Best Times to Buy, Sell or List a Home

Use all the resources at your disposal to make an informed choice.

Many buyers and sellers ask: What is the best time to buy or sell a home? In the clothing world, it makes sense to get the best “deal” on winter clothes at the end of winter, and to pay top dollar for a swimsuit in April. Does the same trend hold true for real estate purchases and sales?

Not really. But as buyers and sellers enter the market, there are some considerations that could affect the transaction.

Spring and fall are better times for buyers

Let’s be clear. You can’t ever time a home purchase. Buying a home isn’t like buying a car or an iPad. The home buying process is a journey, one that happens on your own time and only after you’ve done enough research, seen enough homes, and have your financial house in order.

At any one time, there is a brand-new buyer entering the market, and then another who has done enough research and becomes a very serious buyer. Nobody can control the evolution. But something for a buyer to consider is that real estate inventory tends to fluctuate by season. Each spring and fall we tend to see an increase in home inventory due to the seasons. More inventory means more options for buyers.

Holidays and winter are best times for sellers

It’s not conventional for a seller to list their home before the holidays or in the dead of winter, for obvious reasons. But serious, eager buyers don’t care about the season or timing.

At any one point of the year, there will be a very motivated, experienced buyer ready to make an offer, no matter the season. I’ve written contracts on Thanksgiving, closed escrow on New Year’s Eve, and even had a serious buyer make an offer using electronic forms from a beach in Hawaii.

Sellers believe it’s more conventional to list for the spring “selling” season and then again after the summer. If you go the conventional route, you will see more competition. If you can sell “off season” you might fare better because there are still serious buyers, but fewer homes for sale.

Best time of day to list a home

The Sunday open house, particularly the first Sunday, is the holy grail of real estate. For decades, agents and sellers worked hard on listings with a goal of being the first open house. The “for sale” sign, which made the listing official a generation ago, would go in front of the house in the days leading up the first open house.

In the digital age, the listing goes “live” online. Sellers and agents work hard to clean, paint or prep the home in time for the photo shoot. Agents and sellers tend to rush to the finish and you will see many listings hit the market late Thursday afternoon or Friday morning, with Sunday being the first showing.

Instead, try listing on Monday or Tuesday, and don’t do any showings until the open house on Sunday. You can build momentum and have a very strong first open house.