When to put house on market?

Surrey_EA

Crashy_Time wrote: »

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.

Almost all EAs near me - large town in SE - will be shut from December 21st/22nd until January 2nd.

Crashy_Time

Surrey_EA wrote: »

Almost all EAs near me - large town in SE - will be shut from December 21st/22nd until January 2nd.

Will their website be shut down as well?

phoebe1989seb

Like previous posters, I'd wait till after Christmas and more specifically end of Feb/beginning of March.

We've previously gone on the market at that time and secured a buyer very quickly. Equally, we have done the same when we began marketing at the start of September.

On the one occasion when we put our property up for sale in late October, it took till May to find a buyer and iirc there were no viewings between early Dec and mid Jan.

Definitely agree that should you go ahead with photos between now and the New Year, Christmas decs are a no no

TobyLarone

Crashy_Time wrote: »

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

Still undecided upon price...but it'll be an absolute bargain for anyone I'm sure :beer:

hazyjo

Crashy_Time wrote: »

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.

No, as Surrey_EA says, they still do.


I've bought and sold in London and Essex and they have always, all of them, closed.


People may be browsing on the internet, but there is nobody to ring to arrange a viewing. Rather than have your house sitting on the market from some time in November, they might as well get the pics ready now and go live on the first day back in January. It's fresher.


I know you don't want to believe it Crashy, but in some areas prices are still rising.

Lauralou79

I agree hazy jo, still very buoyant in my area of greater Manchester and average sized houses still up as sstc quickly within a few days.

I guess it depends on your area, but I'd wait till Jan/ Feb at least. We started looking January this year and it took till March for anything to come up that we were interested in

StumpyPumpy

Just to throw another complication in to the ring, the Halifax have just reported that year on year house price increases were the highest this October since February. Obviously usual caveats about the data apply, but one influence is reported to be the (since confirmed) rumours of interest rate increases and buyers becoming more active to secure fixed rate mortgages before they go up.

During the announcement by the BoE raising base rates they stated that they intended to raise rates more in the near future. So, regardless of the accuracy of the Halifax figures, it is worth considering that anyone looking to buy might well want to bump the usual seasonally quiet periods in the hopes of getting a fixie at current rates which could see them saving a not inconsiderable amount when the increases really start rolling. When people are so close to being at the very top of what they can afford even a 0.5% increase can put properties out of reach and who knows what the rates will be by the time March comes around.

SP

magn8p

Never sold a house before but I intend to sell mine next year and I am planning to sell by September as most families would like to complete the move by the time schools start. So for a September sale, I guess I am going to market the house just after Easter.

In your case, I would wait until after Xmas. And target a sale by Easter so, advertise early Jan. So assuming you price it right.....3 months should be a good time unless you want to sell it by Sep like me :-)

All the best.