Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

If selling your   house   is on your to-do list this year, the time to   start prepping   is now. That’s because experts say the best week to list your house is coming up fast. A recent  Realtor.com   study  analyzed years of housing market trends (excluding 2020 since it was an outlier) and found that  April 13–19 is expected to be the ideal window to put your house on the market this year: “ . . . we’ve identified April 13-19 as the best week to list for sellers  . . . a seller listing a well-priced, move-in ready home is likely to find success.  Because spring is generally the high season for real estate activity and buyers are more plentiful earlier rather than later in the year, listing earlier in the spring raises a seller’s odds of a successful sale .” What Makes This Week Stand Out? As the quote mentions, spring is almost always a strong season for sellers. But this particular week could give you an even bigger advantage this yea...

  More people are taking steps to buy a home. And, if you’ve been  waiting  for the right time to move, this may be the sign you’ve been looking for. For the past few years, a lot of would-be homebuyers hit pause on their plans. With rising mortgage rates and affordability challenges, buying just didn’t seem doable. But now, more of them are getting back out there. That’s because they’re getting used to the fact that this may be the new normal for the market – especially as  forecasts  show mortgage rates may be starting to stabilize.  According  to the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR):  "Home buyers seem to be getting over the shock of mortgage rates in the mid- to upper-6% range." And that’s good for you and your plans to sell. While there isn’t going to be a big rush of buyers flooding the market all at once, this does mean motivated buyers are re-starting their searches. And here’s the data to prove it. 3 Signs Buyers Are Rea...

  If you're thinking about  selling your house  on your own, called “For Sale by Owner” or FSBO, there are some important things to consider. Going this route means taking on a lot of responsibilities by yourself – and that can be a bit of a headache. A recent  report  from the  National Association of Realtors  (NAR) found two of the most difficult tasks for people who sell their house on their own are  getting the price right  and  understanding and performing paperwork . Here are just a few of the ways an agent helps with those difficult tasks. Getting the Price Right Setting the right price for your house is important when you're trying to  sell  it. If you're selling your house on your own, two common issues can happen. For starters, you might ask for too much money (overpricing). Alternatively, you might not ask for enough (underpricing). Either can make it hard to sell your house.  According  to  NerdWalle...