. When is Spring in your market?
Each market has different weather and seasons. The answers for my market, I would say, are December to buy and April to sell.
For a suburban house in cold country, best to buy between Thanksgiving and New Years. Only eager sellers are advertising then IMHO. Best to sell? Maybe mid spring when all the trees look nice and the people with kids would like to know the house would close before the new school year. Of course there would be tons of competition so you better have something special. But really, you cannot guess where the market will be in the future. What if you wait 6 months only to find that mortgage interest rates have gone up a bunch? Unless folks are buying for cash that is a big ouch.
I sold a house in "cold country" (Michigan)...or rather my realtor sold it...not all that many years ago, and she was adamant April was the hot month, bad pun intended. April, the snow has retreated and grass still dormant. Still, spring is in the air, becoming more so by May. There can be some cool days that are a big improvement over sub-freezing. When the sun comes out, as it does there in April, people want to get a jump. Sure enough, it sold fast in April. Not a coincidence, as I listed at what it was worth.
Realtors in Seattle have different views. I pay them a good chunk of dough for their opinion to maximize profits, so will defer when next I sell.
The market is very cyclical. I run a lot of market reports and at least here in CT - the best time to sell is Spring - If given no timing restrictions list in March to April.
Buying is the opposite. October to Novemberish is when you are likely to find the best deals.
I’m looking to buy in MA most likely (possibly RI) so I figure our seasons should be the same. Winter really doesn’t hit hard until January/February though.
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