Is It The Right Time To Sell Your Home?

Is now the best time to sell your home? That’s an intensely personal question that depends on a number of factors — many of them beyond your control. 

In 2006, some sellers might have been wondering if they should have waited another year and netted even more profit … but today we know that those sellers would have kicked themselves for making that decision.

Major economic shifts aside, there are ways you can manipulate your home’s sale to best benefit you and your family as you move into a bigger place or downsize to better fit your lifestyle. When you’re trying to target the most opportune time to put your home on the market, it helps to consider all of the factors involved and control what you can to maximize your price and profit.

The annual real estate doldrums …

Most advice you’ll hear about selling will be different, but there’s one time of year that most experts believe you should avoid when it comes to listing a home: wintertime.

Between the holiday season and, in some parts of the country, the weather, there aren’t too many buyers incentivized to disrupt their lives and move into a new home, which means they aren’t really thinking about shopping for one, either — at least in some markets.

And fewer buyers means less of a chance that your home will be one of the homes that sells.

Winter also isn’t a very fun time of year to be a seller, logistically speaking. You might think you’ll get out of yard work (and you’ll be right), but you’ll probably be cleaning up after visitors tracking rain and snow through your just-cleaned house while they tour it in exchange.

… And the peak selling season

Just like many experts will warn you against winter, springtime is commonly considered one of the best times of the year to sell a home. 

Buyers are interested in making a fresh start, yards look lush and green, days are starting to get longer, and tax season gives some buyers a leap ahead on any down payment savings.

So does that mean you should sell in the springtime? Maybe … but be aware that other sellers are going to have the same idea. There will be competition in the form of more homes available on the market. Those buyers also might have the options available to be more picky in the home they end up buying, and that could mean they demand changes to yours before paying for it — or pass altogether.

Your home’s favorite time of year

Here’s the thing about all conventional wisdom: It’s geared toward the median, the “normal,” the middle-of-the-road. But the reality is all over the map, and the conventional wisdom for your home could be very different from the norm.

  • If you live in a ski resort town, then wintertime could be the very best time of year to list your home — when the area is full of visitors who are enjoying themselves and wondering whether they might be able to make a permanent move work.
  • If you own a family-sized house with a little room to grow that’s just a two-block walk from one of the most desirable elementary schools in your metro area – it might make less sense to list your home in the early spring, when many families with young children will be preoccupied with the end of the school year, and instead list in early summer, when they’re able to seriously consider a move.
  • Or perhaps the fall foliage in your part of the world is something tourists travel hundreds of miles to absorb, and you’ve got a grove of beautiful deciduous trees in your yard.

Maybe you have a swimming pool or deck area that really shines in the summertime. Or maybe it’s your flower garden that makes passersby stop and stare at your house, and the spring really is the best time for you.

Does the day of the week matter?

Actually, it might. According to a couple of different studies, homes that were listed on Thursday or Friday have been found to sell in the shortest length of time for slightly higher prices than any other homes.

It’s possible that the timing of the weekend is what’s honing Thursday’s and Friday’s edge over the other days of the week. 

Buyers are more likely to have time to schedule home tours or attend open houses over the weekend, and there are likely to be more of those buyers looking at each house (and therefore more chances of getting an offer, or maybe even multiple offers). 

And if the home was just listed and buyers see that competition for themselves, they’re more likely to put in a full-price offer for the home.

It’s usually not a good idea to list a home on a weekend, and you’re less likely to see buyer appointments to tour homes earlier in the week, so if you can’t swing a Thursday or Friday, try a Wednesday.

Timing isn’t everything

Even if you think you’ve nailed the absolute best time to sell your home and you’ve done all you can repair-wise to maximize your chances, there’s one big mistake that could shoot all your efforts right in the foot: Pricing your home incorrectly when you first list it.

Some sellers don’t think this is the huge deal that it really (really!) is.

Serious buyers sign up to property watch lists and get an alert as soon as a home is listed on the MLS. Most of the buyers who could buy your home are going to see its listing within the first 48 hours of that listing being “live.”

Unless you overpriced it, of course. Then those buyers won’t see it until you reduce the price down to a more realistic level — and you might think that the price is a starting point of negotiation, but a qualified buyer is searching for “homes I am qualified to buy right now,” not “homes I am not qualified to buy right now but that might drop into my price range later.

So you get one big chance to make your home’s big debut in front of its buyers. And if you set the price too high (or too low, for that matter), you’ve blown it.

That’s why the best way to maximize your home’s price is to talk to a qualified agent, who can help you figure it out — and why the best time to sell is when you’re ready.

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Caitlyn Weiman

Caitlyn has been running the operations at Lark + Co since fall of 2022. She has also been licensed in real estate sales since 2013, and enjoys working with first-time homebuyers and investors, alike. Caitlyn enjoys running numbers and helping clients find the right rental mix for their properties.

Caitlyn has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Colorado Denver with an emphasis on Sculpture, but these days art is just for fun when she assists Kristin with furnishing and design. She lives in Brighton with her husband, daughter, cat, and dog. They enjoy going to “the lake” on the weekends in the summer or Sunday movie days in the colder months.

Kim Nicol

Portfolio Manager

Lark is excited to have Kim join our team as our Portfolio Manager. Kim brings her organizational skills and upbeat attitude to help us keep things running smoothly. 

Kim was born in California and moved to Colorado in 2019. She has a background in Early Childhood Education and management.  Kim loves children and has adored her years teaching, nurturing and helping them grow, but was looking for new challenges.

She has always had a passion for Real Estate and is excited to start her path in this career. Kim lives in Brighton with her husband, four kids, two dogs and three lizards. She enjoys being outdoors, spending quality time with her kiddos, and shopping for fun new water tumblers.

Kristin Johnson

(Owner)

Kristin became a licensed Real Estate Agent in 2016 and joined Re/Max Synergy In 2020 in order to help build a property management division. In 2022 in collaboration with her colleagues Kristin decided to open Lark+CO in order to provide an array of Real Estate services to her clients under one roof. These services currently include buying, selling and marketing single family and multi-family homes, property management for single and multi-family furnished and unfurnished rentals as well as design services. In the near future we are excited to add lending and insurance to our portfolio of offerings.

Before getting into Real Estate, Kristin worked in business to business sales where she ran high producing sales teams and developed lasting relationships with vendors, associates and local organizations. Kristin loves meeting and connecting with people – especially potential buyers, business partners, investors and tenants to discuss and understand their specific needs and aspirations. Kristin will find something unique that is tailored to their goals and collaborate on business growth strategies. Kristin successfully sets rents in the Colorado market while helping clients earn their highest potential on their rental properties to achieve financial goals and freedoms.

Kristin adores living in Colorado and enjoys all of the outdoor activities that Colorado has to offer. Her favorite is spending time in the mountains with family and friends, her Bernese Mountain dog Hugo, and Lhasa Poo Lola. Vail holds a special place in her family’s hearts and you can find them relaxing in and fishing by the Gore Creek, riding bikes down the gorgeous bike path to Vail Village, skiing the idyllic snow covered runs or cooking up delicious treats with her children.

Kristin enjoys work to the fullest and is excited for the opportunity to be working with you to find the house of your dreams, managing your rental properties or helping you expand your investment portfolio.