Timing Your Property for Sale

The old saying is “location, location, location.” And while it’s true that location trumps any other factor when selling real estate, I would say a close second is “timing, timing, timing.”

You might be thinking: when is the best time to sell my home?  If you ask most real estate agents, most will say NOW! Why? Because they want to close your business and get a commission check.

The actual answer to that question is complicated and changes over time. Let’s break down the basics.

If you are planning to sell your home in a general sense, you will typically find the colder, winter months to be slower in Greater Boston. Generally more buyers pause during this time of year. Conversely, during the warmer spring and summer months, more buyers are out and active.

But here’s the thing…the market is always changing. In some years, even in the winter months when things are slower, there are still a good chunk of buyers looking for a particular property type. And depending on the year and time of year, there may be NO other options like YOUR home for sale.

If that’s the case, it can sometimes be worth floating your property for a short while, either on or off market to see if you have any interest at YOUR price. 

Think about it like this - if you decide to list your home during the busy spring market, there will definitely be more buyers looking, but there will also definitely be many more sellers you’ll be competing with.

So while conventional wisdom would state never to sell your home during the winter, I would say it really depends on the current market picture. If inventory for your particular home is very limited AND it’s in a particularly high-demand area, there can be some serious advantages to listing during atypical times.

If you are trying to figure out how to BEST to time your sale and want to talk through the pluses and minuses of various times of year, give me a ring and I am happy to talk through what current market conditions are like.