Before we get into the benefits of selling your home in the summer, we know better than most that homeowners don’t always get to choose when to sell their home. You may get a new work assignment. You may want to get to your new community before school starts. Or you might want to take advantage of a market uptick.
In those cases, don’t let the fact that it may not be summertime stop you. The truth is, whenever you need to sell your home is the best time for you to sell it.
However, if you do not have to sell your home at some other time and you can choose when to put it on the market, summer is generally better than other times of year for the following reasons.
1. Your Home Looks it’s Best
Curb appeal is regularly cited as a highly important factor in a home buyer’s decision to place an offer on a particular property. However, selling your home in winter doesn’t help your curb appeal so much. Not with snow piled up outside, icicles on your eavestroughs, and buyers not even bothering to check the curb appeal because it’s too cold to stand there looking.
2. You Have More Time to Help the Sale
Yes, you can take vacation time all year round. Even without taking vacation days, summer is full of long weekends and half-day Fridays. If you’re an experienced seller, you’ll likely underestimate the amount of time you need to attend to all the details of selling your home. From making necessary repairs and improvements, to talking with realtors and potential buyers, you’ll have more time for it all in the summer.
3. More Buyers are Around
Like home sellers, home buyers can often choose when to buy. For many of the same reasons as the seller, home buyers prefer to house hunt in summer. They have more time to research. They can take more time to look at a home when they arrive. They can see the home at its best and picture how they would enjoy it, inside and outside too. Finally, think about if you could choose when to buy a home. Would you prefer to head out after work on a cold, dark night? Or a bright, warm summer evening?
4. Families Are in the Buyer Mix
This one has a benefit that many sellers don’t consider. Another reason for there being more home buyers in summer is the aforementioned families who want to get settled into a new community before the start of school. So what’s the benefit you might not consider? They pressure to get into certain communities within the right time frame can make those families more motivated to place offers and place higher offers. An added bonus is moving families is complicated enough and it’s just easier to do in warmer months.
Want more tips on selling your home? Check out our article Should You Renovate Before You Sell Your Home?