Springtime in Pittsburgh is here (finally)! If you’re thinking about selling your Pittsburgh home this year, most experts agree that Spring is the best time. In fact, Zillow recently wrote an article in which Pittsburgh was mentioned, and it said March 16th – March 31st is the best time to sell your house in Pittsburgh. Even though these dates have has passed, you may still want to consider selling your Pittsburgh house soon.
Why is Spring the best time to sell your home? There isn’t a perfect answer to this question – it’s probably a combination of things, such as:
- Curb appeal: As a fellow Pittsburgh resident, I know that snow looks nice for about one hour after it falls 😊. After that there are mounds of muddy snow in the front yard that come from the road, sidewalk, or driveway. If it rains after a snowfall, dirt from your house or roof causes runoff that makes the beautiful white snow look less appealing. You get the idea. However when Spring comes around, the grass turns green, trees get their leaves back, and flowers start to bloom. This makes passers-by notice how nice your house looks, and they can picture themselves living there.
- Longer/warmer days: Days are much shorter in the Winter, meaning productivity is generally lower. This means that people who may be ready to buy a house aren’t putting in as much effort to call a realtor or talk to their banker about financing. By the time they get home from work, it’s already dark outside! Also, it’s colder, so people only tend to go outside when they need to. This reduces driving and foot traffic, meaning fewer people see “FOR SALE” signs on houses. This all changes when Spring comes around, as people start to spend more time outside. This drives up interest in homebuying, which tends to fetch sellers a higher price.
- Timing the schoolyear: Families are often busy during the school year, and adding the stress of buying/selling a home and moving during that time can be too much. Believe it or not, this causes many people to start their home search in the Spring, so that they can close on a house right after school ends, move over the Summer, and be settled in before the next school year.
- Higher prices: This one is a result of all the reasons above. Because more people buy homes in the Spring, demand is higher, and therefore selling prices tend to be higher. If you see your neighbor’s house sell for more than you thought it was worth, you may consider selling your house too!
While these reasons don’t apply to everyone, they do add up to create a general trend that makes Spring the busiest (and most real estate professionals argue best) time to sell your home. If you’re interested in selling your home in Pittsburgh, we buy houses! Fill out the form below or give us a call to start the process of receiving a FREE cash offer on your house today.