I am sorry to even mention the holidays, but in the real estate world they are just around the corner. It is a little like going to Target for back to school stuff and seeing Halloween decor for sale. But if you would like to sell your home prior to the holiday season, now is your time to get the process started.
“But Chad, school just started a couple of weeks ago. Why the rush?”, you might ask. Let me explain.
The average time from a when contract is received on a home to when that sale closes is approximately 45 days. If we were to back up 45 days from Thanksgiving this year that would take us to Tuesday, October 15th. Currently our team’s average days on market from the “go-live” date to when a home is under contract is 8 days. But let us expand that to 14 days to be conservative. If we were to back up two weeks from the 15th, that would take us to Tuesday, October 1st.
Our average selling client takes approximately two weeks to prepare their home for sale based on our staging suggestions, pre-inspection repairs, etc. Therefore they would need to begin this process by Tuesday, September 17th. That is exactly 11 days from today.
Do you see how quickly the calendar days can fly by? Please understand this does not mean that homes don’t sell after Thanksgiving. They do, each and every year. Honestly, we have had some very busy Decembers in the past. The thought is that most home buyers would prefer to be in their new home prior to the holidays. You can sell your home after that time, however, please keep in mind that your potential buyer pool will most likely be limited to only those home buyers who “have to buy” during that time of year. You run the chance of missing out on a buyer who would like to purchase a new home, but does not “have to” and therefore would prefer not to manage all of those moving pieces with the holidays swirling around them.