Waiting until Spring to List Your Home?
Here’s a few reasons why you might not want to wait...
There’s an age old saying about the value and sale-ability of Real Estate: “Location! Location! Location!” Location, however, is only one of four critical factors to ensuring the successful sale or purchase of real estate. The other three factors are:
- Timing
- Condition
- Price
Winter can be a great time to list. In my experience, winter is the season when buyers are completely focused on purchasing and also when the fewest homes are on the market. Buyers shopping when it is freezing outside, (and this year add in “in the middle of a pandemic,” )are highly MOTIVATED buyers. I’ve never had a winter- season buyer get out of a warm car, into the freezing cold, then into a home for sale just out of curiosity. Buyers are house hunting in November – February because, as a general rule, they are pre-qualified for a loan and in-the-market with the ability to submit an offer now.
While spring is prime real estate selling season, it is also when your home will have the greatest competition from other real estate listings… all competing for your potential buyer’s interest. Unless your home is an updated and “move in ready” home, selling in the “off” season may get you noticed and SOLD with fewer days on the market.
If your home lacks a second bathroom, has a dated kitchen, off trend fixtures and appliances or needs painted, you have a better chance of selling your home “off season” in the winter without making expensive upgrades. When you’re not competing against a myriad of new listings featuring two full baths, on trend colors and fixtures and a stylish new kitchen, a fairly priced winter home sale can be a win-win for both the buyer and seller.
Another benefit of selling now rather than peak season, is that it allows you to have an industry standard 30-day period from contract acceptance to contract closing. Last spring-summer, most home sales that utilized a mortgage as payment,( i.e., buyer not paying cash), required 40-45 days to work through the process of inspections, potential additional tests, appraisal, survey, mortgage underwriting and closing at the title company. 10-15 extra days may not seem like a long time, but the greater the timeframe between in-contract and signing closing papers, the greater the chance a circumstance could change, resulting in the contract being cancelled.
For buyers, this extended in-contract time automatically makes an offer less attractive to the seller when a cash buyer is in the mix. This often creates a “bidding war” that ends with the buyer paying far more for the home they want than they had planned. To be more competitive as a buyer against those hard-to-beat cash offers , closing in a maximum of 30 days can help and be easily be done this time of year.
Another significant benefit for the winter buyer is that there is less competition from other buyers during the off season. With most listed homes in central Ohio, and especially the Clintonville area, receiving multiple offers, why not compete for that winning bid with fewer competitors? A winter buyer could be in-contract and ready to close with moving day just 30 days away. While spring buyers are still unpacking in June, the winter buyer can go on a well-deserved vacation. After 2020… we can all look forward to that.
If you are considering listing your home I'd love to talk. With my 18 years experience I strive to be your personal resource for all things real estate--upsizing, downsizing, first home, investing, vacation home, land acquisition or commercial. Let's connect!