Libby we too are getting our home here in RI ready to sell. We are looking at the same time frame as you. Our realtor said August is quiet but September is a good time so maybe you could do a 3 month listing and if it doesn't sell, put it back on in March or April.

My experience might be skewed, but in areas where the target buyers might likely have school age children, September is too late for them to buy, settle, and start school at the beginning of the school year. Likely August is too late also.

YMMV

We are a college town so that takeout the professors also....

we've generally been transferred so didn't have much choice in when we listed, that being said we've purchased and sold 4 of 8 houses in the month of december if i needed to sell my home, i wouldn't wait

I would probably do a 3 month listing in August and then take it off until next March. There are still plenty of people looking at the end of the season for different reasons. However, I would make sure it goes off the market right before the Thanksgiving holiday week.

We listed in October because that's when we found another house and moved. I thought it would be a bust but figured it was worth a try. We sold in three weeks. It's about the same time of year we bought the house originally as well. Actually we bought it between Thanksgiving and Christmas - the really bad time of year for real estate.

Will you be living in this house from the end of August until you sell it? Or have you already bought a new place and will be living there? Or are you going to buying a new home at the same time as you sell this one?

I think what you're really asking is something like, "will the market still be selling well, at good prices, in the spring?" There's really no way of knowing, since we can't predict the future. It could buzz along and get hotter, especially if interest rates go even lower. Or you could get some sort of negative shock to the market, at any point, and things could go ice cold. Real estate is always volatile and risky, you just have to accept that.

It's not just market risk. Houses don't improve over time, and you never know exactly when something costly will break, or a hidden flaw revealed. Depending on climate, this can particularly be an issue over the winter (or hurricane season). And then of course there are the explicit carrying costs (mortgage, insurance, taxes, maintenance).

Especially with the election coming up, I want to get my house on the market and try to have it sold or under contract by that time. Anything can happen to cause a huge dip in the market as Scone points out. You just never know.

We are buying land and should be closing at the end of the month or early August. So we don't want to put it on the market until we own the land.

We are going to live in it until it sells. Once it sells as We don't want to carry 2 mortgages we will build (plans done) and rent or stay with in laws etc....

I guess i wasn't sure if the end of the market is worth the time to get it ready to put on for this year or we wait and not rush to put it on. I'm getting that there isn't really any strategy to timing anything....

Just because MOST houses sell in Spring/Summer doesn't mean that ALL houses sell then. I'd vote for getting it ready and putting it out there.

You wouldn't likely lose much by taking it off between Thanksgiving and New Years. That lightens the "keep it looking nice all the time" pressure.

I think that's part of it. We have three young kids and we've lived in the house for 10 years and the thought of decluttering it gives me anxiety. And trying to keep it show ready with the three kids under 6 seems an impossible feat.....

Is there a reason you want to wait until you close on the other land?

Just in case something happens with the land purchase. We don't have to sell our house then don't have a reason to move as we don't own the land.

I've sold two homes in the Northeast in December and January. If your home is a good prospect, the buyers will be serious. While there will be fewer buyers, there will also be fewer good properties. Most will be dogs. You will be the prettiest pup in the litter. Your realtor can spend more time and effort on marketing your property, too. Get it ready and list it. Never list longer than six months under any circumstances. Write the listing contract so that you can take a pause over Christmas, if you desire. If someone wants to see your house on December 19 they are a serious buyer. This has been my personal experience.

With interest rates so low right now, people can afford a lot more house than they can when they go up even a little. I would list it now, the rates are in the mid 3’s, people will buy at a less convenient time when rates so attractive, IMO. It seems inventory is really low, too, in most places. I’d list. Who knows what the future holds, but it’s hard to beat these conditions.

Really if you're in contract for the land and it's pretty much a done deal meaning you have a signed agreement, I'd put it on now.

We have been under contact since March, It's being subdivided from a large farm so we are waiting on the planning boards approval (July 25) then we can sign and list really quick that week even.

We've sold our first apartment when kids were very little..I was very tidy then even without having to sell, I was young and full of energy)) but yeah, the toys kinda were on the floor when the buyers came. They didn't give much notice, you see. I was hysterical inside.

The buyers(young couple) spent, like, 5 min in the house. They were with a realtor, but I still asked them whether they had questions. They smiled and told me they saw enough. I was hundred percent sure they were not interested.

They called with an offer couple hours later.

It's hard to know who when and why will seriously like your house...

The wife told me later she really loved the knobs on the kitchen drawers. Go figure.

I'm also afraid we're loosing precious time to list, because summer and we're still not ready.

But I agree..people who need to buy will buy whenever they see the right house. True, I was lucky to find two of our homes within a week. Was very surprised when spent months looking for the last one..))

Ah understood.. Yes I would definitely wait on the planning board. I know that from experience. lol

We sold our first house in February and our second in October. Both in the DC area. And we bought our current house in October. In all of those case, it was my impression that there were fewer buyers but also fewer houses on the market so the odds were about the same. I'd talk with a local real estate agent, but in general I'd put a house on the market just about any time of year (maybe not the week before Christmas) I was ready to sell it.