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Contrary To Popular Belief...February IS The Time To List Your Home

By
Real Estate Agent with thredUP.com

Should I list my home before Summer?Year after Year I hear from Sellers in The Woodlands and Spring area just North of Downtown Houston "I will wait until Springtime to list my home. We are thinking towards the end of April."

The Popular Belief for many years is that homes just DO NOT sell as well during the Winter and before May. 

Many Buyers and Sellers alike think that the time to sell is when School is out.  Parents do not want to take their kids out of school and so on.  The truth is, if you wait until the end of April or beginning of May to list your home, you may be missing out on MANY Prospective Buyers.

We have noticed in the past several years the 'Selling Season' start much earlier than usual.  In 2004 we noticed a Drastic pick up in sales in March, even earlier in the following 2 years, and last year...Well, here I have a chart to explain it.  The following chart is the 2007 Year at a Glance for a neighborhood in the area; Imperial Oaks.

sell my home in imperial oaks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This chart is broken down in to Average Days on Market, Average Price per Square Foot and Number of Homes Sold.  Every Dot on the Chart represents a different month; left to right starting with January 2007. 

This Chart tells us several things:

  • From January to February, the number of homes sold jumped by nearly 10-A list month of November
  • As we met April, the Days on Market dropped to well below 50- A list month of February
  • Jump to May, when many believe homes start to sell it still shows an Avg. list month at the end of Feb.
  • Homes listed in June averaged selling at the end of August and in September with little change in Price per square foot.

When Competing against many other homes in your neighborhood, it is imperative to stay ahead of the market and not chase it.  This comes in to play with Timing, Price, Marketing and so on.  Although we do not know that 2008 will follow the same trend as '07, with this chart in mind it is a good idea to List prior to April or May.

If you are considering Selling your Home within the next 6 months and would like some Information specific to Your Home and Your Neighborhood, please feel free to contact me for a Market Report to help you. 

 

***All Statistics were gathered through HAR MLS.

©All charts and content Copyright to Stephanie Edwards-Musa, The Woodlands TX Real Estate 2007

 


Stephanie Edwards-Musa
Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors (R)
9000 Forest Crossing
The Woodlands, TX 77381
Direct Line:  281-635-9444

 

Comments(11)

Katerina Gasset
The Gasset Group & Get It Done For Me Virtual Services - Provo, UT
Amplify Your Real Estate & Life Dreams!
Stephanie- Good information. There is no time like the present! Katerina
Jan 05, 2008 09:45 AM
Kay Perry
Kay Perry, Broker - College Station, TX
Stephanie, I think the time to sell is when you don't HAVE to but when you WANT to.  Anytime of the year a buyer could be waiting for that one house to come on the market.  Our market in College Station, TX, revolves around the university so our season starts the Jan and goes through August.
Jan 05, 2008 09:55 AM
No Longer Active
Real Estate - Fallon, MT
Stephanie.... Very nice information letting seller know spring comes much sooner than they think.  I typically recommend people list by March 1st to position their home ahead of the crowd.
Jan 05, 2008 10:16 AM
Missy Caulk
Missy Caulk TEAM - Ann Arbor, MI
Savvy Realtor - Ann Arbor Real Estate
Stephanie, I tell people the SAME thing. Why wait, Feb 1st is great, people start looking. Thanks for the Christmas card, I just found it today. It got buried. LOL
Jan 05, 2008 11:05 AM
Teri Eckholm
Boardman Realty - White Bear Lake, MN
REALTOR Serving Mpls/St Paul North & East Metro
Stephanie--Good reminder that people are moving in all seasons for all types of reasons!
Jan 05, 2008 11:29 AM
Gary Smith
Agent Marketing Today - Commerce Township, MI
Stephanie, Is this partially from all the people leaving the Rust Belt in search of jobs? 
Jan 05, 2008 11:38 AM
Lynda Eisenmann
Preferred Home Brokers - Brea, CA
Broker Associate ,CRS,GRI,SRES, Brea,CA, Orange Co

Stephanie,

You've made some good points on this one. March is usually one of my busiest months in the year.

Jan 05, 2008 12:04 PM
Stephanie Edwards-Musa
thredUP.com - The Woodlands, TX
knitwit at thred UP

Hi Katerina, Absolutely!  :)  Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Kay,   Just goes to show that Real Estate is local.  :)  I know that your market is really different..and interesting with the Colleges so close.  :)

Hi Dan,  I used to say the same thing....but we have seen the selling season hit so much sooner in recent years...it's really quite interesting.

Hi Missy,  You're Welcome.  :)  Glad to hear the Feb. 1st is a good time up there too!

Hi Teri,  The selling season is almost here!  :)  I'm trying to get caught up with some stuff around the house because I know it will be here before we know it. 

Hi Gary,  What part?  We have had quite a bit of incoming relocation in the past couple of years.  With oil and gas prices being so high and continuing to climb, I forsee that trend to continue.  We'll see.  :)  Where exactly people are coming from...everywhere.  :)

Hi Lynda,  Thanks!!  December and February are my busiest months....odd, but true.  :)

Jan 05, 2008 12:34 PM
Marlene Bridges
Village Real Estate Services, Inc. - Laguna Hills, CA
Laguna Homes|Laguna Condos|Laguna Real Estate
Stephanie - My phone started ringing the last week of the year and things seem to be picking up.  It's my belief that the best time to list is when you begin thinking about it.  Get ready and get it on the market.  I love to work with buyers and sellers during times when other think it's slow.  You know you have a serious seller who has their Christmas tree up and a sign in the yard.  Likewise, people looking during slower times are committed to buy even though there's less inventory.
Jan 05, 2008 01:14 PM
Ken Cook
Content, coding, marketing, host. - Marietta, GA
Content Marketer/Creator
I went out on my own to become a broker (some states call us lenders) in 2001 and became a lender in 2005. Every year without exception March has been our highest volume month with November a close second. I would say February is a GREAT time to list your home. If it gets an offer in February it probably closes in March.
Jan 05, 2008 03:07 PM
Mana Tulberg
805 County Real Estate - Camarillo, CA
Real Estate Agent - Camarillo CA
Stephanie, You make some good points here. I tell my clients that every season is a "good" season to sell or buy, there is no particular season that is the best for selling or buying a home.
Jan 06, 2008 05:05 PM