Member Article

How To Sell Your Home In Autumn

We have long been told that autumn is the very best time of year to put your home on the market if you want the best chance of selling quickly, and achieving a generous price. Here, property expert Michael Bruce, CEO of the UK’s leading hybrid estate agents Purplebricks.com, shares his expert thoughts on whether this is indeed the case, and if so, how you can ensure that your property stands out in a busy market place.

In my experience, any time of the year can be a good time for selling your home providing you market it correctly and have a proactive agent working for you. However, there are certain times of the year when there are less people looking to buy and sell because of factors including Christmas, meaning they have less time and are more conscious of money.

Generally speaking autumn is a very good time to sell and there are a number of reasons as to why this is the case:

1. It’s Aesthetically Pleasing!

Autumn is a great time of year to present your home to potential buyers to ensure that they see it in its full glory. At this time of year, leaves on trees are turning red and golden and with this backdrop, it’s much easier to capture the attention of viewers as soon as they set foot on the driveway. We often talk about the importance of ‘kerb appeal’, and a beautiful autumnal garden is a fantastic example of how you can master this. If you live in a property without a garden then you can still make the most of the season to entice buyers by adding some frost-resisting flowers or shrubs to your balcony/entrance porch/window sill – depending on the space you have available.

2. Beat the Holiday Season

Typically at this time of year people’s annual holidays are over as the children go back to school and the weather gets milder. This automatically opens the pool of prospective buyers, plus people become more focused as they return to work. Sales can move quickly as you will not keep missing each other if your family holidays happen to be back to back. The same applies to others in the chain including estate agents and solicitors, and therefore the selling process will be streamlined and efficient.

3. It’s Easy to Wow

Not only is autumn a good time of year for making the outside of your house desirable, there is also plenty of opportunity to add some finishing touches to the inside of your property. With open houses more popular than ever as a marketing tool, it’s important to make sure that your house really has the wow factor when potential buyers come knocking on mass. A really simple, but effective tip is to fill your house with candles strategically placed throughout your home. This will create a lovely smell for prospect buyers and also paint a welcoming picture of your home. Flowers, warm baked bread, and freshly ground coffee are all inviting smells that can make all the difference to potential buyers when viewing your home, and will seem particularly appealing on a cosy autumn evening.

4. Beat the Autumn ’exodus’

Another reason why the property market is so busy during the autumn time is because people want to move and get settled in before the lead-up to Christmas and New Year. Although this means that there will naturally be more competition, it also means that many people will be looking to move quickly, and therefore are perhaps more likely to go straight in with asking price offers.

5. But… Beware of potential pitfalls

Whilst there are several key reasons why autumn is a great time to sell property, the crowded market place means that you need to be on top of your game if you want your house to stand out from the crowd. It sounds obvious but some people may be less receptive to attending viewings in the evenings as the days get shorter. Try and be as flexible as possible with your viewing days – an open house at the weekend can be a great option for all parties involved. In addition, don’t be tempted to take a lower offer as the time gets closer to Christmas in an attempt to sell before the busy festive period. Although autumn is an excellent time to sell don’t compromise on what you want and what your property is truly worth.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Michael Bruce, CEO of Purplebricks.com .