Carl Adams Homes • Keller Williams Real Estate: Should I take my house off the market and wait for the "spring" market?

Should I Give My House a Rest and Take it Off the Market in the fall and wait for the “Spring Market”?

This is common question I hear from sellers at the end of the summer. They struggle wondering whether or not they should take their home off the market and try listing it again next spring. You know; when the real estate market get “better” J. Obviously, what is best for one seller isn’t the best for every seller, so lets look at some of the issues that factor into the answer.

Seller:
Should I Give My House a Rest and Take it Off the Market in the Fall and wait for the “Spring Market”?

Carl Adams:
Do you want to still sell your home? Then why didn’t your home sell?

Let’s tackle the first part of the question. That’s easy; it’s Yes or a No. No other choices. If you answer is No, you do not want to sell your home, than yes, take your home off market. Here’s why.

Take a look at the market activity for Delaware County, PA. This chart represents the number of homes for sale, and the number of homes sold from September 1, 2011 to the July 31, 2012.

As a point of reference: there were almost 4,000 homes listed for sale in Delaware County, PA as of July 31, 2012. Overall (since September 2012) only 10% of the homes listed actually sold per month. So we could say in any given month there is a 90% chance you will NOT sell.

Seller:

So you’re telling me it’s OK to take my home off the market, right?

Carl Adams Homes:
Not exactly. Well, at least not until we answer the second part of your question;

Why didn’t your home sell?

Broad based (macro) statistics are great in helping to provide clarity but - and this is a big but - what did your market (micro), the municipality you live in, look like. Some towns in Delaware County Pennsylvania did very well during this time period, for others the data was quite grim with a 90% chance you wouldn’t sell your home.

You need to ask yourself: Did any homes sell in your town last year? Why wasn’t yours one of them? If all of the homes that came on the market in your area sold, and sold for less than yours did you are not priced correctly. All the granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and neutral paint colors in the world will not fix this. It will not matter if you take your home off now, or come back on the market in the spring, if it is not priced right it will not sell. If your strategy was “I am going to list it higher and someone will make me an offer”, how did that work out? No offer(s)? Then sadly you most likely HELPED TO SELL the other homes in your market that offered a better price by being “that” house that potential buyers compared to the home they actually purchased. Every real estate transaction has one of these.

Timing the market can be difficult as well. No real estate agent has a crystal ball, we don’t know when the market will get better. No one can tell you the closing price of a share of any stock 90 days into the future – I’ll bet that at least a few Facebook investors wish they could. A look at the chart below shows the median (blue) and average (red) sold prices for home sales in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. There is no way to predict these fluctuations.

Blue: Median Home Price
Red: Average Home Prices

What will really impact your decision is the answer to this question: Do homes sell during the fall and early winter months? The answer: Yes, more than 25% of last years sold homes in Delaware County, PA sold during the winter period. Are you comfortable removing at least 25% of your potential bidders and buyers over the next five to six months? (blog written Sept. 2012)

Hopefully this gives you some food for thought if you are thinking of taking your home off the market. If you still have questions or would you like help reviewing the pricing and marketing of your home. Ask your real estate agent. If you are not already represented by a real estate team or have additional questions we would be happy to meet with you.