Louisville Homes Blog

When Is the Best Time to Sell My House?
If you think this is a trick question, you’d be right. There is no single “best” time to sell your home but by understanding six key factors that influence home sales, you’ll be ahead of the game.

1. Seasonal View
   Conventional wisdom says that the best time to sell your home is in the Spring. While it’s true that there are more homebuyers out looking when the weather warms up, that’s only part of the equation. You’ll also want to consider how many homes are currently available to those buyers. If everyone waited until the Spring to list their homes, the market would be flooded with inventory. There is, however, one time of the year when selling your home is very difficult—the Holidays. So unless homes are moving quickly and supply is short, most Realtors^® will advise you to wait until after the New Year to list your home.
2. Supply For That Demand
   As we mentioned above, the supply of homes currently on the market greatly affects how quickly a house generally sells. It’s especially important to look at those properties that are similar to yours in price and location. A licensed Realtor^® with access to your local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) can be a big help in identifying these properties. You’re much more likely to sell your home quickly if it’s one of only 10 similar houses compared to one of 100 matching properties.
3. Traffic Patterns
   There are a few times where some competition is a good thing. For example, if your home is in the same subdivision as several other properties that are for sale, but your home is priced more affordably or your house has some hard to find, yet desirable features, those other properties can actually drive traffic to your home.
4. Low Interest Rates
   When interest rates are low, buyers are able to get more for their money as most homebuyers finance a large portion of the cost of a new home. When more buyers are out looking, they first need to sell their current home so the number of real estate transactions rises. Our current rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage are between 5.5%-6%, which are very low historically. As recently as 1990 interest rates were in the double-digits. So as long as rates stay this low, both buyers and sellers win!
5. Days on Market
   One thing all home sellers would like is a quick sale. Not only is it inconvenient for the seller to spend time cleaning the house for every showing, it’s very frustrating as time marches on and your home hasn’t sold yet. Potential buyers who learn that a property hasn’t sold for a long time period often thinks there is something “wrong” with it, which also makes it more difficult to sell. There are times when it makes good sense to take a house off the market, make some updates and possibly lower the price. Check with your Realtor^® for professional advice.
6. Prime Condition
   You only have one chance to make a good first impression. We’ve all heard that before, right? The same is true of houses. Don’t put your home on the market if there are fix-it projects or upgrades still to be done. Take care of those first, get the marketing prepared and then launch the listing! Even though the average time to sell a property in Louisville is approximately 6 weeks, all houses receive the bulk of their showings during the first few weeks after the property has been listed.
7. Length of Stay
   Each time you buy or sell a home, closing costs factor into the transaction. If you’ve just moved into your current property, another transaction will include another set of closing costs that contribute nothing towards the equity of your property. The longer you live at any address, the more those closing costs are spread out over a number of years.
8. Trendy Trends
   There are times in a particular real estate market when certain kinds of properties are hot or “trendy.” Currently, in Louisville maintenance-free, single-story properties are in greater demand as retiring baby boomers are seeking a home that fits them. You’ll be able to get more money than is typically expected when this describes your home. Whether it is the trend towards “open floor plans” or away from “quad levels” the perception of properties rises and falls with popular opinion. If your home is currently at one of these peaks, now would be a great time to sell.
9. Family Matters
   Sometimes the best time to sell a house has nothing to do with supply and demand, or house condition or any of the above factors. Sometimes you have to sell your house, because a job is forcing you to move to another city. In these cases, it’s very important to price your property appropriately from the start and then market it aggressively. You may want to move your children to a new school district and you want to be in a new house by the start of a school year. There are a number of factors that can also contribute to the best time for your personal situation.
10. It’s Up To You
    While likely self-evident, the best time to sell your house is when you really want to. If you’re excited about the opportunity to move, you’ll have more energy to get the house ready for showings and the other tasks that go into a move. When you keep your eyes on the prize at the end of the race, everything goes much more smoothly.

Tre Pryor, a lifelong resident of Louisville, is a Realtor® with Rick Shaw Realtors. A graduate of the University of Louisville with a degree in Marketing, he has 15 years of professional experience, that includes consulting Fortune 200 companies. He uses his Internet expertise to help his real estate clients realize superior results. Mr. Pryor lives with his wife and three sons in the Springhurst area of Louisville.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 12th, 2007 at 12:56 pm and is filed under Top 10 Lists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.