Brighton property expert: why the summer is the perfect season to sell your home
Summer's here – here come the wasps, the melting tarmac and the warped railway lines. But it’s not all fun and games.
What about selling your house? Is summer really the dead zone everyone thinks it is?
Most sellers do.
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And fair enough. People disappear on holiday and schools break up. Half your potential buyers are queuing for Ryanair flights. And if you’re lucky enough to find a buyer, well, your solicitor is probably living la dolce vita in Tuscany, thoughts of Land Registry delays and Local Authority Searches far from their mind.
So, sellers avoid the season, often delaying until September. But here's what they're missing- fewer properties hit the market in summer. Less competition. If your house is priced right and looks decent, it'll stand out more now than in September's feeding frenzy.
And people DO still buy houses in summer. Relocations don't wait for term time. Neither do divorces, job moves, or family changes. Life carries on, whatever the calendar says.
What's more, houses look better in summer. Gardens are prettier, the light is good, and the evenings are long—perfect for viewings.
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Hide AdThe downsides? The viewings are fewer. Your perfect buyer might be in Benidorm after all.
But as anyone who has searched for a property recently will testify, that all-consuming need to find somewhere will mean that emails will be read and Rightmove will be searched, even from the side of a pool.
If your house isn’t listed, it won’t be found.
So should you wait until September? If your house isn't ready or you're away constantly, yes. September brings buyers back with renewed purpose. But if you're ready now and the house looks good, don't write off summer.
It's quieter, but the buyers who are looking tend to be more serious, not just weekend browsers killing time—the ‘bucket and spade brigade’, as they’re known in the trade.
But on a really hot day, just don't expect your agent to pick up after 4pm on Friday…
Jonathan is the founder of House Buy Fast. For more information visit www.housebuyfast.co.uk