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When's the best time to sell a property? Is there a best time or is it more to do with how you market your property, its desirability, its price, and the number of potential buyers out there?

First of all, let's think about what is meant by "the best time"? Is it, for instance, the best time for selling as quickly as possible? Or is it the best time for obtaining the highest sold property prices?

Spring

The traditional time for daffodils, the Easter bunny and..house selling. In the house-selling business, spring is from March to May. Most estate agents report a considerable uptick in enquiries from buyers and sellers alike at this time of year.

On the downside, the spring months have developed such a strong reputation that many sellers hold off marketing their property in order to catch this time of year - but, sometimes, this doesn't work in their favour. If a local market is swamped with sellers, it's great news for buyers, but a seller who's set on making a sale may have to settle for a lower price.

Summer

Although less favoured by many sellers, the summer months of June to August have their advantages. First, there tend to be fewer sellers around. This is good news if you want your property to stand out from the crowd, although a decrease in the number of buyers is usually also evident.

Secondly, there may be more buyers keeping an eye on what's coming onto the market at this time of year than sellers willing to put themselves through the hassle of keeping a property viewing-ready during the school holidays. Again, this can stack the odds in your favour.

Autumn

Many estate agents regard September to November as the second-best time to sell a property in the UK. While there are usually fewer buyers around, those who are still actively looking tend to be more serious. As a result, if you're marketing your property during autumn, you hopefully have less chance of finding yourself being messed around by a half-hearted buyer.

Additionally, Christmas provides a natural deadline and spur for both parties to get a deal over the finishing line as soon as possible.

While average sold property prices in the autumn months may lag a little behind comparable sales in the more competitive spring months, this has to be balanced against the time taken to complete the transaction. As intimated, spring sales sometimes have a tendency to drag on, whether as a result of the force of competition or the lack of a natural deadline.

Winter

If we had to pick a time of year to avoid selling if you possibly can, the "award" would go to the winter months of December to February. Christmas and other seasonal celebrations, bad weather, and a general inclination to hunker down and wait for the spring frequently make even the most enthusiastic would-be buyers think twice about booking a viewing.

However, this doesn't mean that the market is bereft of serious buyers. It isn't. And anyone actively viewing properties during the winter months is perhaps more likely to be a serious buyer than someone doing the same thing in April.

What's more, if you can hold off marketing your property until after Christmas, you'll catch the group of "fresh start" buyers, who've decided to begin their new year with a new home. As a rule, most buyers out and about in the winter months are serious buyers, with the speculative or downright nosy staying away until the weather warms up and days lengthen.

All of this plays into the question of supply and demand. With fewer sellers choosing to market at this time of year, your property is more likely to be a focus of buyer activity, and possibly even attract competing bids.

Having established that each of the four seasons has its own potential advantages to you as a seller, let's look at a few other considerations.

Is the best time now?

If you need to sell your property as quickly as possible, the best time is right now. If you're selling for urgent financial reasons, you could find yourself in even more difficulty if you hang on to catch what you perceive as a stronger market.

Equally, if you need to move in order to be in a new home before the school admissions deadline, this is a fixed deadline that can't be shifted to accommodate the vagaries of the property market.

Selling in order to move for a new job might be different - at least in some cases. For instance, perhaps you or whoever has the new job could commute for a while or rent a bolthole near the new job, or you might be able to rent out your current home. Ultimately, however, you may conclude it's not practical or financially feasible or that it's simply too much hassle to do anything other than try to sell your property right now.

What's your property type and who are you selling to?

Property type and your target buyer matter too. For instance, first-time buyers frequently have a self-imposed deadline of "wanting to be in by Christmas". This can mean that marketing a property aimed at first-time buyers may attract far less interest In November than it would do in September.

Meanwhile, someone looking to move up the property ladder is statistically likely to have school-age children. As a result, they're also more likely than other people to be away on holiday during July and August - and not inclined to think about either property selling or property buying.

On the other hand, we have downsizers. The market for properties traditionally favoured by this group - including bungalows and homes aimed at the over 55s - is strong during the summer months.

Are you taking generalisations as gospel?

Yes, read and think over our generalisations. However, don't take any of them as gospel. As any long-standing estate agent could tell you, there's always a buyer ready to confound your expectations.

 

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