Hi,

I'm after a bit of advice. My brother has been putting off selling my dad's house. He claims that the best time of year to sell a house is in the summer, but I'm not so sure it is, especially after last years brilliant weather.

Does anyone have any actual experience of this, and / or any advice they could offer?

Thanks.

We sold mum's house in November/December. The new owners wanted to be in by Christmas.

I just bought a house and moved in on January 1st. I did that last time I bought as well. Both times were a disaster, with burst pipes!

In Germany, the most popular moving time is May, which has the most bank holidays. That means that people have more time to move, without having to waste so much of their holiday allowance.

If the English market is similar, I would think that selling in Feb/Mar, with a completion date of May would be about right.

I think the rules as Estate Agents supply them is to sell in the Spring, people are more likey to be ready to buy after "getting Christmas out of the way" and in Spring the light is better, the house is likely to look better (spring bulbs etc) and be more attractive when the weather isn't grey and drizzly, but with the springs and summers we've had recently I suspect that choosing anytime NOT in the depths of winter would probably work.

We've had my grandmothers house on the market since the end of last year. We had some interest prior to Christmas, but they pulled out as 'the driveway was too short'.
Then it went quiet, and now yesterday we had two offers.
I guess there's some truth in the spring time thing Zippy mentioned, but then again, people find themselves in different circumstances from each other.

If you put it on the market now, you'd be unlikely to have sold it by the end of the Summer anyway, so I would have thought there isn't really a best time. I would have thought the best thing to do is put it on the market whenever, you don't have to sell it until you're happy with the price.

Given the way the credit market is at the moment, I think any variability that's down to the time of year is swamped by the sheer fact that most people are struggling to get anyone to give them a mortgage.

Jon

*pfft* it's not all that bad! Nationwide are struggling to give mortages away at the moment, people just aren't calling

That's because you have to be an existing mortgage customer to get their best rates. We had everything except our mortgage with them, so when we re-mortgaged other places offered much better rates.

Spring is indeed the best time although it's also the most competitive. Planning applications peak around spring/summer as most folks want building works out of the way by late autumn. Depending on the condition of the property, the new owners might want to do some alterations (internal or external) that require some sort of council input - that's good for at least an 8 week delay

Al

Not necessarily, people aren't arranging any kinds of mortgages at the moment (if the call centre figures are to be believed) the 'Wides switcher rates are usually pretty good and at one point were lower than the first time buyer rates, and considering the low rates generally at the moment there are definitely good mortgages to be had, people just don't seem to want them.

The best time to sell a house is whenever you need to sell it.
Traditionally there are two peaks each year. One in spring and one towards the end of the summer (after everyone has been on holiday and had a bit for their finances to recover). How that's been affected by the crunch I'm not entirely sure as it's been a few years since I sold my house.
The other thing to bear in mind is the amount of time that it takes for a transaction to complete. Depending on what surveys and so on are required you can be looking at up to 3 months between offer and completion depending on buyer, seller, mortgage provider and associated solicitors esepcially if the solicitors get caught in a correspondance loop (they write to each other but don't bother to ask the buyer or seller about the question). That held up the purchase on the first (and only) house I bought.

IIRC all house sales also now require a Home Information Pack which also takes time to get done.

I would hazard a guess that your brother doesn't want the house to appear like its been on the market too long. DUring the boom that tended to suggest there was something wrong with the property but that doesn't hold true to anywhere near the same extent now. Provided the house is clean and tidy and not overpriced for the area then it should sell although not as fast as it might have done during the boom.

There must be a benefit to not being in a chain, too.

A potential downside I can see is if the house needs decorating. I'm led to believe a lot of buyers want to move in and start living, without the need to redecorate or fit kitchens and bathrooms to their taste.

Whatever, good luck with it.

I've brought and sold 6 houses, I tend to go for late spring early summer or mid summer. the house the garden and surrounding area look better for a start, people can view in the natural light etc, I'd hate to try and sell a house this time of year, everything looks so dark and gloomy including the vegetation.

Mind you if the house is in a bit of a state then maybe the winter can mask a view sins (apart from faulty Central heating )

Looking back, I'd start looking after a cold snap! There, you will see who has burst pipes and whether the place is damp - when it starts to warm up, there will be condensation all over...

Whenever they want to buy it?

Got a viewer this afternoon - fingers crossed