3 advantages of selling your property in the spring

Selling your home can feel like a daunting task, no matter the time of year. But there are undeniably some advantages to listing during the springtime – not least of which is the organic influx of foot traffic that arrives with the warmer weather.

Do blossoming flowers and pristine lawns alone make home sales in Spring smoother? Not necessarily, but if you’re on the proverbial fence about whether or not to make a move now, here are some of the more objective and obvious reasons your property may move more quickly:

1. Buyers by the bushel

In simple supply-and-demand terms, you’ll be swayed by the sheer fact that more prospective home buyers meet with real estate agents, peruse listings and saunter into open houses during the spring season. This is simply a matter of the changing calendar.

Of course, perceived demand isn’t the same as legitimate interest, so in order to differentiate the serious shoppers from the casual crawlers, you’ll want to stage, price and market accordingly. Don’t waste your time entertaining non-offers, or people whose criteria don’t fit that of your listing. A real estate agent – the first step to serious selling – can help sift through the muck of the market and get legitimate interest through your door.

2. Urgency breeds decisiveness

Whether real or perceived, there’s a sense among many spring buyers that competition – particularly in densely populated metro areas – is stiffer during Spring. As a seller, you can leverage that urgency to your benefit, chiefly by not budging on your asking price. It’s a fact that appropriately priced homes listed between September and November spend less time on the market, and, as a byproduct, bidding wars tend to ensue more regularly, as noted by Finder.

Shrewd sellers know to rely on their listing agents, but also to trust their gut. If receiving an offer above asking price is the goal, don’t settle for something below list – but keep all your options open. As with any transaction, it’s important to keep some cards in hand. The first offer should rarely be immediately accepted, but it should also help set the baseline for all others. If you find yourself sifting through eager families and qualified applicants, that’s a good problem to have. You can bide time by leveraging one against another – by way of your licensed, hired professionals, of course – in a manner unlikely to come to fruition during the fall or winter.

3. Getting a jump on the buying process

While contingencies usually mean things don’t align perfectly, simple logic dictates that in order to feel comfortable selling your home, a new abode must await. Just as the prospective buyers of your property are out there for a reason, there’s merit to embarking on your own home buying process during the high-traffic season as well. Whether you’re looking to simplify the moving process with the aid of good weather, hoping to settle your family in due time or just feel rejuvenated by the change of seasons, jump starting your home search alongside other shoppers doesn’t make you a sheep.

On the contrary, with more inventory available during the spring in most larger markets, you’ll find your options more appealing, thus reducing stress related to the sell-buy equation. Even if your home flies off the market faster than expected, by starting the home search process in earnest, you’ve begun to get your ducks in a row. Compared to doing so in the off season, when buyers are more selective and perhaps not ideal for moving into a home that holds some nostalgic value – the spring surge may prove just to your liking.