Wednesday, October 10, 2012

When is the right time to sell your home?

There is a question that often arises, and people often gamble that they're going to make the right decision. They often times will lose.

The question is "When is the right time to sell my home?" or "When is the right time to put my house on the market?"

People often times will think about this in a cost analysis route, weighing how much money they will get at the right time, judging the top of the market, the top of the season, getting the most people to view their property or looking at when there are the most properties on the market to list.

The Realtor answer is usually "Yesterday!" or "LAST WEEK!"

Honestly there is no "right" time to list a house. There may be more ideal times to list a home than others. Putting your home on the market the day before Thanksgiving might not be the most ideal time, but when is your house the cleanest? During the holidays when you're going to be entertaining? The house will be decorated wonderfully and you may entice people with the smell of fresh baked cookies. Perhaps you're going on summer vacation and your home will be vacant for three weeks, clean up first and then your real estate agent will be able to show the property any time rather than working around a hectic schedule. During the summer with kids out of school and the long days, many people think about looking at houses and some even buy. During the winter we're busy with school and life, weather, rain and drudgery that may not get people excited about moving.

However

If you've been in a 3 bedroom house with 5 kids and one bathroom you've probably been wanting to move for quite some time. The ideal time to put your house on the market would have been years ago. We can't go into the past (yet) so therefore you're stuck. This means that the ideal time to put your home on the market is RIGHT NOW!

You've been in a house for a number of years and the kids have all left for college. You may be getting older and getting annoyed with having to go upstairs all the time (it's certainly NOT our bodies getting older) and now you're looking to downsize. The perfect time would have been right after the kids left the nest, but that was in the past. Therefore the correct time to put your home on the market is NOW!


"But what about the timing?!"  -  "But what about the market?!"

The truth is there are always people looking to move. Our lives change. things happen in our lives, children are born, leave the house (or Heaven forbid come BACK to the house!), pass away, divorce, or marry! Whenever we have a life altering situation we often times reevaluate where we are living and decide that moment that it's time for change. This is why putting your house on the market NOW is the right time to do it.

Do you really want to wait until next spring, another winter in that drafty old house? Do you really want to spend another winter paying the heating bills in that OVERSIZED 5 bedroom house when you only use two of the rooms?

Many people want to wait until "the market heats up". This typically starts in the spring and runs through October when kids start back to school and we start back to concentrating on work (and ignoring that we live in the Pacific Northwest where winter means a lot of rain). The problem with this is that when the market "heats up" there are more houses on the market. More houses means more competition.

Since we're in the fall, putting your house on the market now will benefit you with:decorating, less competition, serious buyers (not just those looking at homes), and faster closing times (less sales means faster processing with underwriters).

So if you've been thinking about listing your home, and aren't quite sure. NOW is the time to list! Call me today 541.231.9473 and let's talk about listing your home. You can visit my website www.shawntucker.com to see what properties compare with yours on the market.

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