When to put house on market?

TobyLarone

Hello All

We have estate agents coming around on Saturday to take pics etc and was going to put the house up for sale shortly afterwards...however is this the wrong time of the year to be selling (just before Christmas) and better waiting until Feb next year?

We are in no real rush to move and there's barely any properties we are interested in to make any sort of offers on...however with interest rates creeping slowly up...is there any real reason NOT to try to sell now?

Thank you

hazyjo

I'd market first week in Jan.


The market will be slower now, and everything just shuts for a week or two over Christmas/NY meaning your house will be sitting on the market with naff all going on, or you'll have an offer and you'll all be twiddling your thumbs.


Feb is a pretty bad time to sell. I'd wait until March (if weather nicer) or just before Easter.


Of course, there will always be people selling/looking so up to you at the end of the day You may be lucky and find somewhere you love and have a buyer lined up in Nov/Dec. Or, if you can't find somewhere but have a buyer, they'll prob hang on until Jan if it takes you that long to find somewhere.


If you decide to wait and do the pics later, make sure they don't include Christmas decs or snow on the ground.

Surrey_EA

According to Rightmove the busiest day for visitors to their website is Boxing Day.

TobyLarone

Thanks for your thoughts. I just didn't want it on the market for any longer than it needs to be so potential buyers don't have any ammo to try and make low offers!

nubbins

I think the peaks are still Spring and Sept and Oct. Personally if i was in no rush I would market it around Xmas, you will be surprised the amount of people bored with the family conversations or having to watch Elf for the umpteenth time pick up the tablet or smart phone

Davesnave

Surrey_EA wrote: »

According to Rightmove the busiest day for visitors to their website is Boxing Day.

That might just be a reaction to festive TV, or even more likely, if we're to believe what pundits say about stresses engendered by whole families coming together for 2 days, people having a sneaky look to see what going it alone might cost them! :rotfl:

I'd go in March. People get nest building instincts kicking-in and are easily fooled into believing spring has sprung.

May is the prettiest month if the garden would help sell it, but probably too long to wait.

hazyjo

Boxing Day might be the busiest, but everywhere will be shut until the New Year so they can't really make appointments, etc. I'd hate viewers around Christmas as it's hard for the house not to look cluttered with cards, presents, tree, decs, etc.

Slithery

Surrey_EA wrote: »

According to Rightmove the busiest day for visitors to their website is Boxing Day.

It's not just Rightmove though.

Nearly all websites have a surge of traffic on Boxing Day, as people are off work and trying out all the new tech they got for Christmas.

Everyone that uses the Rightmove app on their new phone will be installing the application, this also causes a spike in traffic that has nothing to do with the housing market.

This can't be construed as more people wanting to purchase property.

Surrey_EA

Davesnave wrote: »

That might just be a reaction to festive TV, or even more likely, if we're to believe what pundits say about stresses engendered by whole families coming together for 2 days, people having a sneaky look to see what going it alone might cost them! :rotfl:
.

Nail on head!! :rotfl:

Crashy_Time

hazyjo wrote: »

I'd market first week in Jan.


The market will be slower now, and everything just shuts for a week or two over Christmas/NY meaning your house will be sitting on the market with naff all going on, or you'll have an offer and you'll all be twiddling your thumbs.


Feb is a pretty bad time to sell. I'd wait until March (if weather nicer) or just before Easter.


Of course, there will always be people selling/looking so up to you at the end of the day You may be lucky and find somewhere you love and have a buyer lined up in Nov/Dec. Or, if you can't find somewhere but have a buyer, they'll prob hang on until Jan if it takes you that long to find somewhere.


If you decide to wait and do the pics later, make sure they don't include Christmas decs or snow on the ground.

Things maybe shut for a "Week or Two" in more rural areas in the 1970`s, not sure about now though? People will be looking at houses (or something, I believe the house mania is dying down quite a lot now) on their phones on Christmas day so ASAP is the best time, before interest rate implications have a chance to sink into people`s heads. The "Seasonal" excuse about property is interesting, it is nearly always about price.

Crashy_Time

TobyLarone wrote: »

Thanks for your thoughts. I just didn't want it on the market for any longer than it needs to be so potential buyers don't have any ammo to try and make low offers!

They don`t need "ammo" or excuses to do that, just a look at sold prices around you. Of course I am sure that you are very competitively priced anyway