When Is The Best Time To Sell A House?

Estimated reading time 8 minutes
In This Article
- Is There An Ideal Season For Selling A House?
- When Do Most Houses Go On The Market In The UK?
- What Time Of Year Do Houses Sell Quickly?
- What Is The Best Month To Sell A House?
- What Is The Best Day To Sell A House?
- When Is The Best Time To Put A House On The Market?
- Does It Matter What Time Of Year I Sell My House To A Cash Buying Company?
If you’re selling a house, whether it be through a traditional estate agent or cash house buyers you will know that there are all sorts of myths about when is the best time to sell. Each neighborhood and each home is different. In this article, we will help you in deciding whether to sell, at what time of year, month, and day.
Is There An Ideal Season For Selling A House?
Inevitably, you will be asking yourself, what are the best months to sell a house? Is now a good time to sell? Spring always comes out on top as the best time of year to sell a house. This is probably because people aren’t away for the summer holidays or busy with Christmas celebrations.
Another good thing about spring is that your home will look better when the garden is coming into bloom and the sun is (hopefully) out for longer.
Summer has never been the best time to sell a house. A lot of people go away and if you’re trying to sell to families, you should remember that they’re either going to be away or having most of their time taken up by child care during the school holidays. As a result, it is seen as one of the worst times to sell a house.
Autumn is another one of the best times of year to sell a house, and can be a good time to sell. If the weather’s mild your home will still look good and there are no major holidays to contend with. Make sure you’re ready to move quickly if you do find a buyer though because after October the market tends to slow right down.
Winter is arguably the worst time to sell ,a house. It can be a difficult time, especially before Christmas. If you’re not going to be ready to put your home on the market before December (one of the worst months to sell a house), it’s probably worth waiting until January when people are starting to think about the year ahead.
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When Do Most Houses Go On The Market In The UK?
Most houses go on sale in the times detailed above, knowing they are the best times of year to sell a house. The spring months, some autumn months, however there are times when you cannot worry ‘is it a good time to sell?’ Biding your time and deciding when to sell are not an option.
Life doesn’t always align to allow putting your property on the market at the time experts consider to be the ‘best’. Sometimes, you need to sell your house, and sell it fast, whatever the time of year.
House sales outside of the peak selling times come with a unique set of advantages. Such as the fact that most other people are playing the strategy game, meaning there are less properties on the market, which could make it the best time to sell, for you. This equals less competition for you. The buyers out there are likely to be less ‘tyre kickers’ and more those with the means and funds ready to make a deal. All the professional services (solicitors, surveyors etc.) are less busy, so transactions surrounding selling a house are generally smoother and faster, which could be an advantage to operate outside of the traditional ‘best time to sell a house’.
What Time Of Year Do Houses Sell Quickly?
Concerning a quick house sale, if you’re thinking of putting your house on the market in Christmas or midsummer, traditionally the worst months to sell a house, it’s probably worth waiting a while so you can enter it when you’re going to get the maximum amount of attention. The longer your house is on the market, the more buyers will start to wonder what’s wrong with it, the less likely you’ll be to sell your house.
You will have to be realistic with your house sale, in a period when it is not the best time to sell a house; if there is little demand, you may have to lower your price and be prepared to do everything within your power to accommodate potential buyers. If you are unsure of the question ‘is it a good time to sell?’ you should choose your estate agent carefully to know who will be best to sell your house with.
What Is The Best Month To Sell A House?
When deciding to sell your house, timing within these seasons is crucial. March, May, and October lead the way as the best months to sell a house. With March and May, gardens are in bloom, the weather is good, properties therefore look their best, a house sale is a reasonably safe bet. The market is full of buyers, meaning competing sellers are likely, lending itself to being the best time to sell a house. Good weather means that buyers are more likely to go house hunting.
With October, it can be argued that house buyers are even more motivated at this time of year. There tends to be slightly less of them in the market compared to March and May, but those that are there are ‘serious’ buyers, putting it ahead of the other ‘best’ months to sell a house in.
However, it is important not to wait too long in October, as November is statistically the worst month to sell a house. As the Christmas season begins and winter falls, houses begin to pale in comparison to their former selves when the weather turns.
What Is The Best Day To Sell A House?
Week-wise, what’s the best time to sell, we hear you ask. Well, it depends who you ask. According to Rightmove in 2014, Friday 4pm is the most popular time for estate agents to upload new properties to the portal, hoping for a quick house sale. Friday afternoons are one of the quietest times for people home-hunting on the site. The peak time for people searching Rightmove is Tuesdays at 9pm. According to Which? In 2017 the best day is Monday. Properties advertised on a Monday took on average 176 days to sell, whereas in terms of individual days, the worst time to sell a house is Sunday, where it took on average 213 days to sell a house.
Important to look outside of Rightmove. Zoopla, for instance, discovered over half of all Brits overestimate the amount of time it takes to sell a property, all misled around the best time to sell a house. In data carried out by the online property sales giant it shows that while most think it’ll take over two months to receive an acceptable offer, the actual figure is averaging just 50 days.
When Is The Best Time To Put A House On The Market?
When selling your house, it is important to know who you are marketing to. Different property types have different times of year that they are the best time to sell.
If you want the best price (in the shortest amount of time) it’s wise to come to market when the maximum numbers of buyers are actively looking for property like yours. Naturally, different types of property attract different types of buyers.
Take one and two bed flats and terraces, for example. Your target buyer would be first time buyers & young couples. The best time to sell would be January, February, and September as these buyers are often prompted by one last Christmas at home being one too many. They are known to start home hunting in earnest straight after New Year. They are also back in the market after Summer holidays with hopes of getting into their new home in time for Christmas, a significant factor in making it one of the best times to sell a house.
Does It Matter What Time Of Year I Sell My House To A Cash Buying Company?
No, one of the advantages of selling to cash house buyers, like Gaffsy, is that our offers aren’t affected by the time of year, we will purchase your property in any season. So to get a free valuation for your property and a cash offer with completion in as little as 7 days just enter a few simple details here.
* With Gaffsy you can get your house valuation quickly, and complete on your house sale fast with no fees.
* Gaffsy is the cheapest way to sell your property, avoiding costs such as agents’ fees, estate agents’ charges, solicitors’ fees, clearance costs, utility charges, mortgage payments and cosmetic repair costs.
* Selling to Gaffsy is fast – Compared to estate agents, we can sell much more quickly.
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