Is there a good time to list?
Most agents will say during the spring months—March through June. But data from actual sales show it depends where you live. For example, homes on the west coast sell almost equally in every month except January. This is because the climate is temperate all year ’round.
In northern states, spring through summer garners the most sales. However, in the southern states, winter through spring brings in the most buyers. While houses sell in every month of the year throughout the U.S. due to job changes or other unforeseen circumstances, people who have a choice prefer to buy when it’s not too hot nor too cold.
List When You are Ready
Except for the months between mid-November to mid-January in Wisconsin, list your house when it is ready. You absolutely need to make the best first impression you can. Most of the time, the most-interested buyers who schedule a showing or visit an Open House do so within the first 3 weeks of listing. So take the time to de-clutter, clean, and do those minor repairs. In some cases, you may need to upgrade or update to get the highest value.
Premiere Stagers & Realty consulted with four different property owners on how best to get their house ready for the market.
Formal Living Room
Although not ready to sell, the homeowners wanted to know what they should do now to get it ready.
This is the first room one sees from the front door. It is a large living room, but the furniture layout needed some improvement. The first view should be welcoming (below), rather than have the sofa be a barrier (left).
This house’s exterior is in fine shape. However, the interior is very traditional. The owners viewed another house Premiere Stagers & Realty consulted on and wanted some advice on their house.
To make each room appear more spacious, we re-positioned the furniture and re-hung artwork where it would be appreciated. The fireplace mantel is the focal point when entering from the front door, so we made that look more welcoming with artwork and statues.
If this house was put on the market, the goal would be to make it more transitional to appeal to more people. For example, the large Oriental-type rugs would be replaced by smaller geometric rugs to let the hardwood show. Lighter paint colors would bounce more natural light around the room, and more furniture would be removed.
The 4-bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house sits in a nice neighborhood with parks and bike trails that can take you all over Dane County.
As soon as the landscaping and interior painting is done, the house will be staged and then listed for sale. The owners are boxing up things to take to their new house and donating or disposing of items no longer useful or usable.
There are still buyers looking for properties that either haven’t yet found what they are looking for, or have been out-bid by other buyers.
I didn’t take any photos of the 4th house I consulted on. It is in an exclusive neighborhood commanding high prices. However, the house was in transition at the time of my consultation, e.g., boxes being packed up, furniture being moved around, and repairs being made. The owner said they would have me back once new furniture arrived and do the final staging.
It is difficult to get your house ready to sell. You need to part with many things you thought were necessary at the time, but actually are not now. This is a good lesson for all of us. Take some time each season to pare down what you think you won’t need. It will save you time should you need or want to sell quickly.
Premiere Stagers & Realty can help you with your selling process. 608-345-9396