The Mark Gunning Team: When is the Best Time to Sell Your Home?

You are getting your home ready to sell.

You have all the repairs done.

New paint and carpet.

Home has been scrubbed inside and out.

Lawns look fantastic.

You are ready to go…

But did you know that there is an optimal time of year to sell your home where you could see as much as $1700 more price and 19 days less selling time?

Consumer reports recently wrote an article showing these stats from the home statistic giant Zillow.

And the winning time of year to sell your home?

Sell your home in the month of May

The month of May!

Here are the best times to sell your home for several regions and cities, as measured by Zillow’s data.

May 1-15: Across the U.S. generally, as well as New York and Northern New Jersey; Chicago; Dallas-Fort Worth; Philadelphia; Detroit; Riverside, California; Phoenix; Seattle; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Tampa, Florida; Baltimore; Pittsburgh; and Portland, Oregon.

May 16-30: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim; Boston; San Francisco; Denver.

June 1-15: Houston.

The benefit to listing your home at the right time can be significant. Read the rest…

The first 2 weeks in May seem to be the best for the Phoenix area, as it is not super-hot yet and people moving here want to do so before the nuclear heat hits us in late May, early June.

It is interesting that even if there is a higher inventory, selling in the month of May typically will bring you a higher price.

However, if the winter months had sales at lower prices, this can affect your home valuation.

You might want to check around your neighborhood, and ask a real estate agent, to see what homes have sold and are currently listed, to give you a better idea of price says Dana Hill, VP of Buyer’s Edge.

When your house is being valued, the appraiser will look into data for comparable homes sold in your neighborhood. But if the most recent data is from a home that sold for cheap in the winter, it can hurt your valuation.

Having only bits of comparable housing data “kind of holds you hostage,” said Dana Hill, vice president of Buyer’s Edge Realty in Bethesda, MD.

With more homes selling in the on-season, the comparable data (or “comps”) are more accurate. Hill recommends waiting to be the second or third person in your neighborhood to put your house up for sale to take advantage of those comparable sales.

While you’re at it, be sure your appraiser knows your neighborhood. If a home recently sold for $600,000 but it was a tear-down, while normally prices are $1.2 million, you’ll want an appraiser who understands that, said Hill.

Either way, the more data the better—and the prime season is when the data are most robust. Read more pros and cons of selling right after winter here…

Your best bet is to research your neighborhood and plan out your sales strategy.

Put in as much effort as you did when you cleaned up your home before listing it for sale.