Should I sell my house in Spring?

People always ask estate agents: When is the best time of year to sell my house? And we often hear people say: I’m planning to sell in the Spring.

It seems to be a given amongst property owners that Spring is the best time of year to sell your house. Most people are feeling happier as the dark days of winter fade into a distant memory and that means that houses will sell in a matter of days, right?

Yes, that’s right or at least that’s the theory, although ask an estate agent this question in the middle of winter and I’m sure you will get a different answer. To be fair there are many market factors that you should consider before selling your house and the time of year should just be one of these, but there are other factors that I believe have a greater impact. You can find a few of these on my guide about maximising the money you get for your home here: https://www.love2move.co.uk/how-to-guides/how-do-i-get-the-most-for-my-home/

Timing

In the above guide, I talk about timing and I believe timing is much more than just the time of year. Timing is knowing the market, your competition and an important factor now also includes new house building in the local area. You don’t want to choose to sell your house just as the new build development down the road goes onto the market for sale. Always consider your competition before you go onto the market no matter what time of year it is and your local agent will have the most up to date information about what is currently on the market and also what is coming onto the market.

Lighter Nights

Spring is a popular time of year for many reasons and the brighter nights don’t just make people happier they also have functional use as they provide more potential viewing hours and more viewings can only be a good thing. Spring also brings gardens back to life and this helps to create kerb appeal and a great first impression.

Sunshine

The sunshine helps to show those houses that face the right way off and I have often stood in a house and marvelled at the effect the sun can have on helping a viewing go well. However, if your house has a less sunny aspect, this can also have a detrimental impact by making the house feel dark so the best time of year to sell a house can differ depending on which way it faces or even where it is. If your house is on a part of the street where the kids from next door play out all the time you might want to choose the winter months to ensure next doors kids don’t put off your potential buyers.

Another positive for selling in Spring is there are plenty of good selling months to give you the best chance of attracting a buyer if you don’t find one straightaway. Whereas Christmas can come very quickly to threaten the market in Autumn, the same can’t be said about Spring. If you decide to sell your house in April, you would hope to have sold it by the time the kids go back to school in September and able to move out well before the man in the red suit has even been mentioned!

School Holidays

The kid’s holidays present an interesting dilemma also, do you wait till the kids have gone back to school to go onto the market? This one normally changes year to year so I think it’s down to personal preference. Some years we have really busy times whilst the kids are off and other years viewing numbers drop as people go away on holiday. I don’t think there is a set pattern so do whatever makes you feel comfortable. Why not get your house nice and tidy and go away yourself, instruct your estate agent to take the photos and hopefully they can have showed around some interested parties by the time you return from a break? Whatever you do if you are going away make sure you drop a key off at the office of your estate agent, you don’t want to turn viewers away.

Market Forces

Timing is important when selling your house, but you need to study the market and see what competition there is out there on the market for sale. If everyone on your street decides to sell in Spring I would wait till a few have sold, and more importantly choose the time that suits your circumstances.

The internet has removed some of the seasonal nature of the property market now as most first viewings are now done online. The market isn’t as seasonal as it once was, people have to move for different reasons throughout the year, perhaps Spring brings out more of the aspirational movers.

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