The peak buying months could be just around the corner with help from the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit.
By Mai Ling at MSN Real Estate
If you’re thinking about selling your home in 2010, you might want to push your planning into high gear.
Even though the peak buying months have been in summer for the past decade, according to Forbes that trend could get pushed up by a season or two because of the newly extended $8,000 homebuyer tax credit, which requires buyers to close on a home by April 30 to participate. From Forbes:
“The beginning of the year is going to be make-it-or-break-it,” says (Trulia.com spokesman Ken) Shuman. “If you’re a seller, get your property listed as early in the year as you can.”
Obviously, that’s not going to work out for everybody. One reason the strongest sale months are in summer is because it’s easier on families with children in school, not to mention that weather plays a big role in how a move turns out.
But for those of you who are a little more flexible with your sell date, Forbes urges you to get your home ready as soon as possible for buyers who are forced to speed up their decisions to take advantage of the tax credit:
“This year, we’re anticipating sales will peak earlier,” says Nicole Hall, editor-in-chief of Lendingtree.com, an online mortgage comparison service. “The best time to get your house on the market will be February or early March, and maybe even earlier if you want to avoid competition.”
No, the weather most likely won’t be working in your favor, especially if you’re unable to showcase your normally superb landscape when it’s covered in a layer of snow. But the article notes that there still are ways to show off your home and yard, including sprucing up holiday decorations and keeping your sidewalks clear of snow and other debris.
Pay close attention to what your local market is doing, too. Hall urges sellers to read local real-estate blogs, while keeping an eye not only on price fluctuations, but also on the unemployment rate.
And before you get in a panic, just remember, as Forbes points out, “Nothing about the last few years in real estate has been traditional.”
