How To Sell A Home In The Slow Summer Months

With our very short summer season here in Nova Scotia, and many families are going on a much needed vacation. This makes it less likely that buyers will be looking for a home during the warmest weeks of the summer.

Traditionally, summer is the other season where selling has not always been encouraged, however, as with winter, summer has increasingly become a season where motivated sellers take advantage of the lack of competition.  With inventory so low, seller's should seriously consider getting their home on the market yet be prepared that the volume of buyers is diminished this time of year as well as the large number of showings compared to what we typically in the spring market.

Keep in mind, there are still plenty of people who want to find a home and moving in the summer really is the perfect time if you have kids in school. Here are a few tips to help motivate buyers to take action on your home.

Summer Home Selling Tips

Keep the house cool

Buyers viewing your home are going to be coming in from a hot exterior and are going to appreciate cooling down inside. Keeping the home nice and cool also demonstrates that your HVAC unit can keep the house comfortable, which is important to buyers. 

If you don’t have HVAC then open up the windows and let the fresh breeze cool your home! Check out our blog How to Keep Your Home Cool During the Summer Months

Serve some refreshments

If it is a particularly hot day you may want to the buyers refreshments while viewing your home to make the buyer feel welcome. Iced tea, lemonade, and other drinks can make buyers feel at home, which is exactly what you want them to feel as they decide on whether or not to purchase your house. During COVID however, please consider disposable single use bottles stored in a container of ice or an ice box  that are sealed for safety and keep a trash can located near by for the used bottles or cans.

Keep the yard looking good

Buyers are going to be imagining barbecues and outdoor parties when they walk through your backyard, so you want to make the space look like it will work for these things. Keep the grass mowed and plant some flowers. If you don’t have outdoor furniture already, you may think of adding an inexpensive table and some chairs out back. We cannot emphasize how important the yard is in the summer. Please take a moment to view your home from the street. Perhaps a fresh potted plant by the door will spruce up the entrance way to make your home stand out. Check out our blog 6 Ways to Turn Your Back Yard Into a Stress Reducing Oasis

Be willing to show later in the day

Buyers may request to see the home once the temperature cools down a little, or after other obligations they have which may run late. With so much daylight available, you need to be flexible about when you are willing to let people view the home. We know that with children this is difficult but pop everyone into the car and go for an ice cream treat while the house is having an evening showing.

Best General Home Selling Advice

It goes without saying that, besides some specific seasonal selling tip,s there is some good advice all homeowners should follow, including the following:

• Pricing a home correctly. This is the #1 thing you need to get right or you will not have any success. The right price is the most important part of marketing. Check out our blog Proper Price Positioning to Guarantee Your Property Sells

• Get your home prepared for the market and the buyers home inspection. It goes without saying that your home should look its best before going on the market. Some sellers also neglect to get their home ready for the buyers home inspection. This is a big mistake! The home inspection is the biggest hurdle to clear in a real estate transaction. This is often the place where sales fall apart. Oftentimes this could have been prevented if a little more attention was paid to obvious problems.

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