First of all lets talk about what is the best time of the year to sell a house. Believe it or not, there really is a right time to sell during the year.
Let’s talk about Winter…
Brrr, Winter, especially around the holidays, is a slow time of year for home sales. People are busy with social engagements. Plus the cold weather across the country makes it appealing to stay home. Since fewer buyers are looking, it may take longer to sell your home, and you may not get the amount of money you’d like. The only benefit is in knowing that while there may not be as many active buyers, there also won’t be as many competing sellers. This can sometimes work to your advantage.
Better off waiting…
Barring any mitigating circumstances that may force you to sell during the winter or holidays, consider listing when the weather begins to warm up. People are usually ready and willing to purchase a home when it’s warmer. February through May normally is the most active selling time for residential real estate. Following May, the Summer is the second most active time as families look to move before the start of the new academic school year. Summer selling is planned out in the months leading up.
How long will it take…
Before selling your home, you must be thinking about how long will it take to sell my house? Well, let me answer that one too. Once you make the decision to sell your home, the clock starts ticking. The overarching question, as you make your way down your pre-sale checklist, is likely something along the lines of: “How long is this going to take?”
According to stats from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), as of June 2020, the typical U.S. home was on the market for an average of 24 days. Ellie May estimates an average of 46 days to close on a purchase loan. That’s 70 days — or a little over two months — from listing to closing.
Your sale could be different
Every house, every market, and every individual sale will vary in terms of days on market and closing timelines. In fact, 24 days from list to offer is pretty swift, historically speaking. For comparison’s sake, NAR reported average days on market in July 2011 was 98 days. In 2012, it was 68, which at the time seemed fast coming off the heels of the housing crisis.
What’s more, external influencers can create closing delays. In the recent pandemic climate, some closings have dragged on more like 60 days. With so many unpredictable factors influencing the number of days on market (DOM) and total time to close.
When you’ve made the decision to sell, the countdown begins long before your house actually hits the market. There is almost always some degree of work that must be done before the sign goes into the yard.
