That is singularly the easiest and most difficult question to answer. But what about market conditions / holidays / winter approaching? You can't answer the primary question with those questions. So when is the right time to list your house for sale?
The easy answer is when you're ready. But don't give up yet. Market conditions, holidays and seasons can affect your timing in some cases, but it still depends on when you're ready.
The difficult part is knowing when you're ready. There are so many different factors to take into consideration. The single biggest to consider has got to be your motivation. What motivates you to consider selling? Some motivators seem as though they are out of your control, such as a job relocation. In essence, you always have a choice: move with the job, or find a new job and stay put. In a more realistic view, however, that choice doesn't always hold water. The same is also true if you're unable to make your mortgage payments. If you try to stay, are you going to end up in foreclosure?
Once you acknowledge and understand your motivation, you need to establish a time frame that works reasonably well, and has flexibility to it. Real estate transactions don't follow a set time frame, and you need to be prepared mentally for such situations as selling too quickly, or not quick enough, or problems resulting from home inspections and appraisals.
For many people, the main motivation isn't a need, but a want. They want more bedrooms, a bigger yard, less maintenance, less house to clean, a better school district. It's a little more difficult to pin down a time frame because your motivation isn't based on necessity. It's not uncommon to hear this type of potential seller say, "I'm not going to sell my house unless I find the right one to move into."
Hold it, right there for a minute. The next question to ask yourself as a potential seller is, "Am I in the position to be able to buy the next house without selling this one first?" If you can, then great! Move forward to the free parking square and take a breather. If not, whoa! Back up. If you can't buy without selling, and you're not going to sell unless you've purchased... aren't you in a pickle? How are you going to buy, if you can't buy without selling first? Kind of like putting the cart before the horse isn't it? Plain and simple, if you must sell, then you must list first. Otherwise you're not gong to be able to submit a solid, reasonable purchase offer. Sure, you can put one together, and run the risk of being bumped by another buyer. But that assumes that the seller accepts your contingent offer, which many will not. Sellers want their house sold, not "kind of sold". As a seller, would you stop all marketing efforts and tell everyone, "Yes, our house is sold if the buyer can sell his house first?"
Now let's back up to our potential buyer sitting parked. Are you sure you're in a position to buy without selling? There's one simple step you can take to reassure yourself. Call a qualified mortgage rep and make sure. Let them pull your credit, give him or her your financial information, and let them tell you yeah or nay. In fact, all potential buyers should complete this step before going to look at houses. Why? 1) What if you find out that you don't qualify for a mortgage at all? 2) What if you're out looking at $300,000 houses and find out later you only qualify for $200,000? You'll hate everything in your new lower price range. 3) Why would you want to make sellers rearrange their schedule to accommodate your showing when you don't even know if you can buy the house? What if your showing cost them an extra $20 for daycare and $10 in gas while they drive around for an hour with the dogs, or they spent two hours super-cleaning, when they should have been in bed because of the flu? Don't think they should just deal with it because their house is for sale, it's just thoughtless and rude, and I'm sure you would appreciate the same consideration when your house is listed for sale.
Some time has passed, you understand your motivation, have a basic time frame in mind. Now you need to find out how your time frame works with the current market conditions, including holidays and changing seasons. This is when the knowledge and experience of a Realtor is going to come in handy. And, while it may not seem like it, it is one big part of the commission you pay the broker.
"What???" you say. "But they can answer that in under five minutes!" Yes, but how many years did it take them to garner the experience to know the market and its fluidity? You want a straight up honest honor from agents, and his or her expertise can save you time and money, and that's part of what you pay for. You might think that seasonal waterfront property won't sell when there's a foot of snow on the ground. Well, here in central New York I can tell you honestly that yes it will! Why? Because the new owner wants to be able to use it as soon as spring arrives, not two weeks before it has to be closed up for the winter.
What I'm saying is that the answers a Realtor gives you may very well surprise you, and have you rethinking your time frame. This is going to hold particularly true with sellers that don't have a lot of time to work with. If you must sell quickly, you're going to need an aggressive and experienced agent to get the word out about your property, be able to work any offers that come in to your advantage, and have the ability to keep an accepted contract together.
Don't think that holidays, slow market conditions, or poor weather should stop you from listing your home for sale. Holidays and a slow market might mean that it takes a little while longer, but not necessarily. Price and location can help or hinder your time frame, regardless of holidays and market conditions.
So when is the right time to list your house for sale? Only you can really answer that, but don't forget to take in the advice of a local Realtor because you may be surprised at the answer.
Comments(0)