When to Sell a Home Based on Market & You
- Adam Garrett
- Apr 21
- 10 min read
Updated: Apr 30
There are a variety of factors involved regarding when to sell a home or other real estate, from the market, to large geographical moving timelines from one country to another (i.e. military PCSing), to school district transitioning with kids, to timing things when selling & purchasing at the same time.
I'll be Focusing on:
I. Alternatives to Selling
II. When Not to Sell?
III. Market Factors
IV. If Buying & Selling
V. More Tips
I. Alternatives to Selling
Stay in Your House
Even if it seems like it's not possible to stay in the house you love, consider the following options if you currently have a mortgage that you have a hard time affording:
Recast your loan for a more affordable payment with a lump sum payment, especially if the rate you have is lower than the current rate available & if the best savings, CD, or bond rate available is effectively lower than your current mortgage rate (not your mortgage APR, but the actual rate), after accounting for tax differences. As of 4/21/25, my best savings rate available out of accounts I have where the interest applies over $1k is my account with CFG (4.32% APY), which is FDIC insured. The <$1k best rate I have (5.5% APY) is with DCU (insured by NCUA, the credit union equivalent of FDIC). If having difficulty acquiring the funds to do so, consider tapping your Roth IRA if you're able to do so penalty-free, such as some cases if you're over 59.5 years old & have owned it for 5+ years or some cases if you have one that's over 5 years old and you are only withdrawing principal contributions. Keep in mind that I am not a CPA or tax advisor and the above does not constitute tax advice.
Refinance your loan (especially if mortgage rates now are lower than your current rate). Often this process can be done with no $ out of pocket. You could refinance with a cash-out refinance or with a no cash-out refinance.
Apply for a mortgage forbearance. If you're facing temporary financial difficulties, see if there are any options for a break on your mortgage from the government, a non-profit, or your mortgage company.
If you're short on funds & don't want to part with your house, consider renting out rooms, though this option isn't for everyone, & it's not always done legally nor in accordance with HOA/Condo association restrictions.
Get help with home maintenance if you're doing a lot on your own. Often times that will be better than selling if you plan on selling just to rent something else. If you'd really like less maintenance, consider selling and buying something newer, whether new construction or simply something in a decade with less issues than your current property or a traditional home style if you have a modular, mobile, or manufactured home where design elements like roof pitch are inherently cheaper build but a long term negative element that shortens lifespan even if you put on the same roofing materials as traditional construction.
Make energy-efficient improvements like adding more insulation in your attic if you have high utility bills. Sometimes you can even get assistance with energy-efficient improvements. That said, if considering solar panels, solar panels aren't for everyone, in part since they don't add dollar-for-dollar value even if paying for them in cash, so it's important to do the math based on your situation.
Consider a reverse mortgage if you are 62 or older, though keep in mind the significant impact that one can make on net worth & what you leave behind.
Even if you want to not stay in your house, that doesn't mean that you should part ways with it for good.
The pros:
I am an owner of a few rental properties myself, as was my grandmother and as is my father. There's a lot of money to be made in renting out houses if you do it right.
The cons:
Renting out your house isn't always permitted based on loan type (though a refinance often solves that problem), HOA restrictions, or more. Being a landlord isn't for everyone, and you should be very careful on the property management company you choose. I've seen some horror stories of people living many states away who were too apathetic about the dangers inherent in self-management or who were too trusting of their property managers having their houses trashed. In the worst case, a buyer who made a strong offer on the house was considering tearing the brick house down & starting over because it was in such bad shape in a good neighborhood.
II. When Not to Sell
If Planning to Rent, Consider Protected Assets
There are a number of programs of assistance where a home that you own is a protected asset where other investments like retirement accounts and even whole life insurance is not. If you plan on relying on things like SSDI, SSI, or Medicaid, be sure to be familiar with what is and what is not protected among assets.
If High Appreciation Projection & Renting or Buying Without Sale Proceeds Needed
If you would be moving to another house to rent, and appreciation is projected to be high, do the cost/benefit analysis of the 2. Often times it's best to keep your house if it's possible and if the appreciation is projected to be high. If that means that you rent it out to others, that should be a consideration as well, but not every house can be rented out, & not everyone is meant to be a landlord, and not all property management companies do a good job.
If You'll Become a Long-Term Renter (w Exceptions)
Typically your finances will be much better off as a long-term owner than as a long-term tenant. If you plan to be a tenant for 5 years or more, you'd typically be better off not selling or selling and purchasing something else.
An exception would be if there's a big depreciation amount forecasted by most pros and you're currently in a depreciating market if you've done the math (especially with the help of a well-certified highly experienced financial advisor, i.e. CFP or CFA) on a rental alternative (factoring in costs of escalating rent) and the math points to a temporary rental scenario. That said, a financial pro I helped buy sold her home and chose to rent where I suspect that a significant part of the reason was that she was concerned about the housing market. The market never experienced a downturn despite many people thinking it would.
Consider Interest Rates if Planning on Buying Immediately or in the Distant Future
Interest rates are projected to come down, but only gradually. If you are currently sitting on a 3% interest rate, there may not be another time in your lifetime when that is available again. Don't sell if you are planning on waiting to buy until the rates are anywhere close to 3% again.
If an Alternative is Better
See the alternatives section above for more details.
III. Best Time to Sell from a Market Standpoint if Exclusively Selling:
Best Time to List in Hampton Roads is the 1st or 2nd Thursday in May
While markets vary, in Hampton Roads, the top time in the market to list a home for sale from a strictly market standpoint is in early May (the first or second Thursday in May, to be precise). Whether on a macro level the market is going up or down, sales in & around June have multiple optimal factors going for them. Also, most closings occur around 30-45 days after going under contract & the best offers tend to come shortly after listing, while the time when the highest volume of concessions tend to occur is long after listing.
Related:
Highest Prices
Whether looking at price per square foot or looking at the actual prices, the prices tend to be the highest in June (primarily from May contracts).
Those selling higher-end homes tend to be more knowledgeable about the market & work with better agents who also are more knowledgeable about the market. Because of those factors, they tend to be more aware of the impact of market time on price, and it's much more common for those selling higher-end homes to take their homes listed off the market during the Winter. Because of that, the actual price change between Winter and Summer is more drastic than it would be otherwise, so the actual price difference between winter and summer tends to be greater than the price per square foot difference.
The stronger the market, the lower the price per square foot dip, and in some cases, there is no dip in price per square foot with especially strong markets (i.e. 2020-2021 with 13% & 12% increases, respectively) with very rapid appreciation year over year (i.e. above 10%). Even an 8% increase, as in 2022, caused a dip to still be present.
Related:
Influence of Pictures & Showings
While not always the case, pictures tend to be worse in the Winter (1), with most sellers not planning in advance with exterior photos (including exterior aerials (2), Matterport virtual tours (3, 4), exterior area photos (5), & video in the Fall, Summer, or Spring for their Winter sale. Also, most sellers don't label exterior elements with photos of each from when the exterior elements are in their prime. I have stands for that purpose in some of my commission packages.
Related:
Less Seller Concessions & More Buyer Concessions When Listing Around May
As you'll see below, most of the seasonal peaks run from May to July.
Influence of Supply/Demand
The supply goes up in the Spring, but the fact that the prices get pushed up higher and the concessions are reduced during that time means that the increased supply is regularly exceeded by increased demand.
People like to get under contract on homes around May often in order to close during a time when children are out of school. Some industries, like the military, keep this in mind when moving people, and PCS people with or without children around this time often.
IV. How Selling & Buying at the Same Time Can Change Things:
If Buying Low Value & Selling High Value
If buying low value & selling high value, it's typically ideal to prioritize things for the peak market time for your sale, listing on a Thursday in early May.
A. If in an appreciating market with appreciation projected to continue, & if your highest goal is net financial impact, it's also ideal in this case to state in agent remarks of the listing something along the lines of "Seller prefers a 45+ day closing, w/ a preference for longer."
B. However, if in an appreciating market with appreciation projected to continue, & if your highest goal is getting the home that fits your preferences the most, there's no need to add language like that. In that case, a shorter closing period is actually ideal, since the highest level of inventory is available then.
If Buying a House of High Value & Selling Low Value
In this case, like in the other, it depends on your priorities, but it's typically best to prioritize timing primarily based on the high-value purchase.
A. If in an appreciating market with appreciation projected to continue, & if your highest goal is net financial impact, it will typically be best to sell sooner rather than later if in a seasonal dip per square foot if you are coming up on the seasonal low
B. However, if in an appreciating market with appreciation projected to continue, & if your highest goal is getting the home that fits your preferences the most,
While there are a number of possibilities when buying & selling at the same time, here are the main options:
Buy Before You List
Sell w/ Seller Possession Agreement or Buyer Possession Agreement
Sell, Have Temporary Housing, (& Possibly a Storage Unit) then Buy
Many Alternatives (i.e. Bridge Loan or Long Time from Offer to Closing)
If using a home sale contingency, consider the following options:
Get a Pre-Listing Appraisal
Get a Pre-Listing Termite Inspection
Get a Great Listing Agent w/ Great Marketing
Pre-Listing Home Inspections
A Large Earnest Money Deposit
An Early Possession &/or Limited Possession Agreement
A Seller Possession Agreement
Be Aware of First Right of Refusal Clauses
V. More Tips:
Meet w/ Your Agent Well in Advance for House Preparations & Optimized Photo Timing
It's typically best to prepare your house well before sale, even if your preparations are minimal due to an as-is purchase (though even then, it's still best to alert your listing agent well in advance). Here's why:
It can take some time to do the interior preparations & exterior cleaning/repairs and other shifts that are best done before a house hits the market, but it's best to do that in most cases, even if doing some things yourself (which I typically recommend for most) or even financing repairs prior to sale if you don't have the capital to pay in cash. That said, it's best to do cost/benefit analysis here, and if you're taking forever & the market is appreciating or depreciating, or interest rates are dramatically going up if you plan to use financing on your purchase, it could cost you.
A small minority of agents are like Adam, who can sometimes do some exterior photos at the house (including aerials & Matterport 3-D tours), some cases of neighborhood 3D Tours (I don't know of any agents who have that option besides me on resale homes), video, & area photos that are based on the season to optimize images. If they don't, and you can take some good photos/videos itself, that can sometimes even help, though agents may not want to use them depending on the image quality and the agents' own policies.
If Going to a Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Apartment, Etc.
Nursing homes, assisted living, & sometimes even apartments can have some long waiting lists. It's best to find out in advance and plan your sale in accordance with what you find out. Consider also temporary housing and the costs associated with that, potential storage, and moving more than once vs just once.
Programs to Reduce Home Costs
Some programs to reduce home cost, whether ones for purchase or ones for tenants, have long waiting lists too. It's best to be aware of that as well and time a sale in accordance with what you find out before banking on one.
Related:
If You Have Low or no Credit
If you have low credit, consider the following, & be sure to figure out your plan before you purchase:
Related:
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