This post is from last December and still applies today. I proved this point with several homes listed and sold last winter. Email or call me for details.
Here’s the original link: http://melaniesdwellings.com/2010/12/page/4/
And here’s the post:
Ready to Sell? Don’t Wait Until Spring!
Some folks who are ready to sell their homes are waiting out the winter to list it with an agent. But you could sell your home faster and for more money by putting it on the market now.
Here’s why you should put your home on the market now:
We’re in a Declining Market
In an appreciating home market, with low inventory and high demand, sale prices increase over time. In a declining market, with high inventory and lower demand, sale prices decrease over time. Currently, we’re in the latter kind of market – declining – even though buyer demand is not so low. In fact, homes correctly priced in this market are selling fairly quickly! But if you wait a few months to put your home on the market, you may need to price it lower than you would have if you marketed it now.
Serious Buyers Brave the Cold
Buyers who brave the cold are generally serious. They have been house hunting for a while and are ready to find their home, needing to find their home. Or, if they are just starting to look, the homes they choose to trudge out in the snow to visit truly interest them. You want these folks seeing your home.
Grab the Attention of Buyers’ Agents
Winter is the calm before the storm for many agents. When spring comes and so many homes are put on the market, agents may not have time to personally preview each one in their area. But a good buyer’s agent will tour a home personally before recommending it to his or her clients. If your home is listed now, odds are these agents will have time to come see it and then, hopefully, urge their clients to do so as well.
Competition Will Be Fierce in the Spring
Another reason spring means pricing your home lower is … competition! All those homes will be coming on the market for the nice weather, and they will be competing with each other for buyers. If you list your home now there’s no guarantee yours will not still be in that group, but at least you will have a two-month leg up on them. Plus, your home will be known to buyers and buyers agents. And if it’s priced right to start, it could be swept up and under contract by then, if not completely sold.
January and February are precious months. List your home now and, hopefully, reap the benefits.
