Neighbors and clients here in The Glen (the North Shore’s premier lifestyle community in Glenview) often ask me about when is the best time of year to sell their home. Here is what I tell them, and it is generally as true everywhere as it is here in The Glen.
The winter real estate market: Homes DO sell in the winter, though not as many as during the rest of the year. Spring and early summer are the strongest periods for home sales. Typically there is a late summer swoon as many buyers want to have closed on their new homes prior to the start of school. This is especially true here in The Glen where we have 1440 children according to the 2013 Glen census. The market picks up again in mid-to-late September and does well until Thanksgiving. There is a precipitous decline during the holiday season through February. If a homeowner needs to list in winter, though, sales can indeed be made. In fact, while there are fewer buyers in the dead of winter there are also fewer homes on the market with which to compete. I could also argue that homes in The Glen, attractive to senior corporate executives, may be less impacted by seasonal sales swings due to in-transfers from large corporate headquarters in the area such as Kraft Foods, Allstate Insurance, Baxter International, Walgreens, and AON. These tend to have little calendar bias.
If you can wait. Smart homeowners with some flexibility on the timing of their listings should contact their realtors after the first of the year to begin making plans for listing their homes. Realtors can use this time to develop the home’s marketing plan, arrange for professional photography of interiors, build a home-specific website, and design brochures. If all of this has been accomplished by mid-February, a listing date of late February or early March positions a home to be among the first to be considered by spring buyers.
If you have any questions about buying in The Glen, please contact me at margaret.ludemann@cbexchange.com.
Margaret Ludemann, Glen Resident and Coldwell Banker Realtor