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Two of the Best Days of the Year to Sell Your House Are in the Last Week of May
Most home sellers want to sell their house for as much money as possible. So, if you’ve been thinking about selling your house, you’d probably love it if you (or your agent) could predict the perfect day to sell your house in order to do that.
Well, you’re in luck!
ATTOM Data Solutions has analyzed more than 59 million single-family home and condo sales that occurred between 2011 to 2023, and have found that two of the best days of the year to sell a house are in the month of May.
According to their data, the sixth best day of the year to sell a house is on May 25th, netting sellers a 15.1 percent premium. And the absolute best day of the year is two days later, on May 27th, with a 16.2 percent premium.
Couple those statistics with the currently low number of houses for sale in many areas, and that may make this the perfect time to sell your house.
When Should You List in Order to Sell on One of Those Days?
Perfectly timing the real estate market in an overall sense is almost impossible, but even with these statistical insights, it’s pretty difficult to pinpoint the exact day you should actually list your house for sale. Does it make sense to hit the market exactly on the 25th or 27th? A week before? Two weeks ahead of those dates?
The answers to those questions are really better answered by your local agent. The average amount of time it takes to get a house under contract varies from one area to another, and even from one price range to another in any given area. So you’d need to drill down into how long it’s taking between the day a house in your price range gets listed, to the day they typically accept an offer in order to back into an appropriate day to list your property for sale.
But generally speaking, in most areas and markets, if you price your house appropriately, houses are still selling readily — so it’s possible to list your house and get it under contract in a week or two.
That said, it can take some time to get your house ready to be listed for sale. There’s a lot to do between deciding to list your house and actually having it on the market, such as:
- You’ll need time to prep your house. At the least you should give it a good cleaning. But you may also need to do some repairs or touch-ups. If you have a lot of belongings, some decluttering may also be in order.
- It may make sense to have your house professionally staged, in order for it to show as well as possible. It can take time for a professional stager or real estate agent to properly stage a home.
- Professional photography will need to be taken inside and outside of the house, and then edited.
- Once all of that is done, your agent will need to create all of the marketing they employ to build maximum interest the minute the listing hits the market.
So, while you have some time to play with, if you’re trying to capitalize on the two best days to sell, you need to get the ball rolling immediately.
What if You Get an Offer Before One of Those Days?
No matter how much you dig into the local statistics and try to time the day you list perfectly, there’s a chance you’ll get an offer before May 25th or 27th. Should you hold off on accepting offers until those specific days? Honestly, no.
Let’s say that, on average, it takes about 2 weeks to get a house in your price range under contract in your area, so you decide to list on May 11th. But rather than it taking two weeks, you get a great offer (or multiple offers) within the first few days of it being on the market. Trying to hold off on accepting one of them until the 25th or 27th, just to see if you get a better offer on one of those two dates, is probably going to produce the opposite results. Your initial buyers would likely lose patience and interest over that amount of time, and may even reduce or rescind their offer.
To make matters worse, you’d probably end up realizing that they were the best buyers and offers you’ll see. It isn’t like those dates are magical and an unknown buyer will appear out of thin air with a better offer.
As much as the current data is true, it also changes from year to year. Back in 2021, that same company said that the five best dates to sell on were May 16th, 19th, 20th, 23rd and 27th and the 23rd was the best day of the bunch.
The point is, those aren’t dates set in stone, so don’t put more stock in statistics than the actual offers you have to consider.
But, if you’ve been thinking about selling, statistically speaking, the next couple of weeks are as good a time as any to list your house for sale!
The Takeaway:
If you want to get top dollar when selling your house, data from the past 13 years indicates that May 25th and 27th are the best days to sell, and will net you premiums of 15.1% and 16.2% respectively.
However, perfectly timing when you list your house in order to sell on those days is tricky. Since local market conditions vary, you should consult with your agent for the best timing. And don’t get too focused on those specific dates… they’re not magical. The statistically best date to sell varies from year to year, although they are often in May. So, if you’re considering selling, the next few weeks are as good a time as any to list your house.
