Spring offers a new beginning each year. In moderate or cold climates, the snow melts, and the flowers begin to bloom. In warm climates, the days begin to get longer. In all cases, people go out more than they did in the wintertime. That’s the first reason why selling your home in the spring is a great idea: There are simply more people to see it. Read on to see a few more reasons why it’s good to sell your home in the spring.
Curb Appeal
Think of how the passersby appreciate your meticulous landscaping and the bright colors of spring. A wildflower yard, especially if you have a couple of small trees with bright blossoms on them, will dazzle with splashes of all the colors of the rainbow. Such a wonderful display is much more eye-catching than a simple lawn, and such a yard is much healthier for the environment than a lawn.
The Weather
Once fall hits, the temperature drops, and the afternoon shadows get longer and longer, not to mention leaves covering everything, your home won’t look nearly as spectacular as it does in the spring or even summer. That’s not even considering what it looks like covered in snow. Even if you live in a hot climate, by the time November rolls around, all your flowers will have gone dormant, and the trees will have lost both their blossoms and their leaves. Stark and sparse isn’t a good look when you’re trying to impress potential buyers.
The End of the School Year
With many schools around the country starting classes in the middle of August, they’re letting out at the beginning or middle of May. That means that if a person buying a home is moving, then their children won’t have to be uprooted during the school year. That same buyer might then not want to buy a home in the fall or winter. Even though there’s no school during summer, as well, summertime is a time for family vacations and other trips, so many potential buyers will be busy then.
Checklist
Once you’ve decided to sell your home, and have decided not to use a realtor, start early on the preparations. Ideally, you should begin at least a couple of months before your first open house. Here are some things you’ll need to do:
• Get rid of clutter.
• Spruce up your home: new paint inside and out, improving the landscaping, etc.
• Remove all personal touches, such a photos, trophies, degrees, etc.
• Add a few plants inside.
• Clean everything, and then clean it again.
Even though you’re selling your home by yourself, you could still benefit from having a professional home stager come in and help you arrange everything to be most attractive to buyers. The better everything looks, the more interest you’ll generate. It’s also a good idea to have both a house inspection and an appraisal so that you can show the inspection results to potential buyers and also know what’s fair to offer for your home so that you don’t get lowballed.
