For many people, summer holds an enduring appeal. It could be the memories of the end of the school year, taking in a baseball game with your dad, or even making your first few dollars from the lemonade stand you set up in your front yard.
Whatever the case, summertime has some great memories associated with it.
If you are going to sell your home in the summer, you should be aware that this period can sometimes be surprisingly challenging for home sellers.
On the other hand, it can also be an ideal time. The saying all real estate is local holds regarding summertime home selling.
Depending on your location, buyers could be out in full force. The weather is usually cooperative, and if you have children, summer is the perfect time to make a move.
But selling a home—even in one of the hotter real estate seasons—still requires taking the appropriate actions to set yourself apart. You still need to follow the best home sales advice.
From my experience selling property for the past thirty-eight years, I know that competition can be fierce in the summer for sellers, and you want to do everything you can to make your home look appealing.
Summer is the second best time to sell a property in most places, behind the spring season. If possible, selling at this time will help avoid the worst time for selling a house in most areas.
Keep reading; you will see some of the best summer home-selling advice. Enjoy these ten top nuggets to keep your home-selling prospects sizzling.
The advice here will put you in the perfect position to sell your home for the most money in the least amount of time with hopefully a minimum number of troubles.
This is how to sell a home in the summer!
The Best Tips For Selling Your Home In Summer
1. Clean it Up.
The only buyers looking for dirty, cluttered homes are low-bidders hoping to find a fixer-upper—or, more likely, wanting to flip houses. These bargain shoppers will not give you the payment you want or expect from your sale.
Buyers will bid low on homes that are in bad shape so they can fix them and sell them for a handsome profit. Why not put that profit in your pocket instead? One of the cheapest forms of home improvement is making your home spotless inside and out!
You want to appeal to buyers looking for a home where they can move in, feel comfortable, and see themselves and their loved ones happy.
A clean home is a priority for these buyers, which means you need to do a thorough house cleaning. Ideally, you will hire a company to do a professional job. Or if you are motivated, you can do it yourself. Either way, clean up and keep it clean for showings.
Making repairs and updates is always an essential part of the home selling process, regardless of season.
2. Do Something About Clutter.
It’s okay to accumulate some “extras” when you own a home. You have room, so why not hold on to things that might be useful later? But when showing a home, you must demonstrate all the available space. Every square foot counts; clutter can quickly eat up that space without you noticing. When buying, a house full of clutter looks smaller and is much harder to picture yourself.
Rent a storage space if you don’t want to throw it away or give it away. Whatever strategy you use, get rid of the clutter if you’ll fetch the best price for your home. Avoid bright spaces unfettered by too much furniture, a ton of knickknacks, and highly personalized spaces.
3. Work on Your Landscaping.
Summertime is for barbecues and backyard parties. It is also a time when plants can grow by leaps and bounds. You want your yard and landscaping to look neat, tidy, and inviting.
Buyers are going to be paying attention, imagining entertaining outside or kids playing in the yard. The front yard is super important.
As customers approach the home, they will notice how well the yard is kept and whether the flower beds look healthy.
You don’t have to be a professional landscaper, but you do need to maintain the lawn, mow it, weed it down, and ideally plant a few flowers to add some color.
There is nothing worse than approaching a home in the summer where the grass is tall and overbearing. Something speaks volumes about a well-manicured lawn. The term “pride of ownership” certainly comes to mind.
The front entryway should look terrific, including the door, steps, and walks.
It is one of the best seasons for selling because you have the potential to impress buyers with your yard and landscaping.
4. Keep The Interior Comfortable.
If you live in an area with sweltering summers, you better ensure your home’s interior is beautiful and cool when you show it.
If buyers sweat while walking through the house, they will not be happy. They may also question the state of repair of your HVAC system.
If they think something is wrong with the A/C, you can expect them to calculate that into their offer.
If your home does not have central air, it makes sense to have some window units for those days when it is unbearably hot.
Of course, there is also such thing as too cold – no matter how hot it is outside. Pick a comfortable temperature.
5. Adjust the Interior For The Season.
While it may be easier to keep the same drapes and interior styling throughout the year, you are putting your best foot forward when selling. It is time to ditch the heavy curtains and go for something lighter, allowing more light in and making the interior seem bigger.
I always recommend my clients open the shades and curtains to let as much natural light in as possible.
Decorate the inside with whites and other welcoming summer colors. Martha Stewart has some excellent summertime home decorating ideas. Check them out!
6. Blend the Interior and Exterior.
If you are fortunate enough to reside in an area of the country where the weather is consistently beautiful, you may want to consider staging your deck or patio with appropriate furniture and keeping it there throughout the process of selling your home.
Buyers—especially young buyers—are looking to connect the inside of their home to the outside of the house. Many home buyers prefer a fluid environment and open floor plans that blend the inside and outside.
This is certainly enhanced when you have a large deck or porch off an attractive kitchen or family room space. It is like an extension of the home’s interior, creating a more spacious living area. This terrific article also outlines some additional interior features millennial home buyers prefer.
7. Provide Information on Schools.
If you live in an excellent school district, getting that information from prospective buyers visiting your home makes sense. Many buyers who are moving in the summer are explicitly doing so to ensure their kids get into the school system for the coming year.
The school system can play a significant role in home values. If your city or town has exceptional schools, you will want to emphasize this. This could be the difference in choosing your home over another when the buyer is looking in multiple locations.
I always emphasize to my clients that this will become part of the marketing plan when it is advantageous.
8. Consider Some Summer Refreshments.
A complimentary pitcher of homemade lemonade or iced tea can be an excellent way to make buyers feel welcome. Depending on your area, you may have some summer traditions that add flair to the season and feel appropriate. The more consumers feel welcome, the more active their associations will be with the house.
When they may be looking at multiple houses, every little bit helps on your part. If nothing else, this summertime home-selling tip could set your home apart in a buyer’s memory bank.
The next two tips we stress the most to first-time home sellers. Ensure you hire the best real estate agent and price your home correctly!
9. Find The Right Realtor.
Finding the right real estate agent is one of the best pieces of advice year-round, but it certainly applies in the summer. A quality agent can make all the difference in your sale, helping you sell more quickly and for a better price than you can manage.
It pays to take your time picking a real estate agent. You should interview at least two or three to understand what is available.
Make sure the one you pick has solid references from satisfied clients – recent clients. The best agents tend to sell homes for close to the price they list them, something to keep in mind when making your decision.
Remember, the best Realtor near you is the one who meets your requirements—a good track record, solid references, and a personality you can get along with. The best option is almost never your neighbor, your sister’s friend, or any other random agent.
You are making a business decision, so be critical in your decision-making. The right agent is the first step in getting top dollar for your home.
10. Price it Right.
With a drum roll, please…..The #1 summer home selling tip is to price your home correctly! If you don’t take one other piece of advice when selling your home, make sure pricing it right is one you do take into consideration!
If you overprice your home, nothing else you do will matter. No matter how much you love your property or how much money you may have poured into it, you can still only sell it for a price that works for your market.
Many homeowners fall for one of the more common home pricing myths, such as that pricing their home higher will lead to a higher sale price or that they need X amount of dollars for negotiating room.
Your real estate agent is the best person to listen to when pricing the home. They will look at all the other homes like yours that have sold recently and price the house accordingly.
You may be tempted to price the home higher than the agent’s recommendations. Doing this is not advisable. Most homes priced too high sit on the market for longer than they should, which can cause them to appear undesirable to buyers. If it sits long enough without selling, you may be forced to lower the price so much that you make less than you would if you had just listed it correctly in the first place.
Be sure the agent you have hired is someone you can trust when pricing your home. Many Realtors mislead sellers about the value of their homes to get the listing. You should avoid this kind of real estate agent at all costs!
So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed reading these ten summertime home-selling tips. By now, you should have a good handle on selling a home in the summer! If you follow all the advice, the time it takes to sell your house should be minimal. Best of luck on your home sale journey.
About the Author: Bill Gassett, a nationally recognized leader in his field, provided the above real estate information on summer home selling tips. Bill has expertise in mortgages, financing, moving, home improvement, and general real estate.
Learn more about Bill Gassett and the publications in which he has been featured. Bill can be reached via email at billgassett@remaxexec.com or by phone at 508-625-0191. For the past 38+ years, Bill has helped people move in and out of Metrowest towns.
Are you thinking of selling your home? I am passionate about real estate and love sharing my marketing expertise!
I service Real Estate Sales in the following Metrowest MA towns: Ashland, Bellingham, Douglas, Framingham, Franklin, Grafton, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon, Milford, Millbury, Millville, Natick, Northborough, Northbridge, Shrewsbury, Southborough, Sutton, Wayland, Westborough, Whitinsville, Worcester, Upton, and Uxbridge Massachusetts.
My husband just found out that he is being transferred to another state for his work and so we really need to sell our home as soon as possible. It is still summer, and so I really like the idea of decorating with whites to help make the place look bigger and brighter. However, fall is nearly here and so I think that adding orange into the color scheme would be a good idea as well.
This is some really good information about selling a home in the summer time. Pricing it right does seem like a very good thing to do and even more so in the summer. After all, people still want to do a lot of fun things in the summer and spending a ton on a home could prevent that. So, having your home priced correctly does seem like a good way to make sure your deal goes through.
Your tips about making a home look like a place where someone would be happy and comfortable are very sensible. I would imagine that having a home which looks clean and comfortable would even make a potential buyer able to overlook any possible imperfections in the house or property. A good realtor could probably advise you as to which areas of the home need the most attention, and how to attend to them.