8 Great Reasons to List Your Home This Spring

The best home selling experiences do not happen by accident. Instead, they are the result of careful planning and preparation on the part of the seller.

Sellers who want the process to be as profitable and painless as possible spend hours cleaning, organizing, making repairs, and decorating to make sure their home is as market ready and competitive as it can be before listing it for sale, but there is another important aspect that can affect the speed and price at which a home will sell and that is timing.

In most areas of the country, a great time for listing a home is the spring selling season and these eight reasons will help you to understand why. 

1. Rising Mortgage Interest Rates

Mortgage rates have remained historically low for longer than expected and are now beginning to creep up again. This creates a feeling of urgency among home buyers as they work to find a home and lock in their mortgage before the rates increase significantly.  

2. Mild Weather

Springtime has historically been the prime time for selling a home, as buyers are ready to leave winter weather behind and actively embrace the milder weather. 

3. More Buyers

In most households, summer means outings and vacations, fall means school or recreational activities and winter brings the flurry of the holiday season and all the shopping and entertaining that goes along with it. Spring, however, offers a slower pace, with no major diversions, making it the perfect time for selling a home. 

4. Longer Daylight Hours

Longer days means more time for busy buyers to view homes after work without having to schedule the showings after the sun sets. Buyers feel more comfortable viewing homes and are able to make a final selection much easier when they feel they are able to view the home in well-lit conditions, both inside and out. 

5. Taking Advantage of the Growing Season

Even the most attractive homes look dull and drab with gray weather and dead plants. In the spring, however, green grass and other spring landscaping can help provide very attractive curb appeal and help capture and retain buyer interest necessary for a great selling experience. 

6. Post-Election Home Buying Surge 

Buyer activity tends to slow during the months immediately preceding an election as buyers worry about possible changes in financing or tax laws that might result from a new administration. Once the election is over, however, many are once again ready to place focus on any home buying plans they may have place on hold during the frenzied campaign. 

7. More Comparable Home Sales and Listings

With late summer, fall, and winter sales numbers typically less than those of the busier spring selling season, sellers who wait for spring to list their homes can benefit from the increase in market activity that typically accompanies the spring selling season. With far more closed sales and newly active listing to compare their home to during the spring, both appraisals and listing prices are often higher than they are when there are fewer comparable homes during the slower seasons.

8. Buyer Competition

Sellers who list in the spring season when more buyers are out shopping for homes often reap the reward of buyer competition, especially in the most active markets. When homes are selling quickly, as they typically do in the the spring, buyers feel pressure to make their best possible offers and even compete against other buyers in multiple offer situations, creating a bidding war effect that can boost the price of purchase offers the seller might receive.  

Now that you know just how advantageous it can be to list your home for sale in the spring, you may feel ready to pull the trigger and get ready to sell. Winter is winding down quickly, so take time today to call your real estate professional and get started on listing your home for sale this spring.