As with most things in life, real estate can all boil down to the timing. I don't mean the broad sense of buying when the markets hot vs when the markets cold, because in my experience most people who are looking to buy a home, aren't willing to wait the months to a year for the market to flip. I'm speaking more specifically to the timing in which you list your property for sale. I've been thinking about this exact topic for about a year now, and after seeing several examples play out similarly over the last two summers, I now feel confident enough to put my thoughts on (digital) paper. I feel that one of the worst things you can do when listing your property for sale, is to put it on the market right before a holiday weekend. I'm not sure if this is a Humboldt County specific issue, given that we are located in an area surrounded by countless weekend adventure possibilities, but regardless I think it is something to seriously consider when listing your home. I first noticed this trend last Labor Day when I showed an out-of-town couple a handful of quality listings. After finishing up the last showing I began contacting all of the listing agents to give them some feedback and was continually surprised when they explained that they hadn't received any offers yet even though their offer review dates were only one day away. That might not sound newsworthy, but this was in the height of last summers sellers market, and we were lucky enough to get an under asking price offer accepted. This Memorial Day a similar thing happened to one of my listings, we put the property on the market two days before the holiday weekend and we're severely disappointed with the lack of showings and interest in the property. We ended up accepting an under asking price offer a few weeks later, but I definitely learned my lesson. This past weekend I was able to take advantage of this scenario again, by getting a slightly above asking price offer accepted on a very desirable property for my clients. If you are considering the sale of your property, the first thing I would say is, now is the time. Our market has never been hotter, and at no point in Humboldt's history would you ever be able to get more money for your property than right now. But the second thing I would say, is strategize your listing, even though this is an unprecedented sellers market, don't get lazy, there are still ways to self sabotage your listing. The last thing I would say is, call me! I would love to help in anyway that I can!
