When is the best time to sell my home in NJ? Sellers are always asking this question, and I always give them the same answer. The best time is when the timing works best for you personally. If you have school aged kids and need them to finish out the school year or would prefer to have your house on the market while your kids are away at camp, those things are very important and should be the preeminent factor in your timing. We can also look at the average days on market in your town and assume that most buyers are looking to close in 45 to 60 days. Taking these things into consideration, we can then look at a calendar together and back into an ideal listing date.
That being said, it is also vitally important to have the house in optimal showing condition when it comes on the market. We have only one chance to make a great first impression! So if you want to get your house on the market in the spring and just can’t complete all of the recommended preparation in time, then WAIT. I like to see my sellers in the strongest position when they go live on the market, so all of the cleaning, organizing, staging and repairs should already be done so that your “product” is very attractive to buyers.
Is there a bad time of year to list your house? The answer is “no” with a few exceptions– the last couple of weeks in December do get quiet as people are distracted with holidays. Better to wait until the after the New Year to list. If it’s a holiday weekend like July 4, Labor Day or Memorial Day, I would wait to list until the following week so that your first open house and weekend of showings don’t coincide with a long getaway weekend.
The following chart compares prime listing times in 2017 versus 2018 Year-To-Date. One can assume that the houses that closed in any particular month were listed 2 months prior. So an April 2018 closing would have meant a listing date in February 2018. You may be surprised by the prime listing times.
These are some of the takeaways from comparing one year to the next:
- Depending on your market, there could be a significant differential in the list price to sale price ratio based on what time of year you list.
- Surprisingly, early spring listing times in January or February (March and April closings) can very profitable despite the potential for snow and lack of spring flowers.
- The best month isn’t always the same year to year.
- Notice that the average list price to sale price ratios were down a bit in 2018 from 2017 in many of the markets. We are starting to see some cooling in the housing market, and buyers are showing some price resistance.
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Remember that if your house is well prepared, well priced and easily accessible, we will do well with it just about any time of year.
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