Are you planning on selling your Chicago area house? In today’s post we’ll cover the ideal timing for selling your house in the Chicago area so that you can set up a detailed preparation plan with a specific timeline. Hopefully the advice here will help stack the odds in your favor for a swift and successful sale of your house.
The Best Time to Sell Your Home in Chicago
Is there a particular season that is better than the others?
As soon as the weather starts to warm up, you’ll start seeing an uptick in showings and home buyers out on the search. As the weather continues to warm up and schools finish for the year, you’ll see more and more potential buyers out shopping for a home. However, from this point on you have a very short window of time to capitalize on the maximum amount of exposure before the school year starts again and home buyer demand slowly declines until next spring. Start with spring cleaning to prep your home, and get ready to list it in sometime between March and June!
Are you ready to sell?
You need to first ask yourself if you are financially ready to sell. There are costs associated with selling your home such as repairs, clean-up and making it look nice. Do you need to move by a certain date? Or be able to get another mortgage for a new house? If so, this can add pressure which can stress you out and sometimes make you sell for less than you were planning on.
Are you and your family emotionally ready? If the move isn’t necessary, make sure it’s really the best time to go. Are your kids almost out of school? Are you certain you want to leave your friends, job, and community? Make sure you are making the right choice before making such an impactful decision for your family.
What the stats say:
Nationwide, homes listed between May 1 and May 15 sold around nine days faster and for nearly 1% more than the average listing, according to Zillow. (Your real estate agent may have different advice based on local market trends.)
As far as the day of the week, listing on a Saturday is favorable as that is when most people have the time to sit down and peruse listings. And since listings often appear with the newest ones first, getting yours at the top of the list will help you to get more views. Listing on a Friday is the 2nd best way to go statistically!
In some parts of the country, houses are selling 1-3% higher in the month of May. Do your homework and research annual housing trends for your particular neighborhood! If you have questions, Blue Ladder Development is happy to help you review historical trends!
Being Different Can Be Beneficial
While summer is preferred by many people, there is something to be said about not doing what everyone else is doing. Selling in the offseason can have its perks as well. Sure, your pool of buyers might be smaller, but there will be much less inventory for sale in the off season as well. This may put you in a position to secure a buyer who can’t wait until the spring time to move and doesn’t have many other potential options. This is your chance to make your home stand out from the one across the street. Less competition on the market, might mean a bigger reward for you!