How Long Does it Take to Sell a Property?

Wondering how long it’ll take to sell your property? These factors will help you gauge your chances better.

Sellers have different motivations for selling their property, but the one unifying reason is that they are looking into profiting from the sale—that’s why they are so eager to get their property sold at the soonest possible time.

For licensed real estate brokers, however, it is important to educate their clients to better manage their expectations. For example, one cannot expect an overpriced property to sell immediately, but in a high demand market (or if the property is highly sought after), a well-priced property could sell within a month.

Real estate brokers agree that there are three important factors that will make a house sell quickly. They are the following:

Price

A cheaper property is expected to sell faster than an expensive one, as there are more people who can afford lower-priced homes. But this does not mean you can’t sell an expensive home quickly. Some agents price a house a little bit under market value to entice multiple offers, which tend to push the price higher. This is especially true if the property and its location are highly desirable.

Location

Location dictates a lot for the property, especially how long it will stay in the market. If the house is located within a very highly sought after area, is well-priced, and the property itself is in excellent condition, then one can expect it to sell really, really fast.

Condition

Unless it is ridiculously cheap and located within a very desirable area, you will be hard-pressed to sell a dilapidated home. Home-buyers like to imagine themselves living in the house, so they are usually looking for a property that’s in tiptop shape.

In addition to these three factors, the market’s overall condition will dictate whether a property will sell quickly. For example, in a seller’s market, there are fewer sellers (and fewer properties for sale) and more buyers, so you can expect homes to get snapped up quickly. Homes in this type of market are so few that many of them can even command very high prices.

In contrast, in a buyer’s market, there are more available properties for sale, so you can expect buyers to get picky and take their time before purchasing. Hence, sellers here must be patient.

Sources: The Balance Small Business