As a seller, you want to achieve the quickest sale at the highest price. There are certain times of the year that could be better to sell than others, depending on your situation. Although, keep in mind that if you're priced correctly, staged well, and with the right marketing, the time of year won't have much of an effect on the final outcome of your sale. The timeline to sell is really a personal preference type decision based on your specific goals.
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Spring time is the most common time that people talk about when it comes to selling in Airdrie and there is good reason for it. By now, the winter is over and school is starting to come to a close, meaning more people are looking to make their move. During the spring, you statistically have the most buyers in the market actively searching for a home. This also means there is more inventory to compete with, so buyers will be looking at more homes before making a decision and you will find yourself having to be out of the house more.
We should be receiving some warmer weather, meaning green grass and leaves on trees, which looks good in photos and video, as well as for showings. There is a fair chance though that your flowers and plants may not have bloomed yet.
To catch the spring market, you'd be looking to list anywhere between the end of February through May. This can change from year to year, for example this year (2022) our busy season was more like January to March instead of February to May.
If you're planning ahead and you're flexible in your timeline, shooting for a spring sale is a pretty reasonable call, because it's one that you can't really go wrong with.
Fall is typically considered the second best time to sell, after the summer when kids are back in school, families are back from vacation, and ready to look for homes again. This is anywhere from the beginning of September through early November.
This can be a good time to list as people want to make their move and settle down before Christmas time or the New Year. There is also less inventory to compete with, so buyers options will be limited, which is good for you as a seller.
A drawback to listing in the fall, is that your landscaping may be starting to not look so great. Also, there is less potential buyers in the market, but when you couple that with less inventory it kind of evens itself out. If you do end up selling towards to end of this time period, you could be moving in the cold or snow.
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That brings us to our winter market, which is December to February. This time frame definitely comes with its own unique set of pros and cons. An upside to selling in the dead of winter is that the only people who are out there looking at properties are serious buyers. Having fewer "looky loos" means most if not all your showings and open houses have a higher chance of turning into a sale. The cons for this time of year are pretty obvious - it's fricken cold, and moving in the winter, it's fricken cold. If we're being honest, your house and your yard doesn't look nearly as good covered in snow. Pro tip: if you're planning to sell during the winter, have your Realtor take photos of your exterior the summer before you list to make your listing pop!
The last selling period is the summer time, from June to August. During this time, your yard is most likely the most beautiful it will be all year which is amazing for photos, video, and showings. There are still quite a few buyers in the market, who want to make the more before the end of summer, when school starts up again and life gets busier. Summer also tends to mean that for a lot of people, purchasing a home won't be a top priority as they are focused spending time with family and more distracted. You can also get a lot of browsers at open houses who just stop by while on a walk on a nice sunny day.
If you are listed towards the end of summer, you might find that a number of buyers want a very quick close to move in before the start of September. Granted, if you're selling a vacant home this could be more of a positive, but if you're living in the home, it's definitely something to consider.
There really isn't a one size fits all, best time to sell your home here in Airdrie. You have to weigh out the pros and cones of each time frame and decide which is going to work for you. You'll hear people say that you'll get more money in the spring and less money in the winter, but looking at the stats it's just not true. The price you get is more determined by how well you got your home ready to sell and the current market conditions.
If the market is in a down trend in the summer, there's a fair chance it could continue through the winter and if it's in an up trend it could continue. In a supply and demand market like real estate, the number or listings and buyers tends to go up and down seasonally. When there are more buyers in the spring, we get more listings and when there are less buyers in the winter, inventory lowers too.
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- Brad Walker
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