Best time to sell?

Newtonlot

DH and I have decided we are going to move next year (should that be we have decided to put our house on the market next year).

Dh wants to tidy the house and paint between Sept and dec this year and then put the house up in Jan.

I always thought the housing market was slow at that time of year and that we would be better putting it on the market now. Being (supposedly) summer, the flowers are out and the gardens look really nice. Plus there is lots of natural light in the house.

But we have to wait until DH finishes this years exams (sept) before we can get on and tidy up. Plus we have 2 dd who need our attention so we can't do loads all at once.

What is everyone else's opinion about when to put the house on the market to get the most viewings and a quicker sale?
Has anyone found the best time of year or does it just depend on the house and the area?

Cheers

Mrs_Thrify

Hiya, we have just put our house on the market. We thought of selling and decided to have the house valued - then went for it! We hope to move to a coastal town. If like us, are not in any hurry, we are going to wait and see.
We are expecting people to make offers - and go from there. Some folk try their luck and make low offers, so we are prepared to play the waiting game!
Mean wile are tiding up and selling unwanted items, like large outside toys and thinking of a car boot sale....

In your case you need to think of the collage course . Prehaps Putting the house on the market at Easter would suit you more.... I don,t think there is a best selling time, But January is a quiet time after everyone has spent for Christmas.

Easter is spring and the start of better weather. Flowers are comming out etc...

Good Luck to us both!!!

cattie

In my experience the market starts to pick up a bit come February, but the best time I've experienced rapid sales is by marketing in spring. Gardens are begining to look good & it seems the time of year when people start to seriously think about buying a new home.

The quietest periods I found were between late October-February, so have always sold in Spring since then.

ono_no_komachi

I always thought that conventional wisdom had it that spring was the best time to sell a house. So putting it on the market in January mightn't be too bad (assuming it won't be early January) with only a couple of months to go until daylight hours start to increase and spring flowering bulbs start to come out (if you don't have any at the moment you could always plant some daffs and tulips this autumn.)

I'd see putting it on the market between September and December as problematic because people may hang on till the following year due to not wanting to move close to Christmastime.

Newtonlot

Had never thought about spring.

What I might suggest to Dh is that we get the EA out in January to give us quotes and fees, and use January to negotiate them and also to do any extra work they may suggest to improve the selling potential.

I'd rather move sooner rather than later, but appreciate it will be better to put it on the market in the spring, instead of now as it may not get as much interest and may still be on the market come spring time.

Oh and must go buy some bulbs to plant as most of our plants flower a bit later than Feb.

phlash

I would put it on the market asap. 'Talk on da street' and well reasoned arguments on this very forum suggest that interest rates will probably have risen to 6.0% by January.

Waiting till then to put your house on the market, you will find you will come up against an increasing sentiment that houses are too expensive (because of borrowing costs being higher) and the fact that borrowing costs will be higher, reducing the amount that prospective buyers can offer.

Your market to sell to, will have therefore reduced in size.

Think this point is probably more relevant than what time of year is good for selling or not. (This is a valid point if market conditions don't change, but in your case its likely that market conditions will be your biggest barrier)

phlash;)

advent1122

Why not put it on the market now and see what happens?
You have nothing to lose and can always take it off when your EA contract ends and put it back on in January.
You never know and it will cost you nothing to test the water.