Consider listing in February : Rooftop Views

Rooftop Views

Consider listing in February

With the New Year upon us, there are many things on our minds: parties, the Super Bowl, our struggles to maintain our New Year resolutions. But there's one thing many people don't think about this time of year, though they should be: real estate. Wait, real estate?

Yes, real estate. Mid-February, specifically those weeks following the Super Bowl, is the optimum time to put homes on the market. That's the time when buyers are warming up for the spring home-buying season. Plus, listing inventory is low because of the winter and holiday slowdown. The number of buyers beginning to look at homes is disproportionately larger than the number of homes being advertised for sale, giving sellers a competitive advantage.

"There is a prime market of home buyers beginning their search for a home around this time. Put your home on the market now, and you've got a good chance of scoring a real estate touchdown," says Ernie Blood, executive vice president of Dominion Homes Media.

The logic is simple. The Super Bowl signifies the start of this prime time to sell because it falls at a major transition period for many prospective home buyers. Those who had been thinking about purchasing a new home before the holidays are probably ready to kick the process into gear around this time. The holiday season gives people a chance to meet with family and friends, and now that the madness of the holidays is over, they are ready to begin the process. Forbes.com agrees that this is an opportune time to put homes on the market, as to avoid the significantly larger amount of competition in the spring, which makes it more difficult to sell.

The National Association of Realtors explains that the slowest months of the year for home sales are typically January and February, due to fewer deals being made over the holidays. The higher number of sales in the spring may be due to the fact that many people want to move in between school years.

"Now is the time when buyers and sellers are going to start looking. They are going to take notice of yard signs, surf the Internet, and pick up real estate magazines as they browse their local market. In fact, our data from HitBox - WebSideStory already shows a significant trend upward in visitors to HarmonHomes.com from the end of 2005 to now," says Blood.

"If you're planning to sell your house during the spring months, you'd be well advised to catch buyers' eyes now in these critical early stages. Beat your competition to the market now and you'll have more eyes looking at your home later," he says.

According to Blood, conventional wisdom tells home sellers to sell when they are ready. When the exterior of the house is perfect. When the inside is in tip-top shape. After they have gotten around to getting everything in line. But realistically, will there ever really be a "perfect time"?

"My advice? Forget conventional wisdom," he says. "Be ready to sell and get your listing out there when buyers are ready, before your competition is there. Do what it takes to get yourself positioned early, and you'll have a far greater selling advantage than those who waited."