What Is the Best Time of Year To Sell My Home?

By Jacqueline Smith

Jacqueline Smith is dedicated to serving the vibrant Vancouver/Portland real estate market. Since stepping into the industry in 2014, I hit the ground running selling 52 homes in my first year and now have my hand in selling over 1700 properties.

I am getting many questions this time of year, asking, “What is the best time of year to sell my house?” The truth is that the best time to sell is when you need to move; however, if you’re determined to try and time the market, the best time to sell is when you have the least amount of competition.

In most markets, that means selling in January, February, or March. Once spring hits, inventory increases rapidly, and you’ll have to compete with tons of other homeowners. If you truly want to hit the optimal selling window in late winter or early spring, here are three key things you need to consider:

1. Plan early. The more time you give yourself to plan your home sale, the better. Getting your home ready for the market might involve a lot more work than you thought of beforehand, so don’t procrastinate. I recommend meeting with your real estate agent early, giving yourself a three to four-month headstart before you list for things like pre-listing consultations, staging, repairs, and more. If you want to sell at the optimal time in late winter or early spring, you need to start these things as soon as possible.

2. Budget your time. It can take 60 to 120 days to sell your home once you list it, but many homeowners still have a mentality leftover from the pandemic market, when homes would sell in as little as a week. That’s why I recommend working with your agent to plan out what you need to do to hit the optimal selling window. Once you have a schedule, budgeting your time and selling at the perfect moment will be easier.

3. Beat your competition to the market. If you have a choice between listing earlier or later, list earlier. Once the spring frenzy hits, supply increases exponentially each month. All those sellers are in competition, which will make it harder for you to get the best deal possible, so try your best to beat them to the market.

It’s tempting to wait for prices to increase as demand picks up, but this isn’t a good strategy. By the time you enter the market, you’ll be chasing a wave of demand that has already passed. Instead, get ahead of things by listing as early as you reasonably can.

If you want to sell this spring and get the best deal possible, your first step should be to have a pre-listing meeting. Call or email me at (360) 560-1156 or jacqueline@evergreenrealestatepartners.com, and we’ll go over your situation, your goals, the market, and more. It’s 100% free and no obligation.

Are you a first-time homebuyer who wants to learn more about the whole process of buying a home? We are launching our first-time homebuyer seminar this January 29th from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Justemail me for the RSVP link to save your seat.

Our goal this year is to send out more videos to educate you about real estate as well as launch in-person seminars in our office on Evergreen Boulevard in Vancouver. If you would like more information about our first-time homebuyer seminars, seller seminars, and investment seminars, I’ll gladly send you all the details.

I look forward to hearing from you.