How Important is Timing in Real Estate?

How Important is Timing in Real Estate?

Whether you are a Seller thinking about listing your home or a Buyer preparing to make an offer … Timing is everything!

So … when is the best time to list your home? Many of the Internet Gurus will tell you it is Thursday morning … or Friday morning … or Friday after midnight.

The reasons for these strategies are:

“Because your house will be available to all REALTORS® planning weekend showings.”

“Friday your listing will show zero days on the market. Saturday, the most important day of the real estate week, will only show it as on the market one-day.”

This might be good advice in some markets … but it does not hold water in the Star Valley or Jackson Hole real estate markets. Why?

First, a high percentage of Buyers today start their search on the Internet. The number of people who use the Internet as a significant part of their home buying process has increased from 28% of all buyers in 2000 to 70% of all buyers in 2006.

Another interesting fact is that Internet buyers spend roughly three times longer than traditional buyers in contemplating a home purchase and in touring homes and neighborhoods before ever contacting a real estate agent. Buyers will e-mail us a dozen times with questions on homes; narrow their choices down to a handful and want to see them this spring when they visit Star Valley.

Personally, I believe there is no single “best” time to list your home. However, there are key factors that will influence the sale of your home. Understand these and you will be ahead of the game.

Seasonal Swings are one Factor to Consider
Conventional wisdom says that the best time to list your home is in the spring when there are more homebuyers out looking. Warm weather is only a small part of the equation. How many other homes will you be competing with? Selling in the dead-cold of winter may mean fewer buyers but it also means fewer homes to compete with! There is one time of the year when selling a home is very difficult – from just before Thanksgiving, through Christmas and the New Year – the Holidays.

Supply and Demand
The supply of homes available affects how long a home is on the market before it usually sells. It is critical to look at properties that are similar to yours in price, condition and the B I G one … Location-Location-Location. When you decide on a REALTOR® to list with, ask him/her to provide you with a list of the properties you will be competing with in whatever price range you are considering listing your home at. You increase the odds of selling your home in a reasonable time period if you are not competing with 10, 20 or more similar properties.

Traffic Driven Patterns

There are times where competition can benefit you greatly. If your home is one of several properties listed for sale and your home is better priced; or your home has more desirable features than the competition, those other properties can drive buyer traffic to your listing. REALTORS® will use overpriced properties or properties in poor condition to sell other listings!
Property ConditionRemember the old adage, “You will never get a second chance to make a good first impression?” A good first impression and the Buyer s make plans for step two. A bad first impression and it’s off to look at other homes. We strongly recommend that you do not put your home on the market if there are repairs or other issues. Take care of these before listing your home!

Trends

There are times in a real estate market when certain properties are hot or “trendy.” At present, in Star Valley a very high percentage of our Out-of-State Buyers are looking for log or wood sided homes with the “Western” look. This includes rock or stone accents (including a fireplace), wood, slate, travertine and carpeted floors, large master suites with custom rock and/or tile work in the bathrooms. The secondary trend is for single-story properties. These are in greater demand as the baby-boom generation looks for homes without stairs. Whether it is the trend towards “open floor plans” or away from “quad levels” the perception of properties rises and falls with popular opinion.

When Is the Best Time to Sell? It’s Up To You!

The best time to sell is when you are ready to sell. Once you have made this decision, we encourage you to interview us along with two or three of our competitors. Each agent should prepare free of charge, a Property Profile and Market Analysis on your home (including a list of recommendations that need to be addressed before listing the home), a marketing plan for your home and a list of properties that you will be competing with.

One of the first things a REALTOR® does each day when they boot up their computer is look at the MLS Hot Sheet. This Hot Sheet shows all real estate related activity for the last 24-hours.

Your home should be listed in the Teton-Jackson Hole Multiple List Service as soon as possible. After all, this target group has over 800 members that are looking for homes for the buyers they represent. To gain maximum marketing impact with these agents, the listing must be market-ready, cleaned, staged, photographed, virtual tour and brochures ready to go, sign and riders on the property AND all the information and photos entered into the MLS system!