Updated May 17, 2021
What Is the Best Time of the Year to Advertise Your Property?
If you are not an experienced real estate agent, it will probably be difficult for you to advertise and rent or sell your property. This sort of business depends on various internal and external factors like family affairs, education plans, and market supply and demand.
However, timing is the first factor that you should take into consideration while deciding when to advertise your property. Although it seems irrelevant at first, well-planned timing can increase your chances to find tenants quickly.
For instance, it could take you up to 60 days to rent a house or even two times longer if you are a DIY type of person. But it’s only an average, the waiting time decreases drastically in some periods of the year.
So let’s check out the best times of the year to advertise your property.
January - March
This is not the busiest time of the year for investors, but people still start looking for new homes soon after the holiday season. You can take advantage of that and perhaps even find the client who is willing to move during winter. But don’t expect miracles because this is just the warm-up for the busier times.
Just like Margaret Kendrick, a real estate writer at Best Essays, recently stated: “If possible, you should avoid the first quarter of the year. While it is true that the number of offer houses and apartments is relatively low in this period, it is still way too high compared to the percentage of people who are really interested in buying or renting properties and moving around in a sub-zero environment.”
Spring
Spring is the best time of year to list your rental property. According to recent studies, it creates a magic window for real estate businesses. There are many reasons for this, and we will explain the most important factors:
- People move before the new school year
Switching homes requires a lot of planning and organization, which is time-consuming. In such circumstances, people tend to settle down before the beginning of another school year. This gives them enough time to get used to the new environment so children can focus on academic activities later on.
- Better weather for viewing and moving
Nobody likes to move if it is snowing or raining. Nobody even likes to spend time visiting houses for rent. Moving things from one home to another during winter storms and rain showers is real torture, so people wait for springtime to start a life in new premises.
- Buyers receive a tax return
The more money you have, the easier it gets to rent the new apartment or house. People start getting their tax refunds sometime during spring, so their budgets grow bigger. Along with the winter savings, they start thinking about a new lease contract.
All these elements play significant roles in the real estate business, making the period between late March and early June perfect for advertising your property. That’s why we recommend you to use this time of year to seal the deal quickly.
June - August
This is the second busiest time of the year in the rental market as new college starts, and the six-month tenancy agreements begin to expire. This makes the summer months an optimal period for landlords to maximize demand for rental property. If you couldn’t find a tenant in the first half of the year, the same principle related to weather conditions applies to summertime as well.
Students and families are moving, and they are driving through areas to find the most suitable place to live. However, keep in mind that this is not the truth in Deep South, where July and August are probably the most difficult months to find tenants. Usually, because nobody wants to move in at 100+ degree heat unless it’s absolutely necessary. But it’s not only about the temperature since rental preferences depend on other peculiarities of the market, too.
Many people go on summer vacation and don’t want to waste precious time visiting real estate agents or landlords. That’s why the number of rented properties declines steadily as the summer goes by – most people take a break in August, a month that usually marks the peak of tourist season. The period between June and August remains the second-best option for you to list your rental property.
September - December
You’ve probably already noticed how external factors such as weather conditions directly correlate with the chances to rent your house successfully. Considering this element, you might want to skip the last four months of the year and withdraw from the real estate market for a while.
With each new month in the last quarter of the year, there is less interest in renting properties and moving. This is especially the case in December – right before Christmas – when people enjoy the festive period and don’t want to engage in any big project like moving.
Conclusion
If you want to rent your property, bear in mind that it doesn’t only depend on its sheer quality but also the time of the year when you advertise it. We advise you to plan it for the spring or early summertime because this time proved to be the most fruitful for investors. Feel free to give our suggestions a try and let us know in the comments about your real estate experiences.
About the Author: Joan Selby is a content marketer, former teacher, and fancy shoe lover. A writer by day and a reader by night. Find her on Twitter and Facebook.