In the real estate market, transactions that involve buying and selling happen every day. But still, there’s one question on the lips of most investors – “what’s the best time to buy and sell a house?” Upon hearing this, a first-time seller might consider this to be irrelevant as the common notion, most times, is that home sales can happen anytime.
While this might ring true on several occasions, the real estate market is likened to a flower blooming during a select season. Consequently, if you intend to put your home up for sale, the season and the happenings at that period can go a long way in determining if you’ll make huge dividends or not.
In this article, we’ll be giving newbie home sellers the opportunity to learn the best time to sell a house in California. However, it’s pertinent to note that there’s nothing specific as the touted “best time to sell a house in California” can occur anytime.
Therefore, it’s up to you to choose a path that tallies your plans. Without further ado, let’s head right in!
Major Seasons in the Real Estate Market: When’s a Listing Appropriate?
The house market in California isn’t steady in its volatility levels. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t make a profitable sale during any period. That said, everyone’s different, and you’ll have to factor in some considerations before you list your house for sale.
While this might come off as a “not too” easy task, you’ll still need to make a decision regardless. To ensure that the ride doesn’t get too bumpy, here are some seasons whereby you might consider putting your house on sale. They include:
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Spring
Spring, by several realtors, is a season that’s a top contender for the “best time to seek a house in California” award. Due to the warm weather that’s prevalent during this period, prospective buyers are invigorated to go about touring homes to have a view of a home’s landscape and scenery.
Asides from that, most buyers decide to take this sneak peek at homes to see whether or not they’ll have to deal with the heat associated with hot afternoons.
However, while most individuals might feel as though the weather is all there is to Spring, it isn’t. During this season, demand, sometimes, is through the roof.
Why? Buyers know that securing a house might take months, and thus, they commence a search from April to May. Therefore, families with kids have to take advantage of this period so that their wards can resume school by September, just like everyone else.
Since demand is increasing at a decent rate, a seller is bound to get more offers during this period. The result? Selling a house for a rate higher than the value featured on a listing.
However, sellers must be on their toes as there are offers to balance the number of listings. To ensure that their property stays out on top, first-time sellers must always make fixtures noticeable on other houses.
That said, if you’re willing to sell your home during this period, make sure you run a price review (comparing yours with other properties). Here, if your home features a price close to the median, the chances of making a sale increase.
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Summer
If you’re a fan of the weather channel, you’ll know that the season that precedes Spring is Summer. At this time, California’s housing market is filled with properties that were listed during Spring. Most times, these houses sport astronomic prices, and that makes buyers lose interest quickly.
However, there’s a glimmer of hope for sellers as they can make their prices more competitive to suit buyers’ interests that are ready to deal.
That said, if you’re a seller, you might want to make some considerations as Summer favors buyers. You see, unlike Spring, Summer isn’t just warm, but hot. Consequently, this period would see more vacations as more people are interested in spending time with family and friends than scouting for a suitable home.
Since buyers have the upper hand, sellers would have to incur some losses on their respective ends. Asides from taking on a renovation, a seller might still have to present an incentive. Most times, the buyer might ask the seller to shoulder closing costs.
Although this might not augur well with several home sellers, they have no choice as buyers are the individuals with the bargaining chip.
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Fall
If we were to give the best time to sell a house in California, we wouldn’t recommend doing it by Fall. During Fall, California home sales and the national real estate market tend to “fall” (no pun intended).
However, if you’re able to stay abreast of leaves on your property, you might get that desired “curb appeal” and attract the interest of intending buyers.
Although that might count as seemingly positive, most buyers aren’t interested in making down payments on homes during this season as they’d rather wait for things to get warm again.
Also, since homes from Spring and Summer are still prevalent on property listings, sellers that own these properties might decide to lower their prices. Consequently, you’ll have to do the same. Thus, you’ll have to sell your home for a price lower than you envisaged.
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Winter
Compared to Fall, Winter has the most damaging repercussions on the real estate market as there’s bound to be an increased decline.
Since there aren’t too many listings during this period, you can take advantage of this to target two sets of individuals.
The first set is individuals that are relocating and desperately need a home. On the other hand, you might be lucky to secure a buyer that intends to close a home sale before the year ends.
Although this happens on select occasions, the buyer might want to take advantage. Here, you must be ready to negotiate regardless of “back and forths.”
Not the best time to sell a house in 2021 in our books; the reason why Winter ranks so low is freezing temperatures. Even if you’re a seller, you’ll be unable to carry out necessary repairs due to the weather.
What’s Next for You?
With the detailed explanation attached to each season, we’re sure that you can now make a home sales decision without being aided. Nonetheless, it seems like Spring and Summer are the best times to sell a house in California from the lines above.
However, if you’re under pressure and you’d like to make the most out of your house regardless of season, you might want to engage the services of a realtor service like Property Escape. With a reputation in Southern California, you’re bound to get an enticing offer without moving a muscle.