14 May When is the Best Time to Sell a House in St. Louis?

The Best Time to Sell a House

Trying to decide when is the best time to list your home for sale? Choosing the right time to list is crucial — right up there with determining the asking price. In the St. Louis market (and elsewhere), there are a lot of things to consider.

When deciding when to list your house for sale, here are 3 important things to remember:

1. Don’t list your home before you’re ready to sell

It sounds pretty basic, but it’s amazing how often people forget: selling a house is a lot of work. Working with the right REALTOR® will save you a lot of time and effort, but the fact remains: selling your home for the right price means doing it right. Rushing a house to market can result in sloppy mistakes and oversights — and buyers will take advantage.

If you’re too busy to get your house in tip-top shape for showing, it may not be the best time to list. When your house goes on the market, you want to make sure that your home and yard look their best, any necessary repairs are completed, and any budget-friendly improvements have been made. Take your time — and talk with your REALTOR® about what’s realistic, or what you might need help with. A little extra attention to the details now can mean a lot more money in your pocket later.

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2. Spring and summer: a hotter real estate market

There are typically more homes for sale in the warmer months. Let’s face it; homes just show better when it’s warm, and the sun is shining; yards are greener, neighborhoods are more active, and open houses draw in more people. Moving is easier, days are longer, and kids aren’t in school, leaving more time for families to go house-hunting.

For our clients, spring and summer can be a great time to sell a home in St. Louis. But with more homes for sale in the spring and summer, it’s often a buyer’s market — and competition can be fierce. More listings mean buyers can be more selective, and sellers typically can’t be as aggressive in negotiation.

3. Warmer weather isn’t always best

Conventional wisdom says spring and summer are the best times to list a home in the St. Louis area, but it’s important to remember that isn’t always the case. According to a recent study, “The average seller gets more “above-asking price” during the colder months of December, January, February, and March than they do from June through November.” Surprisingly, this holds true even in far colder, snowier cities like Chicago and Boston. What’s more, the study found that homes listed in winter actually sold faster than homes listed in the spring and summer.