We get this question often, and it’s come up several times in the last two weeks.  When is the best time to sell my Southwest Florida home?

Several clients have said they want to wait until season because they believe that is the best time to sell and get top dollar for their home.  There is a perception that homes sell for more in season than out.  The reality is the numbers are skewed in season.  Homes don’t sell for more money in season.  It’s just that more higher end homes sell in season because we have more affluent buyers visiting in season.  When higher end homes sale in a given month, it pulls up the averages, making it appear that home prices go up in season.

Best Time to Sell Southwest Florida Home

Best Time to Sell Southwest Florida Home

Here’s another reality.  Listing inventory surges in season, as sellers are conditioned to believe that’s when they should sell.  We’ve helped many sellers in the past beat that listing surge by listing before season.  Many sellers have their home sold before all the others hit the market.  When a bunch of homes hit the market, buyers have more choices.

These buyers typically wait until February or March before offering.  This means many sellers don’t have a closing until March or April, and that’s if it sells.  If it doesn’t sell, they’re sitting there with a bunch of other listings that listed in January and didn’t sell either.  Now it’s out of season and they’re still holding their property.

There is no harm in listing before January.  You just might get your property sold, and worst case it’s still on the market in January.  Sellers have been afraid that it may look bad if their homes have been on the market and haven’t sold.  That’s not true.  In the old days people wondered what was wrong with a home if it sat so long.

Price it Correctly

Today, if a home is priced over the market it’s just invisible to the market.  The minute it drops onto the buyers’ radar it becomes visible.  They don’t usually question why it’s been on market.  They can see the price drop and they instantly know that’s the reason.  Now the home is on the radar and available.  Before it was off-radar and invisible, so it might as well have an unavailable sign on it.

Interest rates have been rising in recent weeks.  People ask how this can be when the Fed has been lowering rates.  It’s because they are two different rates.  Mortgage rates are more closely tied to the 10-year note, not the Fed funds rate.

With rates near historic lows but rising, and lower inventory now, it may be the perfect time to beat the market and list your home now.  Pending sales were up in September as were home sales.  When buyers catch on that rates are rising there could be an uptick in offers.  Rates can rise quickly, so this could all be over by season.

The smart money is selling your home when it’s right for you.  Artificially holding it until season when prices are higher may be a mistake, because sales prices aren’t higher in season.  There may be more eyeballs looking at homes in season, but they don’t necessarily pay more for the same home in season.  They also have more homes to compare as well.

If you’re unsure what to do and want to discuss your options, call Brett or Sande Ellis 239-489-4042 Ext 4.  If you’d like a Free computer value of your home, go to www.SWFLhomevalues.com and get an instant value.  They’re fairly accurate in many cases.

Neighborhood Data

Additionally, we’ve got some neighborhood reports we can send out that will help you see what’s going on in your neighborhood at a deeper level.  To get that, just email me at Brett@topagent.com with your property address and phone number and we’ll send that out to you.  This report will make you smarter about what’s going on in your area.

Remember to set your clocks back one hour this weekend.  Let us know if we can help you with your real estate questions.

See last week’s article “September Home Sales Rose 14.8%

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