Should You List Now or Wait Until Spring?

It’s that time of year . . . again.

Who wants to be bothered during the holidays with “tire kickers” looking at your house? Serious prospects are what you want, so why not wait until spring when the flowers are blooming and it’s more pleasant to leave your house for a showing? Or, are you thinking that the time on the market will increase while no one is looking at your home, so wouldn’t you be better off just taking it off the market during the holidays and then putting it back on in the spring? Are you serious? As in, are you serious about selling your house?

Optional buyers, people who are moving around town because they are tired of their houses, may be more likely to skip looking at houses during the holiday season because heaven forbid they should find a one they want and then have to put their own house on the market during the holidays! Optional buyers, the tire kickers, those who have not sense of urgency do tend to drop out of the shopping mode.

But, what about people who are relocating to your area? They often take a holiday vacation to look at homes in their soon-to-be-new-hometown. If your house is not on the market, they aren’t going to see it. While the market for home buyers slows down during the holiday season, serious buyers do not. And isn’t that really what you are looking for? Serious buyers.

And with other home sellers waiting until spring to market their homes, now is the ideal time to be selling your house . . . competition is down. If someone wants to see your house in the snow, on a cold, dreary day, or simply an unexpected time in the winter like during an important playoff game, you can bet they are not tire kickers, they are serious buyers.

So, keep your house available to be shown during the holiday season. And make it as easy to show as you can by cleaning the steps of debris and snow. Keep the yard raked, clean the gutters, and turn on the lights inside when they are expected. Make your toasty home shout: Welcome home! ‘Tis the season to sell a home.

Life is good and getting better!