When the cold miserable winter weather is still in the air and nobody is looking at homes for sale because of the frigid temperatures, ice, and snow, it is a good time to phone your Realtor and prepare to sell real estate. Buyers who have been patiently waiting all winter soon grow restless, and at the first signs of spring they will rush out to browse and buy homes. Miss that first wave of buyers and you may wind up waiting a whole other year just to get a nibble, because in a slow market the buyers are few and far between. A better strategy is to plan ahead and be ready to put your real estate on the market in time to capture the seasonal sales surge that typically happens in most markets – those with normal climates – during the first 4-6 weeks of springtime.

But to list your house as soon as the daffodils come up, it is first necessary to prepare it for showing and marketing. That means that you want to have all of your repair projects and cosmetic touch-ups finished before your Realtor lists it – or before you start showing the house if you are going to sell as a FSBO (for sale by owner).  That’s not a bad thing, though, because once the buying and selling season gets underway you will have a much harder time finding contractors who have time to accept your jobs – and those who can fit you in will be charging their higher seasonal rates.

So do your background research while the weather is still bad and be prepared to set your price so that it is competitive with other listings. Then make a list of things you can do to add curb appeal and value to your home – such as painting it, replacing cracked window panes, and sprucing up the landscape. Then you’ll be ahead of the pack when the buyers come out to play, and that should improve your odds of getting a quick sale at a higher price – whether you go the FSBO route or decide to hire a professional Realtor.