Any realtors here?
 

Just wondering....what is the best/worst season to put a house on the market and how long is too long before it starts to look "bad" and is considered being on the market for a long time?

I'm not a realtor but have managed the accounting dept for over 20 years. Spring is typically the best time to put your home on the market but of course it also depends on your individual market and circumstances. Have you hired a realtor yet?

We know a realtor personally. So, now would be a good time?

I would check with your realtor but if I were selling my house I would definitely do it now. Good luck!

Wellll, she is not my realtor, I know them on a personal level. Trying to decide. :)

Ya know , I never thought about the different entities that are involved. May I ask what the accounting department responsibilities are?

I agree, spring through about July is probably peak time. November and December would be the worst time.

Although the housing market has started to come back in some areas, it is still slow in most of the country. I do not think it looks bad to have a house on the market for a long time. It's just a nuisance to you the seller to always be show ready. Your realtor will probably try to talk you into reducing the price steadily.

not sure where you live but for most spring is the best time, but in MI spring has not sprung, we still have patches of dirty snow and our grass looks like crap, it's half dead, matted and filled with holes from small animals hunting for acorns. The lawn gardens, deck and so forth are covered with dead sticks, branches and wet dead leaves. Our property would be important to the sale of the house because we are on a lake and to walk someone around now would not be impressive, it would be a soggy mess and it will not look good until at least mid May. So any photos the agent would take now would look like crap. Many people use the virtual on line tours before ever visiting the property so photos are important. So while spring is a great time to put a home up for sale, depending on where you live spring starts at different times. I would also think that if you live in FL Jan-March might not be bad since many people from the north are visiting or wintering down there then, in fact my GF just closed the sale on her Key West property this week, she sold it to some people that were in town from Texas. Note to anyone thinking they might sell in the next few years, take lots of photos during the time when your property looks it's best. I did that a few years back just in case. I have some beautiful gardens so I wanted to make sure that those would be in listing photos if for some reason we had to list in the winter or early spring.

Good luck whatever you decide to do

on thing that I think agents do, is after a home is on the market for about 90 days it comes off for a week or so then it shows back up as a new listing.

Excellent point Donna! Our yard would also be a major selling point, so I would want it to look its greenest with the trees leafed out.

Kristen have things started to green up your way yet? this was hard and long winter for us, I can not believe what a mess our yard is, my husband likes to rake it all by hand, so it is going to take him a long time. Have you seen my garden photos on FB, you will see in some of those pics how pretty our lawn can be, I sure hope it will look that way again, LOL hopefully by July!

I have envied your lawn many times in your photos on FB. We can't grow nice grass here.

Our yard still looks like it is January here. Usually the trees would be ready to pop by this time.

I'm like your husband and rake everything by hand. Which reminds me, I need to get busy! Our yard is buried in oak leaves, which fall all winter.

Great points! We have pictures from last summer anticipating put it on the market, so the pics look nice. It is sunny and dry here. Very pretty at the moment.

OMG you just described my house "dirty snow and our grass looks like crap, it's half dead, matted and filled with holes from small animals hunting for acorns. The lawn gardens, deck and so forth are covered with dead sticks, branches and wet dead leaves." lol

I was never a realtor but I sold new construction for quite some time and many of the same principles are the same.

Yes I agree a good clean spring with all it's beauty is a wonderful way to start. When the children get out of school there sometimes is a lull because many families go on vacation, then again August is a month that is know for even more for vacations with all the little league and sports over. Starting early in spring gives one the most time.

I have friends who put their house up for sale over a year ago because they are getting up in age and want to have everything on one floor before one or the other cannot navigate the stairs any longer, they considered may ways of getting around it but decided that also the house was too big and utilities too expensive. It's a 6 bedroom, 3 1/2 bathroom four floor home that is out of this world but no hardwood floors and the school district is not the best. They have come down $1,000 and still no one looking so don't get discouraged if you don't get a bite right off the bat. There is a 'right' house out here for everyone.

Does anyone know the three most important things to look for when buying a house?? Sellers are also buyers:)

Thank you! We want to get a home with a master bedroom on the main level because it will be my last home and I dont want to not be able to go up and down stairs should I live that long. Lol and we want all brick. What are those three things?

I'm not a realtor, but I've bought and sold homes of my own in good markets and in the worst market. A great home in a great location will always sell.

You need to leave your home one day and come back to it with as objective eyes as you can, and judge your home on all aspects. People tend to get used to seeing things on a daily basis and overlook their home's flaws...the broken fence, chewed up trim, peeling paint. A neglected home leaves potential buyers wondering what else has been overlooked or poorly maintained, that they can't see.

And if you're a bit of a pack rat, rent a storage space and clear out your house of the junk, and knickknacks. It's hard to visualize how you as a buyer can utilize a space when you can't see the space for all the stuff.

Best of luck with the sale of your home :)

Location, location, location ?

What are the 3 most important things?

When I was buying the three most important things for me were 1. location, 2. school district and 3. Resale history.

I live in a Row house/townhouse community in North Fulton County, we went through a HORRIBLE real estate market from about 2009 - 2012. But now our house are staying back up the value of pre 2009 (if not more) and the average house on the market is sold in 3 -5 days.

We have an HOA (I am the President so I will not say bad things), there is a lot that an HOA can do to make your house sellable or sit on the market for months. Most importantly we need to keep the Common Elements in tip top shape for the curb appeal and we have to keep our FHA Approval. FHA approval helps us with new owners getting loans. That means we have to keep our Financials current, our delinquencies low and the rental of our home at a minimum.


Good luck selling your home.

This is a fairly new subdivision that sold houses pretty fast. My location is great and the schools in the area or some of the best. If my bedroom would be on the main level, or if there was any way possible I could add one, I would not even consider putting the house on the market.

However when the market bottomed out in 2008, there were quite a few foreclosures so that is my concern. But the sales have increased quite a bit over the year so that is why we are considering selling.

since you do not seem to be in crunch situation to sell quickly you are lucky. Take a month and to do all the sprucing up you need to inside and out. Eliminate 1/3 of your nick knacks and personal pictures. I am not sure what your style is but try to eliminate things if you have them like ruffled curtains, flowery stuff, displays of collections, and stream line the doggie items. And LOL start watching HG TV house hunters, you will see how awful some home show.

Also organize your closets and take stuff out, people are into closet space and even if you have lot of closets, if they are jammed packed people will get the impression they are not big enough. Getting ready to sell a house can be helpful in forcing you to get rid of things you have been putting off

Great Advise, many people leave all their nic-nacs around and personal pictures by the tons. The less cluttered the better, it's neater and also shows the home with more space.

House Hunters is a good example or also watch Buying and Selling, they know how to prep a house also.

When we were buying I cannot tell you how many houses I looked at that staged the inside really well but the garage/storage and the back yard looked horrible. They were two things very important to me.

I know exactly what you mean. A few weeks ago we went and looked at a home and the family did not leave. One of the family members had Alzheimer's and very confused and followed us around and stared at us while we TRIED to view the home. The house was so cluttered and they use their garage for a workshop that was completely full. The house has great potential but it is one that was a turn off for me and my family because of the clutter and because we felt like we were being watched.

I love House Hunters.

Garage, closets, and kitchen cabinets -- make sure they are clean and well organized.

Although well-staged houses are the best, I think I would be inclined to show ours empty. The rooms look huge with no furniture. :D

I wouldn't like that either. That reminds me, make sure you put away all valuables in a safe place when your home is on the market.

Its on the market! Fingers crossed!!

Wishing you great luck! Keep us posted.

Thanks! Well, we have a showing on saturday! This happened fast!!