Prelude: I was raised rather unconventionally. I am a Heinz57ethnic, 5th generation Southern Californian/recovering-half-Texan that as a child had the experiences of multiple upper-middle-class suburbias from San Diego to the Bahamas, with my formative years from ~10-16 years old in the deep woods of the Ozarks with no electricity, no phone, no running water, no joke… We grew most of our own food, sourced our utilities, & did a lot more than just survive. We thrived on the adventure & the reality that there is no such thing as a problem when you have a well-trained mind, a great attitude & a great team. That being said, when deer season was fixing to open up, Dad would send me out 2-3 days prior to ‘Opening Day’ to harvest a couple for the family. When you want the best deer meat, you don’t want to harvest it after it is pumped up on adrenaline and has been high-tailin’ it across every hill in 3 counties running for its life.

The facts and the truth don’t always agree…

Conventional sources would have you think that ‘Spring’ is the best time to sell a home, or they may even nail it down to the Saturday that is closest to the 15th of May. In my humble, but highly accurate opinion, this is pure bovine excrement. The best time to sell a home is BEFORE YOU NEED TO, and to stage your presentation to the marketplace in such a way as to use history and market cycle data to your advantage. Try thinking of it as if you were a surfer. You may get out there on your board just as the best wave is coming in, but if you really want to hang loose as you drop in to hang ten on the optimal tidal bore, as a real pro you know that the waves come in sets and you need to prepared to ride a few to warm up, Big Kahuna.

Here are some examples:

Phil & Nellie Gerke sold & closed on their home with a full-price, cash offer more than 7 months in advance of their need to sell in June, without having to invest further than they had planned on carpet & paint, by declaring their offer in November (While saving $3610 from the ‘standard’ 6%).

Michael & Christy Walker sold in NEGATIVE 1 day ‘on the market’ on Memorial Day weekend by being proactive in alternative marketing platforms for 3 weeks in advance (While saving $8600 from the ‘standard’ 6%).

Dr Ed & Katie Jackson sold in 1 day ‘on the market’ after having acquired their Buyer through social media 3 weeks in advance of their posting on the MLS on Spring Break weekend, & leveraging the Buyer’s desire to the extent that they paid ~$11,000 more than it eventually appraised (While saving $14,585 from the ‘standard’ 6%).

The list of success stories goes on and on, but the common thread through each of them is that they were proactive in developing an effective exit strategy in advance of their need and they were able to preempt the oncoming swell of the market traffic tides.

Disclaimer: For the purposes of clarity & understanding of the term ‘on the market’, I will concede that the conventional definition for that term suggests that a homeowner has engaged a real estate agency, has a sign in the yard & has been posted on the local MLS. However, in this Information Age, I would assert that being ‘on the market’ consists merely of a HomeOwner extending an offering for their real property through the medium of their choosing. If it is not your ‘Forever Home’, I suggest that our mindset be such that we recognize that where we reside is merely an asset, & that it is ALWAYS AVAILABLE for sale at the right price in the right time (Zillow had a great thing going with the ‘Make Me Move’ function of their platform…), &

Life has a tendency to operate on the principle ‘Subject to Change’.

Most markets work in the cycles of seasonal supply & demand.

In real estate, there are 4 definitive ‘peaks’ of Buyer traffic.

1. ‘Spring Break’. Historically, this is the time when Buyer’s that know they are moving into a new marketplace as early in the Summer as possible get proactive and make plans to travel into the marketplace in that seasonal vacation window. Oftentimes, these Buyer’s are not properly prepared or motivated to make purchasing decisions and are more likely doing preliminary market reconnaissance. However, some of them are the early adopters who are apt to buy simply because they found something satisfactory and are not prone to be picky to see what else ‘pans out’.

2. The Week following Memorial Day Weekend. Schools out, bags are packed, & they want to get into the new home well in advance of the new school year starting so that they have plenty of time to unpack, familiarize, & enjoy the Summer in their new community.

3. The End of June. This is the cycle peak that I have found best for Sellers wanting to maximize their price. Why? Lowest supply, highest demand, & those folks that still want to get into a home before the school year starts have run themselves fresh out of options and really can’t afford to spend much time or energy negotiating price or haggling for a bunch of minor repair issues. They have usually spent the last few weeks hunting for the ‘perfect’ home, only to have been disappointed by either missing out on a home that would have been adequate but was missing that special ‘something’ or insisting on ‘getting a deal’ and falling short on several offers already. These are the Buyer’s that have probably run through the most ‘character development’ & marital difficulties.

4. 1st Week of November. It is amazing how many times that I made 20-30% of my annual sales in November & December. Career changes, snowbird initiatives & other life events that predicate a New Year move have always been a strong reason for moving and have historically been a very favorable time to divest real property.

As a bit of a professional real estate renegade for the past couple of decades who would not acquiesce to the conventional principles or propaganda, my zeal to develop the optimal exit strategies for my client’s led me to test the boundaries of the traditional systems and to implement proprietary processes that were effective in generating maximum profit with minimal stress. I have never been satisfied with getting a house under contract in the first 1-3 days ‘on the market’, as it almost always feels like we could have gotten even more. While there is ample data to prove that certain times and seasons are the most successful in contracting a sale, there is a lot to be said (though much more subjective & more difficult to quantify) for beginning to promote your offering 1-6 months in advance of your need, & taking advantage of 1-3 sets of traffic cycles to test your offer while using the time to decelerate all of the potential stressors.

All that you really need to do is make a decision and to declare the ‘Suggested Retail Price’ for your property, usually 3-5% over what you would like as an eventual Gross Sales Price, to your friends/family/neighbors/coworkers/HR/social media sphere of influence,etc…

For crying out loud, your neighbors are your most valuable allies, as they will definitely appreciate & exercise their ‘first right of refusal’ for whoever they would like as their next neighbors. You can also develop a much more robust marketing initiative if you should choose to incentivize your sphere of influence, but I will be presenting more on that in the near future…

Selling your home isn’t difficult, but it does go more smoothly & profitably with a good education, proven strategies/tactics, better preparation and open lines of communication. If you haven’t noticed, the World has gotten as small as the screen that you may be reading this on, & it is not very difficult to reach out and touch your ‘highest & best’ Buyer. Take some time to develop your optimal exit strategy, & when you purchase your next property you will be more inclined to start with the end in mind.

To your increasingly profitable returns!

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