Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

DH and I got our pre-approval letter from one of my banks earlier this week - and were approved for much more than we anticipated (even including the 2 mortgages we have to carry when we move into the new house).

However we need to sell our house first (preferably) before we seriously start making offers at open houses or from current listings. My question is - should we rush to put the house on the market NOW before all our Sandy renovations are complete, or wait until the spring/summer when our house will be in a better "prettier" stage to sell? The only thing we need to do is put sheetrock in the basement (which we hope to have complete by the end of this month or early February). Once thats done, we will paint it ourselves and then work on cosmetic changes around the house like cleaning windows, glazing bathtubs, et al. I read another web site that said we should place our house immediately because its winter and thats prime time for getting a head start on capturing interest from prospective buyers - but I am worried that the current state of the house is a big turn off.

Thoughts?

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

As a potential buyer I would wait until it is in selling condition. I see so many houses right now just sitting and sitting there. Things I have seen for Months and I assume something is "off" about the house that it has been sitting there for so long. I think Spring is the best time to list a house, so Id try and get all repairs in place by then. Good Luck!!

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

Message edited 3/18/2013 7:00:10 PM.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

Get it all done asap and place it on the market in March or April. If you place it on now, odds are you will not get a buyer and it will get stale anyway.People prefer move in ready. No one wants to see a house with unfinished projects/repairs.

Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

I would get it all done. Not many buyers want a do it yourself house. If there is work to be done then you will have to sell at a lower price also.

I bought a fixer upper but all of our friends want a COMPLETE move in ready.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

I'd fix the house before placing it on the market. We recently went to an open house and the moment we walked in, our eyes shot through to the other end of the house, through the glass doors to the yard & noticed 2 large trees laying on their side crushing the fence. We wanted no part of dealing with that & it wasn't even destruction inside the house.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

If you didn't have repairs to make, I would say put it on the market now. There will be a flood of new inventory on the market come spring, and that means more competition among sellers. Plus, the buyers who are looking now are usually very serious, motivated buyers. In the spring, you tend to get more "lookers" who are just starting their house hunt. So I don't believe there's an advantage to "waiting for spring," as many sellers are apt to do.

However, if you have flood damage and other work to be done to the house, I would wait until it's done before you put it on. A listing captures the most interest and gets the most activity when it's new, so you want to make sure that it's in prime showing condition when it comes on the market. Otherwise, people may dismiss it and may not come see it later when all the work is done. It will be a "stale listing."

I also think the hurricane and the damage it caused is a lot easier for buyers to forget about, when looking at properties in flood areas, when the damage is repaired and it looks like nothing ever happened. When the storm damage is staring you in the face (even if it's just ripped out sheetrock), it's just a reminder of what happened (and could happen again), and is going to make people more hesitant to buy in that area, imo.

And houses that show well -- are clean, inviting, well maintained, everything in working order -- sell so much more quickly (and for more $) than similar sized homes in the same area that don't show as well (even if it's just minor cosmetic stuff).

Bottom line is - no matter when you put your home on the market, there are always going to be people who want to buy it. If it's priced right and if it shows well, you should not have any trouble selling it, whether you put it out in the winter or spring or any time of year.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

inventory is low right now- the lowest numbers we have seen in years

I would get it on as soon as possible- I don't go by the wait till spring myth- I have 4 buyer appointments this weekend

and I already had 2 this week

rates are very low and that might not last much longer-

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

Thanks everyone - it is a lot to think about. We actually have neighbors about 1 block down from us who are living in trailers right now - and their homes are being gutted so we would lose massive $$ by selling now (about $ 85-100K which upsets DH greatly). Before Sandy, our loss would have been only $ 45K.

So we have no choice but to sit tight then until our house is repaired as well, and we can consider putting it on the market for this coming Fall/Winter 2014. While we don't "need" the proceeds of sale of this house to get into another place, it limits us considerably in the choices available. Ideally we want to be cash buyers, and if we were able to sell this house - we could be. But doesnt look like that may happen. It sucks that interest rates may creep up by the time we start making offers.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

To me, I think the *ideal* time to go on the market is the week after Easter. I the majority of serious buyers want to close before school starts in September and this gives them the spring / summer to shop, bid, close, etc. Even without children, most families would want to be settled in their new homes for Thanksgiving / Christmas holidays. I would make sure your renos are done by Easter.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

As a recent home buyer, I'd wait until the repairs are made to your home. If I saw a home that still had damage from the hurricane it would make me think that something like this could happen again once I lived in the home. Even though the risk is always there, actually seeing it would leave a sour taste in my mouth.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

If you are a serious seller and not just listing your house to see what happens, I personally would get what needs to be done now and list ASAP.

I think listing before March gives you a better advantage of serious buyers. We actually sold our last house in January of last year. We had a lot of traffic and everyone was serious. We didn't have anyone who was just looking.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

The Fed has said they are keeping interest rates low until 2015 so I wouldn't worry about the mortgage rate. I also don't think people will "forget" about the damage Sandy caused. I think there will always be people who want to live near the water but the biggest obstacle you're probably going to face is if your potential buyers need a mortgage and now the bank requires flood insuranc. How expesive is the flood insurance going to cost and how many buyers want to pay that on top of the ridiculous taxes here on LI.

Re: Best time to place house on market (to sell)?

I also say do the repairs first and do it quickly. It will only serve to benefit you. My personal thoughts are that there will be investors and buyers heading to hurricane ravaged areas to try to score a good deal. If your house is repaired you will be out of the comps of the damaged, unrepaired homes (I think) keeping the value of your home a little higher. Also, having the house unrepaired really only serves to remind potential buyers that this is a home that was water damaged which could mean a strong potential for future headaches - i.e. another storm, not knowing the true damage done to your home, etc.