How Long Does It Take To Sell A Home?

From start to finish a home can take a number of months to be sold.  By being sold it is meant what happens at the closing table when the seller transfers ownership of the home to the new buyers.  Depending on when the homeowners decide to get their home ready for sale there are several tasks a homeowner should perform to make sure they get the best value for their home when listed for sale.  This article explores the time involved and how long it takes for a home to get sold.

Prior to Listing the Home for Sale

Unless a home is in perfect condition, prior to listing a home for sale the homeowner needs to be cleaning up the house, refreshing certain aspects and making needed repairs.  If the carpet and paint is old, dated, and/or worn it is best to put up fresh paint and replace the carpet with new neutral color carpet.  Old broken appliances should be replaced.  Any deferred maintenance issues should be fixed prior to listing the home for sale.  Basically, anything that a buyer is going to look at and think twice about making an offer due to the condition should be fixed.

Depending on contractor availability and time of year these types of updates can take a couple of months or more.  Especially outdoor updates, repairs can’t be done if the weather outside won’t permit it (snow and freezing temperatures are a perfect example).  In a hot housing market, the quality contractors can be booked out months in advance, so proper planning is important.  If a homeowner knows they want to sell at a particular time, getting everything evaluated six to eight months...