You have always heard that listing houses for sale in spring and summer was ideal. That is not the case in today’s market. There is less competition and more serious buyers in the winter.
National realty brokerage firm Redfin conducted a study of 1.1 million home listings between 2011 and 2013 in 19 major markets. The data shows houses put on the market in winter had a 9 – 10 percentage point greater probability of selling within 180 days and at a smaller discount to the initial list price.
If you can sell during the off season, in the winter, you may fare better because there are fewer, yet more motivated buyers.
Motivated Buyers
Conventional wisdom that spring and summer is the best time to sell a house stems from the fact that parents want to wait until near or end of school year to move school aged children. However, today half of buyers aren’t married buyers and married buyers are waiting until later to have children, so they aren’t making house buying decisions based on school schedules.
For these buyers looking to buy houses in the dead of winter, bad weather, short days and the holiday season don’t aren’t factors in house hunting.
Less Competition
Many sellers are skeptical to sell houses during the winter so they won’t list or they take them off the market after what is considered the “peak” season. Their decision not to sell during “off” season is your gain.
Winter is often the time when the law of supply and demand most favors sellers. It is when many sellers achieve list prices for their houses. If you are thinking of selling in the winter, now is a good time to talk to Top Level Real Estate Group about the best way to make winter selling work for you.
Top Level Real Estate Group are your local, Metro Atlanta experts. Teamwork gets the job done!
If you are interested in purchasing or selling a home, contact us today to learn more about how we can assist your Real Estate needs: info@toplevelrealestate.com.