I’ve been meeting with many home owners across Houston lately who are thinking of selling their home in the Spring and they all ask the same question:  “it’s best to sell in the Spring, right:?  Funny thing is, the buyers I’m working with right now are asking “where are all the houses”?  (Read between the lines:  INVENTORY IS DOWN)

Contrary to “popular belief”, Spring is not necessarily the best time to sell…

Shouldn’t I just wait until spring to get my home on the market?

I’ll share with you today what I’ve shared with every homeowner that has asked me this question.

#1 Spring Activity

In the spring time, activity is up. That doesn't mean that production or sales is up to the same level of activity.  The reason many people (this includes many Realtors) think it's best to list a home in the spring is because there is a lot more buyers ready to go look in the spring.

Because of this everyone waits until the spring to get their home on the market. And all the buyers that have made a New Year’s Resolution to buy their first home or next home are out looking in the spring time. But that’s what the majority of buyer’s in the spring time, truly are: Lookers. They’re just looking.

And the same can be said for many Sellers. They are also just looking. Looking to see if they can get a certain price. They are testing the market. I call them: Testers. They’re testing the market to “see if they can get their price.” 

What this does is flood the market with more inventory (more homes for sale), but not necessarily more sales. In the spring time, there are many more Lookers and many more Testers.

#2 Winter Productivity

If your home is on the market in the fall or winter, guess what? You're probably a motivated seller. And that's not a bad thing because the buyers out looking in the fall and winter are also motivated. They’re not waiting for a New Year's Resolution, or making low-ball offers or just Lookers. They’re real Buyers. The rain. The cold. The getting dark at 5:00 at night doesn’t stop these buyers from looking for their new home.

Just to recap: Just because spring and summer activity is up doesn't mean actual sales equivalent to the activity is up. Then as you come into the fall and winter market, the amount of sales to the activity is actually more in balance. You don’t have the Lookers out there wasting your time. And you don’t have the Tester’s out there increasing inventory supply.

The market just does NOT drop off in the fall and winter to wait to get your home on the market in spring really means more competition. More inventory. More supply. But demand, true demand is not up to the same level. It’s a lot of Lookers.

So if you're serious about selling your home, if you’re truly motivated, don’t wait until the springtime. There's plenty of motivated buyers out looking for homes right now. Why would you wait until spring?