When To Sell

Mrs_Optimist

We are in the process of tidying up our house with a view to putting it on the market. We are in no hurry to sell. Given that it is close to Christmas, would you recommend that we wait until the New Year before marketing it (although there will no doubt be an influx of other houses on the market at that time too) or just put it on now and sit tight? First time we have had to sell our house so forgive my niaevity:rolleyes: We are looking at houses to buy so the time of year has not put us off.

Doozergirl

Houses sell all year round Especially if you've priced yourself correctly.

You'll have people looking now, very hopeful to move in for Christmas, but in reality, for people in a chain, that's optimistic.

I was looking forward to having Christmas viewings last year as our house suited Christmas perfectly. We sold before though - the people that bought must have realised how lovely and cosy it would be at Christmas, I guess!

advent1122

I think Tuesday's about 2pm is a good time to sell.

PoorDave

advent1122 wrote:

I think Tuesday's about 2pm is a good time to sell.

Depend what you're selling. I think Friday and Saturday night after the pubs close would be good too.

Seriously, we're in the same boat. Can't decide whether to rush finishing decorating the whole house and put it up for sale, or decide to wait until after xmas.

Mrs_Optimist

Thanks for your replies guys (some made me smile:o ) Guess it is like saying "how long is a piece of string" we aren't in any hurry and if we put it on now we can wait for that sale, however I was worried that if we do put it on now and it doesn't sell because of the time of year, then it would look like there was a problem with the house come New Year when potential buyers realise how long it has been on the market for. We have priced it competitively - £5k less than an identical house up the road so we are not being greedy, just hoping to play it right.

More thinking to do I suppose:rolleyes:

butterflysam

Hi

We were pretty much in the same position as you.
We put our house on the market 3 weeks ago. We have had 6 viewings in that time, most of them very positive with a couple who wish to purchase our house when they have sold theirs.

The way I look at it, is that there are probably another 3-4 good weeks before Christmas now and then come the middle of November everything will gradually slow down towards the Christmas holidays.

I had this discussion with our Estate Agent who made alot of sense when she said that "Over Christmas, for a lot of families/couples it is an occassion when everyone can get together, and actually have some quality time. People talk about their plans for the New Year, and if people are thinking of selling their houses then they may already be looking around for their new property. Between Christmas and New Year, when nothing really happens this will be a good time for people to get looking on the internet at property and for them to decide what they want to do, buy etc ....."

I really cannot see what harm it will do. You have nothing to lose, and who knows you only need that one buyer

Dasnookster

I think you should put it on now as well, you have nothing to lose. There are parts of my house that still need decorating and when we went to the estate agents just to see what was around for us to potentially buy he told us that cosmetic changes do not make any difference to the value price of the house and that most people just come in and change the decoration anyway as its not to their taste, so we figured we might as well put it on and see what happened - it sold two days later.

The point is that the people who are buying our house may not have been around in a months time, or however long it takes to finish decorating, new buyers are joining estate agents everyday. Go for it.

Doozergirl

I think January and February are pretty slow. Everyone's spent far too much at Christmas, are shattered from the preparation and/or partying and looking for a rest. If I were waiting for any time to put my house on the market, it wouldn't be January.

I have been totally wooed by gardens even when the house is pants; the pile of twigs that presents you in the first three months of the year is not a selling feature at all.

cattie

In the past I avoided marketing a property between the months of Nov-Feb as the market always seemed particular slow.

However it may now depend on the area where you live. Where I am now there is currently a shortage of houses for sale & they are being snapped up pretty quickly when they do come on the market.

Check out your local area to see how things are & if it seems a bit sluggish wait until round about mid Feb to put it on the market.