This Weeks Poll ‘When is the best time to sell a property? Right answer NOW especially this Autumn Winter if you are trading up or down! In a national poll taken this week from estate agents all over the country the simple question was asked, “When is the best time to sell a property?” The bulk of answers were surprising to the properly initiated and more experienced respondents. The vast majority – over 70% of those polled gave the frankly no brain, traditional answer that the spring is best. They are of course wholly misguided and so are misguiding, here is why. Every month of every year in modern times there are a given and surprisingly constant number of “real buyers” i.e. People who can (have a buyer say) and will agree to buy in that or the next month. Whether it is January, June or December the number of people in this position varies very little, there isn’t actually a noticeable increase in the numbers of ‘real’ buyers in the spring. At all times of the year, irrespective of the number of properties available, the same cadre of prospective ‘real’ buyers view each new property that loosely fits their price, size and location criteria. Most real buyers are busy people, busy making a living to pay for the next house, busy researching mortgages, kitchen and bathroom suppliers and busy finding the next property. So, they usually short list and view the perceived best priced and presented and located first. When, say in spring, there are dozens of new properties coming on the market, that relatively small number of ‘real’ buyers can have a bewildering choice and often just too many properties to see, so some are inevitably missed. For those that studiously browse or even visit every property that might suit them, then the amount of choice becomes a bigger problem for the sellers because it gets harder for the buyers to differentiate and again some properties will be overlooked – too much choice is never helpful. Now consider the autumn-winter “real buyers” plight, they are largely motivated by new school registration deadlines, job moves and for many Christmas. Their choice is narrowing because the ill advised sellers who have been on the market for a while are already thinking we will wait now until spring and new sellers, thinking much the same are not putting their properties on the market. The consequence is that demand starts to outpace supply and will continue to do so from the end of September until Christmas at least and usually to February. So when is the best time to sell? When you can offer a property to a willing market that provides less choice. The discerning buyers, as most are, will have more chance of seeing your home, they could be in competition with other real buyers and a good estate agent is likely to get you a better price. That, they say is one of the basic principles of economics; Supply and demand are bought together by price. In other words more buyers, fewer sellers means higher prices. As autumn turns to winter the balance shifts even more towards the seller as the real buyers that are looking do mean to buy and not just graze, or gaze for that matter. One of the old arguments for waiting is that the garden looks better in the spring. This is nonsensical, if a buyer wants a nice garden then they will appreciate a nice winter garden as much as a nice spring one and every garden they see at that time of year is going to look like a winter garden so it is a level playing field for sellers. There are of course other very significant factors that help or hinder but without sounding too mean we have given enough away already. Remember over 80% of our competitors don’t even know when you should sell, therefore we don’t propose to give them any more free lessons in basic estate agency. If, however, you are already thinking ahead, maybe considering a move next year, you might like to talk to us now. Even if it is just to establish values, but we will also let you in on a few other apparently little known professional secrets that will definitely aid your sale when it suits you. Telephone 01275 810030 for free advice from experience, in your home, in confidence and without any obligation. By the way, the answer to the opening question is Autumn & Winter – and yes we did get it right but we have been selling houses since 1909
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 02:02:02 +0000
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