One of the most frequently asked questions in real estate is, “What’s the best time of year to sell your home?”
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One of the most frequently asked questions in real estate is, “What’s the best time of year to sell your home?”
Answer: the second quarter (April-June).
That’s the brief answer. But there’s more to the question. Let’s accept that while the second quarter is the best time to sell, it’s a generalization and true most year. Major events can affect the market.
For example, in the second quarter of 2020, we saw the beginnings of the COVID pandemic. People became confused. However, as people realized they were stuck in their homes, cool stuff in your home became more important. So people wanted cooler homes. It took about 90 days for people to decide that their home was their castle, and they wanted a better castle.
As a result, the third quarter (July-September), became a great quarter.
Still, let’s return to generalization, as they apply most years. Let’s analyze each quarter and their strengths and weaknesses.
Several factors play into the success of the second quarter as the best time to sell real estate.
First, a larger portion of taxpayers know what they owe the IRS or the refund they receive from the treasury. So, understanding their financial position, buyers and sellers are ready to make a real estate move.
Second, organized families understand they need to start preparing for the hot summer real estate market with the goal to get their kids to their aspiration school the next school year.
Third, we’ve been trained this part of the year rocks to buy and sell homes.
Three factors affect the success of fourth-quarter sales.
First, people like to be in their new home for the holidays.
Second, past tax laws offered benefits to own a home by the end of the year. However, some of these laws have recently changed.
Third, bargain home shoppers know some sellers drop their price near the end of the year to move to the next phase of their lives.
The first quarter is the most bipolar of the four.
On the positive side, most companies start their annual budgets in January. If the economy is fantastic, or if oil prices are high, major companies relocate new employees to the Houston and Katy area. This means the first quarter can be a great time to have you home on the market.
On the negative side, if the economy is poor or the oil prices, major companies won’t be relocating those employees and it will be tougher to sell because there will be fewer prospective buyers.
Despite the example cited earlier, this is consistently the slowest quarter. Often these months see many closings, but these deals were negated in the second quarter.
The third quarter is slow for two major reasons.
First, back to school, with parents focused on getting their children started in their new grade.
Second, the third quarter, and part of the fourth quarter, focused on hurricane season. If a hurricane is in the Gulf of Mexico, closings may be delayed or occasionally canceled.
I hope this article helps you set direction for planning your home sale. Feel free to contact our team for help find the perfect lot to make your dream come true.
Timothy Gene Sojka is the broker of the See TIM Sell Team at Keller Williams. His team has sold over 2,000 homes. Tim is also the author of the Amazon #1 political thrillers Payback Jack and Politikill.