You can sell your home at any time of the year, but there are definitely some months (and even specific days) when selling is easier, faster, and more profitable. In general, spring and summer are the hottest homebuying seasons of the year, while sales slow down as we get into fall and winter.

Time to sell really depends on where you’re located and the conditions of your local housing market. Your listing price, the condition of your home, and you (or your agent’s) marketing and staging prowess can also play a role.

There are many costs involved in selling a house. Fortunately, most of them don’t require an out-of-pocket payment, per se. Instead, many come out of your sales proceeds at closing. On average, the total cost of selling a house is about 10% of the sale price.  These include things like:

• Your real estate agent’s commission (6%)
• Staging and prepping your home (1%)
• Seller concessions (1 to 2%)
• Repair costs (varies)
• Homeownership and overlap costs (1%)
• Closing costs (1 to 3%)

The most common method to determining the value of a home is by completing a comparative market analysis.  A comparative market analysis is an in-depth evaluation of recently sold “comparable” homes in the past 6-12 months.  A comparative market analysis, also known as a “CMA,” isn’t a crystal ball that determines what a home will sell for, however, if performed by a top Realtor, it should greatly narrow the sale price range.

A professionally completed “CMA” will take into account many features of not only a home, but also the local area and neighborhood.  Considerations that a professionally completed “CMA” include, but is not limited too:

• Square footage
• Number of beds and baths
• Flooring type
• Upgrades to kitchen
• Roof age
• Lot features
• Location; primary or neighborhood street?
• Style of residence