Calendar considerations to contemplate for a listing
“Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” — is a song written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s. And it certainly applies to real estate; specifically, when are the suggested situational optimal times to list a home for sale?
Traditionally, sellers begin the task of listing a home via a discussion with a real estate professional. However, there are other less obvious considerations to make – namely when to list based on calendar-based factors.
A few calendar contemplations to consider:
1. The school-year calendar
For families with school-age children in traditional calendar schools (not year-round) the optimal timing of selling a house is usually when school is out. That means they prefer to sell their house in the summer with the goal of minimizing disruptions to the children. If the property happens to include a pool, that is even better. Buyers find few things more satisfying than seeing a well-maintained pool greeting them when they walk out the back door on a hot-day walk-through. Additionally, homes located conveniently close to “good” schools can potentially list for higher amounts, offering the proverbial premium location, location, location for the right buyers – those having children in the nearby school’s service range.
2. The seasons and weather calendar
Having many similarities to the school–year calendar, the seasons and weather calendar finds the majority of real estate transactions taking place in the spring, summer and fall seasons when the weather is more temperate. In northern California where the weather is nice except for a few winter months, buyers actively seek out desirable properties during those months when made available by sellers looking to move out or move up. No one, whether aided by the services of a professional moving company or not, wants to relocate in nasty weather when it is necessary to subject possessions to the rain and cold. The obvious exception is when the property for sale is a cabin or similar rugged type of home construction and the appeal for buyers will be the heartiness of the structure and the proximity to desirable ski or other winter resort areas. In this case, remember to list the home when the weather is expected to reasonably predictable, not extreme, and access to the property is not overly taxing or inconvenient. If the weather does not cooperate, the number of prospective buyers entertaining a visit and corresponding offers will undoubtedly be far less.
3. The three-day weekend and major holidays calendar
Obviously the vast majority of buyers, like most other Americans, are not interested in relocating during the major holidays in the winter months. People are preoccupied with traveling to visit or hosting relatives and friends. It is no surprise that the lowest number of real estate transactions occur around the traditional holiday months of November and December. But what about the long weekend holidays when most buyers have an extra day to relocate and get settled in. It certainly cannot hurt to time the listing of the property so that paperwork can be signed, certified and filed so that new home owners may take possession of the home on a weekend that gives them an extra holiday day to add a sense of calm during the normally inconvenient transition.