When is the best time to sell your Northern Virginia home

Have you decided to say goodbye to your Northern Virginia home? Not an easy thing to do. Emotionally, that is. Leaving the place where we grew up is a tough one. Okay, you never mentioned you grew up in Northern Virginia or were emotionally attached to the area. Are you just wondering when the best time to sell your Northern Virginia home without all this emotional mumbo-jumbo is? Sure, we can help. Read the article below to find out everything you need to know.

A quick prologue

Let's say it went like this. You've been searching the web for a while now. Every article you've stumbled upon (until you've found the most important one, this one, of course) told the same story: the best time to put your home on the market is spring, more precisely, the first two weeks of May. While this might be true in some cases, there are pros and cons for every season. So, whichever time of year you choose as the backdrop for your home sale, you must research its advantages and disadvantages. And what are those, you ask? Feel free to scroll down.

Why is spring so special?

As we've already mentioned, most articles you'll find on this subject suggest spring as the season for closing the sale of your home. Although, there are exceptions to this rule, if it's a rule at all. For example, springtime isn't the most popular period for selling a home in Arizona or Florida since the weather can get pretty nasty (hurricanes, tornados, and what-not). Since we're talking about Northern Virginia, that doesn't concern you. To answer the question in the title, here's why spring's so special:

• Warmer, brighter, and longer days - buyers are more eager to go house-hunting.
• Everything's looking better, blossoming - natural curb appeal enhancement. Your garden shows off its full potential.
• Summer break is coming up - buyers' kids don't have to change schools in the middle of the school year. Neither do your kids.
• Tax refunds - this suits both the sellers and buyers, that's for sure.
• More options - finding professionals to help you clean or repair the place is easier in the spring.

Of course, there are some disadvantages. If your home sells too fast, you might need to put your kids out of school. Also, the weather might still be messy, and experts note that the competition is intense during spring. Also, if you want to save some money on relocation, you won’t be able to do it in the spring or summer as they are the busiest relocation periods and therefore the most expensive.

A quick tip before we continue

Since you can never know when a great deal will come up, you'll need to be ready to move out on short notice. Ensure yourself with a quick and simple relocation by being prepared for the ordeal. As we all can confirm, organization and thinking ahead is the key to success.

Summer's alright, too

Don't worry. Summer's a fine time to sell a home, too. There's no reason why summer shouldn't be the right choice for you, especially if you're selling a house in Northern Virginia, which you are. Here are some reasons why summer's a good period for closing the deal:

• School break's here - we've mentioned this already talking about the spring. A quick addition here: buyers with kids feel the urge to settle on a deal before school starts.
• Predictable weather conditions - there's a slight chance severe weather conditions might prevent buyers from going home-hunting. Summer's are not that harsh in Northern Virginia.
• Buyers are more competitive - since they know that summer's the peak of the buying/selling season.
• Learn from experience - you'll have information from deals closed during springtime so that you can correctly price your place.

Of course, there are some minor drawbacks. For example, summer means vacation time, so folks might not be that eager to check out your place.

What about autumn?

Ah, autumn. Your potential buyers might be too busy contemplating their fate to even too lazy to get out of bed, let alone think about buying a home. Bad jokes aside, let's see what you can get out of autumn:

• Folks want to close the deal before the holidays - it's only natural, right?
• Repairs costs are lower - since the peak's over, you'll have more professionals at your disposal to help you do some renovations. That will quickly boost the sale of your home.
• Nice colors for your curb appeal - your house might look more attractive during autumn.

And now, some ways autumn can prevent the sale of your Northern Virginia home. As the folks at Fairfax Transfer and Storage suggest, autumn is not the most popular season because the tricky weather (and the upcoming winter) can keep the buyers away. Not just that, but people would rather skip moving during the autumn months.

Let it snow, let it snow...

Oh, the weather outside is frightful. Instead of singing this Sinatra tune, let's see what's going on with winter:

• Serious buyers might notice you - they'll want to take advantage of tax breaks.
• Real estate agents see winter as a challenge - that might mean they'll be more motivated to sell your home.

Like all seasons, the winter has some disadvantages when you want to sell your Northern Virginia home. Buyers might want to play on your desperation and use it as an advantage to cut the price. There is not exactly what you would call competition, so there's a chance your home will stay on the market longer since the competition isn't that great during winter.You might have trouble finding qualified professionals to handle some repairs. Also, Christmas. Yeah, that one probably needs no explanation.

On the plus side, you will find moving specialists more quickly and easily and you will probably get their services at a discounted price since winter is the least popular moving season.

Final words

If you've wondered when the best time to sell your Northern Virginia home is, now you have some information on your hands. As you could've easily noticed, every season has its pros and cons, and you can never be sure when the best deal is going to come. That's why you should think ahead and calculate everything before putting the house on the market. Hopefully, everything will unfold the way you've planned. Best of luck!