Picking the right selling season for your house

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THE TIME of year can play a huge part in whether or not your house in the UK will sell fast.

If you are looking to sell a property soon then you should be aware of when the quiet times for the market are and consider whether it’s absolutely necessary to put your property up for sale during these periods.

The problem with putting your house on the market during quiet periods can be two-fold. Firstly, if your property fails to sell quickly because the market is quiet it can lose its ‘fresh to the market’ appeal and buyers may start to think there is something wrong with it because it hasn’t sold.

The second problem is that after a few weeks of a property being on their books estate agents can get bored of it. If this goes on for a longer period of time it can get completely neglected by the agent.

SPRING

This is generally considered as the best time to sell a house for a number of reasons. Improving weather and in-bloom gardens can show a property at their best.

An increase in warm days also puts people in a good mood, gets them thinking about the future and makes them more likely to get out and about property hunting.

Families who are looking to move to a new area with school-age children may also choose the spring to start house hunting to tie their move in with the school summer holidays.

SUMMER

The main summer months of July and August are generally slow for the property market, particularly August.

Many people take holidays during this time and the school holidays can mean parents don’t have time to do house viewings or other people needed for the process — such as solicitors — are away.

AUTUMN

Behind spring, autumn is the best time to sell a house fast—as long as you don’t leave it beyond mid-November.

Once the school term starts and people are back from their summer holidays the market starts to pick up again.

WINTER

Christmas and the cold weather really kill off the property market in the winter. People are usually focused on Christmas shopping and family rather than property hunting.

However, in the days immediately after Christmas, there can be a spike in people looking at property online.

But what if you need to sell a house now? Of course, there are buyers at all times of the year so if you really need to sell your property during the ‘off season’ then you can weigh up the pros and cons and decide whether now is the right time for you.