It's Groundhog Day and the real estate market is awakening. When should I put my home on the market, sellers ask? June, July, or August, we reply. "It's when kids are out of school and everybody wants to move." Make sense? Perfectly! Is it correct? Likely not!!!
A review of the data in my mega-market, the greater Washington DC metropolitan area, suggests a few different answers, none of them are June, July, or August.
Here we go home sellers...
If you want to maximize your chance of multiple offers, be on the market in March when the months supply of homes is the lowest. You will recall that of the months supply measures the ratio of sellers to buyers. (1.6 months supply)
If you want to minimize your days on the market you should be on the market in April or May. (37 days for sold homes)
If you want to maximize the percent of your asking price that you should obtain, go on the market in March, April, or May, when the selling price to listing price percentage is highest. (98.2%)
The above advice is based on data collected in the past six (post-crash) years. Numbers in parentheses above represent averages for my area. It is likely that your area is similar, but don't assume: Be the first on your block to check it out.
Meanwhile, see "Agent's Guide to Real Estate" - free online at http://www.davidr.net/AgentsGuide.html
Comments (4)Subscribe to CommentsComment